A Female Village cadre in SE China leads people to wealth by forestation
By Yan Ke, Jing
Yi from People’s Daily
A Chinese
village cadre has led her fellow villagers to a wealthier life thanks to her
efforts in promoting forestation campaigns over the past years.
The village
cadre Shen Tengxiang is the Party chief of Nankeng village, Changting county in
southeast China’s Fujian province.
When she married
into her husband’s family in Nankeng village 32 years ago, Changting was still
suffering the severest soil erosion in southern China.
However, Shen,
together with her fellow villagers, has turned the village into a famous site
of eco-tourism, raising annual per capita income of the locals to over 16,800
yuan ($2,503), up from less than 600 yuan in 1996.
Shen became very
proud when sharing the achievements.
22 years ago,
she began working on the control of soil erosion, leading her fellow villagers
to plant trees on the hills. The Party members and cadres were the first batch
to plant the saplings, with each one planting on an area of 0.33 hectare. As
the chief of the Party branch of Nankeng village, Shen covered 1.33 hectares
alone.
Hard work
forever pays. The vegetation gradually expanded on the hills of Nankeng
village, from points to blocks, and finally achieved full coverage.
Pointing to the
trees in the distance, Shen told People’s Daily that the hills would make a sea
of golden leaves in autumn.
A couplet was
hung on a pavilion of the village to praise her efforts and contribution.
What these trees
have brought is not only greenness, but also profits, as some smart villagers
tried to grow watermelons under the trees.
Yuan Tingyun was
one of them. He once earned more than 10,000 yuan through the watermelons he
harvested. “My wife and I even cried with joy when we counted the money, since
we had never seen such a thick stack,” he recalled.
In recent years,
Shen attracted a large number of investments to the village. A donation of over
1.3 million yuan was made by a couple living in Xiamen, capital of Fujian
province.
However, Shen is
quite cautious in using the capital. She often invites highly respected senior
villagers for supervision.
Paying high
attention to the overall economic development of the village, Shen introduced
gingko trees to create more profits while maintain ecology. Now, the gingko
trees, which form unique scenery of the village, are attracting a number of
visitors.
Shen disclosed
that she was planning to build a nursing home to make better use of the
eco-environment of the village.
Home care
services for the elderly may take as much as four to five thousand yuan per
month for a family, she said, explaining that her plan to build a nursing home
would not only relieve social pressure, but also generate profits for the
village.
Shen Tengxiang
(Left) plants trees with villagers. (Photo by Qiu Jiarui from People’s Daily
Online)
A Female Village cadre in SE China leads people to wealth by forestation
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