Village nurtures prosperity

President Xi Jinping's visit celebrates new era for rural community, deservedly reaping the harvest of its work, report Yang Feiyue in Beijing and Li Yingqing in Kunming.

From time to time, Li Fashun will reminisce about the visit of a special guest to his abode in Simola Va village two years ago.

President Xi Jinping dropped in on the farmer, whose home is in the village of Qingshui township, Tengchong city, Southwest China's Yunnan province, at the beginning of 2020. The president learned about Li, his family and their daily lives during an inspection tour to the province and was invited to join them in making rice cakes. Xi also beat a wooden drum of the Va ethnic group three times, a ritual to bless the coming year.

"I wouldn't have dreamed that President Xi Jinping would come to my home, and sincerely inquire about our lives," Li says.

The visit coincided with the year set as the deadline for China to eliminate absolute poverty. During the inspection, Xi noted that shaking off poverty is the starting point for a new and happy life, calling for the vigorous promotion of rural vitalization after a moderately prosperous society in all respects is achieved.

Li was greatly encouraged by Xi's words and, later that year, started a rural catering business, which had been a long-held dream of his.

Li and his wife also sell tea leaves and date cakes.

In the best of times, their business can bring them 100,000 yuan ($15,000) a year.

Li believes that better things are yet to come for his village once the pandemic is fully over.

"The living environment has improved over the past two years, and so has the public observance of social codes," Li says.
"We've ridden the wave of tourism development and realized our dream."

Li's life is the epitome of the positive changes that have taken place across the village.

Simola means "a happy place" in the ethnic Va language and, for the past 500 years, the village has been mostly populated by the Va people.

However, until a few years ago, the village had fallen into disrepair as locals struggled with poverty. They used to worry about rain leaking into their thatched houses in summer and the chill seeping in through the thin walls in winter.

The local authority has strived to revitalize Simola over the years. Unattended farmlands, washroom facilities and animal pens have been transformed into parks, grasslands, pavilions or public squares.

"It was filthy and stinky, and I could smell it from my own yard," Luo Zhuangdi recalls, referring to a vacant lot in front of her house.

Luo readily answered the village's call to upgrade the rural environment a few years ago and took the initiative to dismantle an unsightly and poorly equipped toilet in the neighborhood.

Now, it is enjoyable to chat with her neighbors in those public spaces.

"We turned a space of 3,310 square meters into parkland, which has not only improved living conditions, but also satisfied the needs of local people and tourists alike in terms of leisure and entertainment," says Zhao Jiaqing, an official with Qingshui.

Zhao says he still feels moved by the president's words during his visit, which further confirms to him that he made the right choice returning to the village in 2010 after venturing into the outside world.

"We've ridden the wave of tourism development and realized our dream."

Li's life is the epitome of the positive changes that have taken place across the village.

Simola means "a happy place" in the ethnic Va language and, for the past 500 years, the village has been mostly populated by the Va people.

However, until a few years ago, the village had fallen into disrepair as locals struggled with poverty. They used to worry about rain leaking into their thatched houses in summer and the chill seeping in through the thin walls in winter.

The local authority has strived to revitalize Simola over the years. Unattended farmlands, washroom facilities and animal pens have been transformed into parks, grasslands, pavilions or public squares.

"It was filthy and stinky, and I could smell it from my own yard," Luo Zhuangdi recalls, referring to a vacant lot in front of her house.

Luo readily answered the village's call to upgrade the rural environment a few years ago and took the initiative to dismantle an unsightly and poorly equipped toilet in the neighborhood.

Now, it is enjoyable to chat with her neighbors in those public spaces.

"We turned a space of 3,310 square meters into parkland, which has not only improved living conditions, but also satisfied the needs of local people and tourists alike in terms of leisure and entertainment," says Zhao Jiaqing, an official with Qingshui.

Zhao says he still feels moved by the president's words during his visit, which further confirms to him that he made the right choice returning to the village in 2010 after venturing into the outside world.

"We've ridden the wave of tourism development and realized our dream."

Li's life is the epitome of the positive changes that have taken place across the village.

Simola means "a happy place" in the ethnic Va language and, for the past 500 years, the village has been mostly populated by the Va people.

However, until a few years ago, the village had fallen into disrepair as locals struggled with poverty. They used to worry about rain leaking into their thatched houses in summer and the chill seeping in through the thin walls in winter.

The local authority has strived to revitalize Simola over the years. Unattended farmlands, washroom facilities and animal pens have been transformed into parks, grasslands, pavilions or public squares.

"It was filthy and stinky, and I could smell it from my own yard," Luo Zhuangdi recalls, referring to a vacant lot in front of her house.

Luo readily answered the village's call to upgrade the rural environment a few years ago and took the initiative to dismantle an unsightly and poorly equipped toilet in the neighborhood.

Now, it is enjoyable to chat with her neighbors in those public spaces.

"We turned a space of 3,310 square meters into parkland, which has not only improved living conditions, but also satisfied the needs of local people and tourists alike in terms of leisure and entertainment," says Zhao Jiaqing, an official with Qingshui.

Zhao says he still feels moved by the president's words during his visit, which further confirms to him that he made the right choice returning to the village in 2010 after venturing into the outside world.