Jin waters them assiduously, takes photos of her favorites, advertises them using the social media app WeChat, and shows visitors around her floral heaven.

To be sure, this work can be tiring, she says, but she feels immense satisfaction.

In her final months in television it was her tending to these plants that brought her blessed relief.

"No matter how tired I was I always found time every day to take care of my plants."

Eventually she had accumulated 100 succulents on her balcony, and two years ago she quit her job and, with a friend, rented the greenhouse.

"I even laid the bricks myself, something I could never have imagined doing before," says Jin, wearing a loose T-shirt and with her hair loosely banded.