CHINA DAILY | HONG KONG EDITION Thursday, August 5, 2021 | 7 CHINA Hot springs heating up county’s economy GUIYANG — In the county of of Zhongba Hot Springs Town, Shiqian, impoverished villagers which officially opened at the end once used local hot springs to wash of 2018. clothes and vegetables, but these The hot springs have directly days, the springs have washed away benefited local economic develop- their poverty and brought in big ment. For example, Chengnan and bucks. Zhongba combined generated Shiqian is a small county located about 800 jobs. in Tongren city, Guizhou province. “It’s good working here,” said It is famous for its rich, high-quality Mou Liangfeng, a room service hot springs. employee at Zhongba. “There is no In recent years, authorities have need for me to seek a job outside promoted the development of the the county anymore, and my local tourism sector, with a pair of monthly salary is enough to cover hot springs serving collectively as a my family’s expenses.” massive attraction, drawing flocks Mou had previously worked in of visitors. Aside from the springs, Fujian province and the Guangxi the attraction includes ancient Zhuang autonomous region. After buildings, mountains, lakes, ethnic the hot springs town opened, how- villages and a former revolutionary ever, she returned to Shiqian for site. employment. Last year, the two hot spring sites The booming tourism sector led received 1.14 million tourists and to the mushrooming of homestays earned 193.3 million yuan ($29.7 and shops. Across the street from million) in revenue, official statis- the Zhongba stand 11 new home- tics showed. In the first half of this stays and 15 shops selling swim- year, one of the two sites had suits, trunks and swimming caps. already attracted about 203,000 “All the homestays were estab- tourists, raking in 24.3 million lished after the opening of the yuan. “The hot springs truly trans- Zhongba project,” said Zhu Deng- formed fortunes here,” said Qin ming, owner of a nearby restau- Chai Yunzhen tells his story to the visiting People’s Liberation Army recruits at his home in Sichuan province. XINHUA Huiming, a local official in charge rant. of the sites. “In the past, villagers were my Shiqian was named both “the main customers, and I would not hometown of hot springs in China” have business after 7 pm.” and “the hometown of mineral But now, things are changing as water in China” in 2009 by the Chi- the number of tourists rises, Zhu na Mining Association. said. Once misidentified, Korean There are many hot springs in “Some visitors come for meals the area, and they are known for even in the middle of the night, and their high quality, local officials my annual profit has jumped to said. about 700,000 yuan, four times as “There are 20 natural sites where much as before,” he said. hot springs flow, and eight artificial Chen Shiyu, the owner of a swim- War hero gets top award sites,” Qin said. suit stall, said her business is soar- However, the springs failed to ing with the increasing number of generate large profits for the local tourists. Lauded in the DPRK, soldier thought missing in action is honored posthumously people for a long time because of “My daily profit is about 600 inadequate development. yuan during peak seasons,” she “They were just used for wash- By AYBEK ASKHAR led to the deaths of over 1,000 sol- information about Chai in the Sich- said. PATH TO GLORY ing,” said Zhang Lulu, an employee Besides the hot springs hotels, [email protected] diers on both sides. Path to glory uan Daily was seen by his son and by at the tourist attraction. “Many vil- the local government also invested On the penultimate day, after PROFILE sheer coincidence, the “martyr” was lagers would bring along their chil- in two mineral water plants, with Thirty-five years after the War to being ordered to retake the three brought back to life. dren and buckets at night to the hot one already in operation and Resist US Aggression and Aid fortified positions, Chai waged an In 1985, he was invited to visit springs, and the children just took churning out 300,000 metric tons Korea (1950-53) broke out, Chai all-out attack with only three sol- Pyongyang to attend a commemo- baths there.” of mineral water each year. The oth- Yunzhen, a former member of the diers, the others already having ration of the war and was shocked Changes began to occur at the er plant has an annual production People’s Volunteer Army, set foot been killed. to see his portrait in the military turn of the century. capacity of 100,000 tons and is on the Korean