CHINA DAILY | HONG KONG EDITION Monday, March 1, 2021 | 7 CHINA High price to boost poverty alleviation

Sichuan woman’s eat leftovers, so she prepared fresh meals for him. She also did house­ work with villagers work and changed dressings for took time away him. In 2019, she became busier, so from sick husband she sent her parents to care for him as his own parents had died years before he died ago. “I couldn’t leave my job because it By LI HONGYANG in Beijing is hard to transfer it to another per­ and HUANG ZHILING in Chengdu son,” Tan said. “My position was newly set up in 2016 when the coun­ Tan Guirong, 43, said she felt ty was gearing up for the poverty guilty about her ailing husband’s alleviation work. I gradually mas­ death in November because she had tered the workflow after years of been too busy with poverty allevia­ practice. tion work to give him the care he “I had no reason to complain as all needed. my superiors also worked extra She said she is a qualified employ­ hours. My work performance was ee but a failed wife and mother. not only reflective of myself but Her husband, Wan Daihong, had more importantly the county’s pov­ tuberculosis and often quarreled erty alleviation goals. I couldn’t be with her for working so much for selfish.” comparatively little income — about In October, Wan’s condition wor­ 3,000 yuan ($464) per month. He sened. He died on Nov 25. questioned why she couldn’t behave “I couldn’t save him. I felt power­ like other working women who bal­ less and guilty,” Tan said. ance their jobs and their lives. Last year, her son failed the “My son went to school and my national college entrance exam, husband needed medication. I had known as the gaokao. The 19­year­ no choice but to earn money to sup­ old is now enrolled at the Chengdu port the whole family,” Tan said. Architecture Technical School in the “Also, I felt I needed to demon­ capital of Sichuan, where he is strate my work ethic and prove my Tan Guirong works at the poverty alleviation office in Ebian Yi autonomous county, Leshan, Sichuan province. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY learning vehicle repair. ability and value. Otherwise, I “The death of my husband and wouldn’t deserve my position or my son’s poor academic perform­ trust from others.” were fixed, which would give her She was responsible for training helped the elderly do some chores arranging cars for inspectors and ance are cruel blows to me. I am sor­ In 1999, Tan started working as a time to make breakfast and lunch inspectors who go to villages to and other favors. Each cadre in the checking on their attendance in ry that I couldn’t put all my energy primary school teacher in Ebian Yi for him each day. check poverty alleviation perform­ office was assigned to assist several assigned areas through photos they into taking good care of my family,” autonomous county, located in Tan soon learned, however, that ances by local governments. She households. took there. she said. mountainous Leshan city, Sichuan her new job would require her to then took note of problems found “Many people tended to feel lost At noon each day when Wan was “I don’t care about financial province. In 2010, Wan was diag­ work nearly 14 hours a day, often during inspections, reported them when they see others receiving more alive, she would pack part of her rewards or awards from work. I just nosed with TB, and his condition until as late as 11 pm. to her supervisor and issued noti­ financial aid than them. I needed to lunch from the office’s canteen for want to do my job well and be a worsened in 2013. “I had planned to shift my focus ces from the office requiring local explain policies to them patiently him because she had no time to responsible and contributing per­ In 2016, Tan was among seven from work to my family by doing governments to perform their and let them know some extremely cook. At night, she tried her best to son.” cadres from various departments what I thought would be an easier duties. poor families deserve the support,” arrive home early to cook dinner for In 2019, all 27,885 people in the hired by the county’s poverty allevia­ job, but it turned out to be harder,” She also filed poverty alleviation­ she said. him. county listed as impoverished were tion office. Tan said. related documents including policy “It’s important to convince them His doctor said he wasn’t allowed lifted out of poverty. She said she took the job because At the time, China was aiming to notices, basic information on of the rationality of these policies. If to breathe cold air due to his condi­ Rural residents are now earning when she was a teacher, she had to lift all the rural poor population impoverished households and work they don’t think we have done a tion, so Tan was responsible for all more than 5,000 yuan a year — sig­ spend all day at school, leaving her under certain income standards out guidance notebooks. proper job, we can’t continue our tasks outside the home including nificantly more than Sichuan’s pov­ little time to properly care for Wan. of extreme poverty last year. Tan Every week, she spent 90 minutes work smoothly.” doing the shopping, arranging her erty line threshold of 4,100 yuan. She thought the work hours in a worked around the clock for the commuting to Jiang’e village, where Her other tasks included taking son’s school activities and paying government office — usually from 9 past five years to help achieve that she visited three impoverished phone calls from people seeking bills. Contact the writers at am to noon and 2 pm to 5 pm — goal. households to explain policies and counseling about the policies, Wan had also been advised to not [email protected]

