People in Tiandeng work hard to defeat poverty
By Liu Wei, Qin Xingxing
Original, GPIG, 01-29-2018
In big cities like Beijing and Shanghai, Guilin rice noodle shops are easy to spot. Most of the shop owners hail from Tiandeng County, city of Chongzuo, in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Located in the southern part of Guangxi, Tiandeng is a key national poverty alleviation county. 98.7% of its population belongs to Zhuang ethnic group and about half of its area is covered by stony desert. The name “Tiandeng” is quite apropos: In the Zhuang language, it means “standing stones”.
Prefer hard work over hardship
Tiandeng’s poor natural conditions haven’t quelled residents’ drive for a better life.
Surrounded by stony mountains, Litun—in Daonian Village of Tiandeng—is isolated from the outside world. Under the lead of three party secretaries, the locals spent 24 years excavating a tunnel manually, exemplifying Tiandeng people’s determination in combating poverty.
In 2008, Promise, a low-budget film without any notable stars, moved many people. Its archetypal protagonist was Huang Shanjun, the party secretary of Shengma Village of Tiandeng, who determinedly dug wells to combat severe drought. After having spent all his savings to sustain this work, it was in the sixth well that he finally dug out water. And while this provided every household with access to piped water, Huang passed away at a young age.
“Impoverished people in Tiandeng rarely complain about the environment or simply wait for help. They’d rather change their destiny with diligence and wisdom,” said Liu Youming, party secretary of Chongzuo.
Facing the thorny situation where a large population has only limited arable land, fleets of people left the mountains to seek opportunities in other parts of China or abroad. Among the 400,000 residents, over 130,000 work elsewhere all year round. Most of them are at a young or middle age.
There are about 400 Guilin rice noodle shops opened in Beijing by Tiandeng people, and the total China-wide number is close to 3,000. Many poor households have got rid of poverty and opened a shop back home. They’ve also formed an entrepreneurial cluster in areas like hotel, jewel crafting, and electronic products.
A big stage for poverty reduction
With skills and capital gained from outside, many people returned home to start their own businesses. Taking this opportunity, the local government explored new ways to lead impoverished households out of poverty.
Having worked in Angola for more than 20 years, Xu Yunfeng decided to start a cattle-breeding cooperative back in Nanling Village a few years ago. By entrusting their loans to the cooperative, impoverished households could take shares and receive annual dividends.
Huang Jingfang, the owner of Xinda Glove Factory in Ankang Village, is another example. She says that over 90% of her employees are from poor households.
“Life was hard because I could only plant rice and corn. But now, I can make 80–100 pairs of gloves every day and earn more than 2,000 yuan (U.S. $300) each month,” said Nong Yuliu, a poor villager. While working in the factory, Nong can also look after her children and carry on with planting and raising livestock.
Hailing from Buliutun of Jiaohui Village, Nong Meihua was registered as impoverished. After returning home, she opened a shoe-processing factory. Of all its employees, the majority are from poor households nearby. The factory enables them to earn their living at home while taking care of their children and parents. With more orders coming in, Nong hopes to help more people out of poverty.
Demonstration park sets up an example
From an impoverished household in Duoxin Village, Bi Wenli took out a loan amounting to more than 100,000 yuan (U.S. $15,000). With the funds, he and his father built a livestock farm on an uncultivated hillside.
“After taking my children to school, I go to the farm every morning and work until five in the afternoon,” said Bi, who raises more than 30 pigs and hundreds of chickens and ducks.
In the modern agriculture demonstration park in Jinjie Town, local party secretary Luo Guoyao explained that they have integrated poverty alleviation into the construction of the park. Through a model of “poor household + company + base”, impoverished residents who transferred their land usage rights can not only receive land rentals, but also work in the base.
The article was translated by Jin Ling and its original unabridged version was published in Chinese.
By Liu Wei, Qin Xingxing
Original, GPIG, 01-29-2018
In big cities like Beijing and Shanghai, Guilin rice noodle shops are easy to spot. Most of the shop owners hail from Tiandeng County, city of Chongzuo, in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Located in the southern part of Guangxi, Tiandeng is a key national poverty alleviation county. 98.7% of its population belongs to Zhuang ethnic group and about half of its area is covered by stony desert. The name “Tiandeng” is quite apropos: In the Zhuang language, it means “standing stones”.
Prefer hard work over hardship
Tiandeng’s poor natural conditions haven’t quelled residents’ drive for a better life.
Surrounded by stony mountains, Litun—in Daonian Village of Tiandeng—is isolated from the outside world. Under the lead of three party secretaries, the locals spent 24 years excavating a tunnel manually, exemplifying Tiandeng people’s determination in combating poverty.
In 2008, Promise, a low-budget film without any notable stars, moved many people. Its archetypal protagonist was Huang Shanjun, the party secretary of Shengma Village of Tiandeng, who determinedly dug wells to combat severe drought. After having spent all his savings to sustain this work, it was in the sixth well that he finally dug out water. And while this provided every household with access to piped water, Huang passed away at a young age.
“Impoverished people in Tiandeng rarely complain about the environment or simply wait for help. They’d rather change their destiny with diligence and wisdom,” said Liu Youming, party secretary of Chongzuo.
Facing the thorny situation where a large population has only limited arable land, fleets of people left the mountains to seek opportunities in other parts of China or abroad. Among the 400,000 residents, over 130,000 work elsewhere all year round. Most of them are at a young or middle age.
There are about 400 Guilin rice noodle shops opened in Beijing by Tiandeng people, and the total China-wide number is close to 3,000. Many poor households have got rid of poverty and opened a shop back home. They’ve also formed an entrepreneurial cluster in areas like hotel, jewel crafting, and electronic products.
A big stage for poverty reduction
With skills and capital gained from outside, many people returned home to start their own businesses. Taking this opportunity, the local government explored new ways to lead impoverished households out of poverty.
Having worked in Angola for more than 20 years, Xu Yunfeng decided to start a cattle-breeding cooperative back in Nanling Village a few years ago. By entrusting their loans to the cooperative, impoverished households could take shares and receive annual dividends.
Huang Jingfang, the owner of Xinda Glove Factory in Ankang Village, is another example. She says that over 90% of her employees are from poor households.
“Life was hard because I could only plant rice and corn. But now, I can make 80–100 pairs of gloves every day and earn more than 2,000 yuan (U.S. $300) each month,” said Nong Yuliu, a poor villager. While working in the factory, Nong can also look after her children and carry on with planting and raising livestock.
Hailing from Buliutun of Jiaohui Village, Nong Meihua was registered as impoverished. After returning home, she opened a shoe-processing factory. Of all its employees, the majority are from poor households nearby. The factory enables them to earn their living at home while taking care of their children and parents. With more orders coming in, Nong hopes to help more people out of poverty.
Demonstration park sets up an example
From an impoverished household in Duoxin Village, Bi Wenli took out a loan amounting to more than 100,000 yuan (U.S. $15,000). With the funds, he and his father built a livestock farm on an uncultivated hillside.
“After taking my children to school, I go to the farm every morning and work until five in the afternoon,” said Bi, who raises more than 30 pigs and hundreds of chickens and ducks.
In the modern agriculture demonstration park in Jinjie Town, local party secretary Luo Guoyao explained that they have integrated poverty alleviation into the construction of the park. Through a model of “poor household + company + base”, impoverished residents who transferred their land usage rights can not only receive land rentals, but also work in the base.
The article was translated by Jin Ling and its original unabridged version was published in Chinese.