Peninsula for the Fighting was fierce and they museum. He took the painting In 2002, the local government undergoing trial operations. second time on a visit to the mili- engaged in hand-to-hand combat, down and said to the guide, “I am brought in a company to expand “People in Shiqian used to live tary museum in Pyongyang in but their experience and bravery not a hero. The true heroes are the Chengnan Hot Springs, and the hard lives, but now the hot springs 1985, only to discover that he had led them to victory. those who did not come back from site was listed as a State-level scenic have helped them turn a new page,” never truly left. When the battle was over, Chai the battlefield.” spot in 2015. Qin said. During his visit to the Demo- was hospitalized with a missing During the commemoration, he Also that year, the local govern- cratic Republic of Korea’s capital, finger and 24 wounds to his body. was also given the DPRK’s highest ment invested in the construction Xinhua the then 59-year-old veteran was For his remarkable contribution, war honor, and late leader, Kim surprised to see his portrait hang- he received the highest award given Il-sung, personally pinned the ing in the museum, as the inter- to China’s combat heroes, but there Order of Freedom and Independ- preter explained that the person was no one to claim the medal. ence to Chai’s dress. in it was one of the 197,653 Chi- Homophonic names are com- When he returned from Pyong- nese soldiers who sacrificed their mon in China, and this led to him yang, he was greeted with flowers lives to restore peace on the pen- being misidentified as another and applause. No longer just a insula. soldier, who was missing. The farmer, Chai became a national Chai was a squad head during award was issued during the peak hero and later served as a deputy the war, and the story of the four- of the war, and there was no time in the National People’s Congress man team he led, which captured to double-check the army roster for a while. three positions in 20 minutes, has properly. As a result, in the DPRK, He died in 2018 at the age of 93. long been remembered and cele- he was considered a martyr, and This year, as the Communist Party brated in the DPRK. the government not only had his of China celebrates its 100th anni- On May 30, 1951, at the Battle of portrait hung at the museum but versary, he was posthumously Bakdalbong, a mountain close to also erected a monument on the awarded the July 1 Medal, the the war zone between the Repub- mountain where he’d fought. highest honor given to outstand- lic of Korea and the DPRK, Chai’s But Chai survived thanks to knew of his heroic deeds, and ing Party members. battalion was engaged in an opera- treatment, and after a year of rest began a new life as a farmer. Once again, the hero was not tion to stop a multinational force and recuperation, he returned to In 1982, China organized a search able to receive his award in person, Hot spring resorts have turned Shiqian county in Tongren, from moving north. his hometown in Yuechi county, for missing combatants from the but his bravery and dedication will Guizhou province, into a tourist attraction. ZHENG MINGHONG / XINHUA It was a brutal six-day battle that Sichuan province, where nobody war. Two years later, an ad seeking always be remembered. Populations of milu deer increasing due to conservation efforts By LIU KUN in Wuhan demics are on an upward trend, and as sibuxiang in Mandarin, meaning wetland grass on a 200-hectare allocated an additional 533 hectares wild milu deer has multiplied. Some and LI HONGYANG in Beijing we lack sufficient professionals and it is unlike any of the four species, fenced area for the milu. of land as a buffer zone for the 30 left the reserve in 1998 and now detection methods,” a document by and is traditionally considered an “Sometimes, heavy floods inundate reserve, which has a core area of 922 they number around 1,000. “We moni- The population of milu deer, or the reserve stated. auspicious animal. the grasslands and reduce roaming hectares. tor their activity and habitat twice a Pere David’s deer, in a national nature The species, which is now quite To accommodate its growing space for them. Some have even Over the years, Shishou has worked year without disturbing them. It is bet- reserve in the Yangtze River region, rare in China, has been present for population of milu and birds like become sick after drinking dirty with universities including the Central ter for the deer to return to nature if continues to rise, with 196 fawns born thousands of years.