ing to sell vegetables and earning ‘Slow trains’ linking more than 10,000 yuan a year. Over Fragrant the years, she and her husband worked hard to put their son villagers to outside world through college and build a new, mushrooms two­story house. “I have been striving for a better XI’AN — Although China has nearby counties to add to their life for decades, and I want to strive revitalize entered a high­speed railway era, families’ income. further,” she said. “Because the hard­ there still exist “slow trains” in sever­ With a length of 257 kilometers, er you work, the happier you are.” al less­developed areas. Such trains the highly popular “small­and­slow For villagers from townships poor area provide villagers with a track to the train” route winds through the along the railway route, the slow outside world and prosperity. Qinling Mountains, a natural train service offered fresh opportu­ By MA ZHENHUAN in Hangzhou When train No 6064 stopped in boundary between China’s north nities to make a fortune. [email protected] Yangpingguan station, 51­year­old and south, linking 37 stations at a Zhang Weiming, 46, works in Xue Qing’e was trying to board cost of 21.5 yuan ($3.30). Beijing as a subway construction Mushrooms have helped lift vil­ Chen Zaiming from Zhejiang University checks the growth of mush­ with 30 kilograms of vegetables on For greengrocer villagers living worker and earns 5,000 to 6,000 lagers in Jingdong Yi autonomous rooms at a plantation in Jingdong Yi autonomous county, Yunnan her back. along the line, the railway is their yuan per month. After returning to county, Yunnan province, out of pov­ province. LU SHAOQING / FOR CHINA DAILY Xue was relieved to receive help preferred choice as it is more con­ his hometown in Shaanxi in erty, thanks to a cultivation program from a conductor as she felt she was venient and comfortable. “After December, he hardly had a break launched by a university in Zhejiang being pulled backward by the heavy deducting the 6 yuan round­trip before he had to start selling his province. Located in an area famous PATH TO GLORY rooms. A wild mushroom resources bamboo basket. She took her seat, fare and the 6 yuan lunch fee, I can vegetables using the train route. for its abundance of wild mush­ POVERTYPath to glory laboratory has been set up in the panting and gasping for breath. earn 40 to 50 yuan after selling the “I can make over 300 yuan with rooms, Wangjia was once one of 48 Ailao Mountains, to conduct research This is an ordinary journey for basket of vegetables,” Xue said. these vegetables,” Zhang said, villages in the county mired deep in ALLEVIATION on mushroom cultivation. Chen’s Xue and many villagers from Yang­ When she isn’t tilling about 0.13 referring to his bamboo basket poverty due to a lack of transporta­ team has tested 1,200 fungal samples pingguan, a township in Han­ hectares of farmland or caring for loaded with 50 kg of ginger and tion, a manpower shortage and different degrees of success. in the laboratory, sorting out and zhong, Shaanxi province. They take her sick mother, Xue spends about other produce he held in his hands. backward production facilities. Farmer Zhou Meiling was one of identifying more than 700 varieties. the train to sell their vegetables in 90 minutes a day on the train, travel­ The route doesn’t make a lot of In 2013, Zhejiang University in the success stories of the county’s tar­ In China, there are 938 kinds of money, but the railway operator Hangzhou teamed up with county geted poverty alleviation campaign. edible mushrooms, and over 800 keeps it running and offers various authorities and dispatched a team of In 2017, she started growing mush­ varieties are found in Yunnan. services to meet villagers’ travel experts in tea planting, mushroom rooms on wood, and combined with Chen also organized cooperation needs, said Wang Jianlin, who works cultivation and poultry breeding to pig breeding and curing tobacco between the county government for the China Railway Xi’an Group. help farmers improve their agricul­ leaves her household income is now and Zhejiang University to train Some temporary bazaars are tural skills and sales methods. 