Young go home to villages free of poverty
Print Edition
You Jiajing, a 29-year-old village official, has never regretted giving up a city job and returning to his hometown once plagued by abject poverty.
“Upending changes have happened,” said You, who is now the deputy chief of Yinchuan Village in Bijie in southwest China’s Guizhou Province.
As China announced victory over poverty this year, rural areas, particularly those newly out of poverty, have marched on a new journey toward vitalization. More and more young Chinese born in the 1990s, like You, have returned home to work as village officials, leading fellow villagers in building a more prosperous, beautiful, and livable countryside.
“Village officials were usually elected from venerable people,” said Li Hui, Party chief of Yinchuan Village. “Young people yearning for the world outside the mountains would not consider working as a village official.”
Difficult journey
You’s hometown, deep in the mountains, used to be defined by poverty and backwardness. “Going to Guiyang (the provincial capital), I had to first ride a motorcycle on the narrow rural pathway to the main road where automobiles passed. Then I hitched a ride to the downtown area where there would be buses to the destination,” You recalled.
He worked in a restaurant in Guiyang for four years after graduating. He received a job offer from village officials when he visited his parents in 2016.
“I was surprised as I never thought about working in the village where there was not even a computer, and the monthly salary was merely 1,000 yuan (US$155),” You said. After learning village officials were planning kiwi fruit and chili pepper cooperatives, he decided to stay.
“We need young people like him. They are well-educated, open-minded, and have gained experience from working in urban areas. They could bring new perspectives and vitalities to rural development,” Li said.
You started as an assistant to the village chief in 2017, he was elected deputy village chief and is now on the management team for the village chili cooperative. Residents now live in new, spacious houses and have job opportunities on their doorstep.
“It’s a life I never imagined,” said You. “With all these unimaginable changes that have happened, I’m dreaming even bigger.”
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
