Villagers prove harsh environment no impediment to transforming lives

First centenary goal

Xi said, "We must win the battle against poverty to achieve our first centenary goal. We have entered a countdown and can't afford to hesitate or slacken. It's time to launch a general offensive".

To fight poverty, Guizhou relocated people from inhospitable areas and improved the infrastructure facilities, including roads.

In 2015, Guizhou became the first province in Western China to extend expressways to every county. It went on to make every household in the rural areas accessible through country roads. In 2017, it completed the construction of roads connecting all villages in the province.

It is now committed to extending the roads to "unincorporated villages" by end of this year.

Water conservation is the lifeline of agriculture and access to safe drinking water is a fundamental requirement for poverty alleviation.

Guizhou has launched safe drinking water projects in the most underdeveloped areas so that all rural residents of the province can have access to safe drinking water.

In order to find new sources of water, Lengdong invited experts from provinces in East China, such as Fujian, Shandong and Zhejiang. But all these efforts failed. People from the village tried hard and ended up with one water source deep in the mountains.

Backed by experts, the villagers finally drilled a well up to a depth of 276 meters, which has provided water for people and livestock in Lendong and adjoining villages.

A total of 1.24 million rural residents of Guizhou cast off poverty in 2019, bringing down the poverty rate to 0.85 percent, the provincial government said.

Li Xinggang, 68, lived with his wife and three children in a 60-square-meter tile-roofed house in the village in 1985. He had to fetch water from a river that was 5 km from his home.

Farming was his mainstay, but it was at the mercy of the weather. Whatever he harvested could barely feed his family for six months. Li had to do odd jobs so he could buy foodgrains for the family.

"When hens laid eggs, we sold all of them and bought salt and grains," Li said.