100,000 yuan ($15,500) a year. researchers in the field of wild established in carriages to help vil­ In May of the same year, Chen By 2019, Chen had come to the mushroom research. lagers trade agricultural products, Zaiming, associate professor at the conclusion that small fragrant “The good news is that more and while mobile libraries are also university’s Institute of Vegetable mushrooms were the most profita­ more young people in the country­ emerging for children who com­ Science, was offered a job as an ble option for farmers, and a plant­ side are willing to stay in Jingdong mute to and from school on the adviser to the county government ing program began in April of that thanks to the emerging new tech­ trains, with various books prepared with an employment period of eight year. Nine households in the village nologies and industries that allow on modified tables that are longer years. County officials wanted Chen planted mushrooms to generate them to see bright and promising and wider than the usual ones. to teach them how to exploit wild nearly 240,000 yuan in revenue, said prospects,” Chen said. “Talent and The train whistled as it arrived at mushroom resources. Lu Ping, a Wangjia village official. technology are the strengths and Lueyang station, and Xue got off car­ Over the next six years, the coun­ Last year, 22 households in the hopes of rural revitalization.” rying her bamboo basket. ty tried various mushroom plant­ county earned more than 5 million A train from Ankang to Xi’an leaves a tunnel in the Qinling ing and harvesting projects with yuan from growing fragrant mush­ Cai Jingwen contributed to this story. Mountains in Shaanxi province. ZHAO HUABIN / XINHUA XINHUA

food to offer relatives who visited, raise calves. “With such good poli­ just potato noodles,” Yang said cies, no one can stay poor as long as Good policies rustle up profits for cattle breeders With roads and other infrastruc­ they work hard,” Yang said. ture improving under China’s tar­ According to Ma Junren, the dep­ YINCHUAN — For Wei Zhizhong, stricken village in Xihaigu, Ningxia this job and those cattle, and I have cattle and has become one of the geted poverty alleviation scheme, uty head of Hechuan, there are more this year’s Spring Festival carried Hui autonomous region, one of Chi­ nothing to worry about,” he said. wealthiest people in the village, aft­ Yang was able to find work outside than 10,000 cattle in the township. special meaning. It was the first na’s poorest areas. Before raising Wei shook off poverty in June, er once being one of the poorest. the village and eventually shook off Cattle breeding accounts for about Lunar New Year he had celebrated cattle, Wei was a farmer at the mercy months before the whole Xihaigu Like many others in Xihaigu, poverty. With help from the govern­ 70 percent of the villagers’ incomes. since shaking off poverty. of the elements, his tough situation area made the historic step of elimi­ Yang clearly remembers the hard­ ment he started raising cattle and “I have been helping fight poverty “I stuffed my refrigerator with compounded by responsibility for nating absolute poverty. ships that he endured, living in now has a much better life. on the rural front line for 10 years, enough meat and fresh vegetables in two small children and his wife’s “I was born in the Year of the Ox. dilapidated houses and fetching his Yang restored his house, and and I know how important cattle advance, and we were able to enjoy mental issues. According to the Chinese zodiac, drinking water from nearby creeks. bought a new television and safe, in are for villagers, especially in delicious food during this traditional Thanks to the national campaign cattle must be my lucky animal,” Wei In the 1980s his barn was burned which he keeps the cash for buying improving their lives,” Ma said. festival,” said 48­year­old Wei, who against poverty, Wei was offered a job said. “I plan to raise more and look down accidentally and the family and selling cattle. For Yang, the During the Spring Festival holi­ was born in the Year of the Ox. “In the in 2017 as a forest ranger with an forward to a much better life.” had to celebrate Spring Festival with changes were the result of his own day, Yang was kept busy feeding the past, I used to put in less meat when annual salary of 10,000 yuan ($1,550). Yang Baocai also cast off poverty nothing but potatoes. hard work, and favorable policies. cattle and cleaning the shed. “I’m making dishes or dumplings because In the same year, he received a loan of by raising cattle. The 58­year­old “We were too poor to enjoy a hap­ He received a government subsidy busy but happy,” he said. I could not afford much.” 50,000 yuan to raise cattle. lives in Mingchuan village, about 60 py festival at that time. We didn’t of nearly 20,000 yuan last year to Wei lives in Hebu, once a poverty­ “Now I earn a stable income with kilometers from Hebu. He raises 40 have accommodations or delicious build a storage area for fodder and XINHUA