Guo Fengyi, already rich from his plant sales, was ready to develop further. He rented a booth on the first floor of a department store, where he advertised his Phoenix Coronet Flower Company, the first company in Changchun to specialize in the kafir lily trade. On the day he opened, Guo organized a press conference, which created interest not just in Changchun, but across the three northeastern provinces.
No one can say precisely when it was that the term "green gold" was first used for the kafir lily. It seemed it had always been known as that.
It was against this background that the novel The Kafir Lily Craze was published. It caused immediate controversy, which was subsequently fuelled when it turned out to have predicted future events.
With the kafir lily fever mounting, a newspaper was even produced in Changchun, called the "Kafir Lily". It was issued every Monday and consisted of 4 pages, dealing mainly with methods of growing the kafir lily. At its height, the paper's circulation reached 10,000.
A cartoon published in the "Kafir Lily" describes how kafir lily replaced tobacco as a means of bribery.
A report, "The Secret of the Kafir Lily", remarked that Changchun had been caught up in a whirlpool; everything was marked with the Kafir lily brand. The city newspaper had called its supplement, Kafir Lily. A calendar was produced, in which all 12 months were illustrated with a Kafir lily. A kafir lily marked the beginning of local television programmes. All that was lacking, the article said, was a kafir lily logo on the city gate.
The kafir lily fever spread from Changchun, across the three northeastern provinces, and then to the whole country. It was even seen as far away as Yunnan province. It sparked an interest in raising similar plants – and animals. In Nanjing, the price of a Koi fish increased from less than 1 Yuan to several hundred Yuan within a year. In Yunnan and Guizhou, the price of Pu'er brick tea surged nearly a hundred times. The kafir lily was now one of many crazes.
In 1983, the newspaper "Kafir Lily" published an interview with the municipal Party chief, in which he called for even more attention to be focused on the Kafir lily. Later, new regulations would be issued, containing detailed tax and other rules, applicable to the kafir lily trade. The Changchun municipal government announced its intention to develop the kafir lily industry, along the same lines as tulips were grown, marketed and exported in The Netherlands.
The tulip, which is native to The Netherlands, was much sought after by the local aristocracy in the 17th century. A rare variety of tulip could be exchanged for a villa. Many people invested their lifetime savings in tulips. The Dutch government established flower markets, where tulips were auctioned. People quickly recognized the huge economic value of tulips and began to grow the flowers in vast fields. But before very long, the price collapsed and the whole market was under threat.
In the 1980s in Changchun, few people understood the potential dangers. The most important thing was to develop the kafir lily industry as far as they could.
