It took a lot of persuasion for Fan Lei to convince his family he wasn't crazy to give up his 100,000 yuan (US$12,900) annual salary to raise pigs.

The 26-year-old graduate of Sichuan University in southwest China graduated from the university's Southwest China Medical College with an excellent record in 2003.

Two years later, he quit his clinic job to get into pig farming in his hometown in Shuangliu County outside Chengdu, provincial capital of Sichuan.

Fan told the Chengdu Evening News that as pork prices keep rising, there are great opportunities for his business, which he started in 2005, though risks exist.

The pig farm, located on the slope of a small mountain in Zhenchuanjiang Village in Yellow Dragon Stream Township, is clean and tidy, with the smell of wild grass and pig dung.

Fan financed the farm with a bank loan and money borrowed from friends and relatives.

After he graduated with a major in medical business management, Fan entered the Yangtze River Medical Enterprise Group in east China's Jiangsu Province.

A year later, he was promoted to a division clinic manager.

He said he quit his job because he was tired of behind-the-scenes manipulation and his parents needed his attention.

In fact, his parents were angry at his decision, not feeling the need for their gainfully employed son's at-home care. But he finally got their support.

"After raising pigs for two year, I've got experience," Fan said.

He started out with no experience, and some of his pigs died the day he brought them to the farm. He had more problems when the sows gave birth.

At the end of last year, he sold his first pork but didn't make a profit.

"But I'm sure as long I keep trying, I'll succeed," he said. He plans to expand his farm next year with 300 sows, which can produce 6,000 pigs a year.

(China Daily August 15, 2007)