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West China

Discover China: The changing gauge of wealth in Xihaigu

2019-09-29 09:08:52

YINCHUAN, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Wang Ximing, once an impoverished farmer living in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, was born in 1949, the year when the People's Republic of China was founded. The 70-year-old man has long wanted to become wealthy, however, the definition of wealth has varied over the past seven decades.

Like the wrinkles on his face, the days lacking water, food and clothes are still etched on Wang's memory. The farmer lived in rural Xihaigu, an impoverished mountainous areas in southern Ningxia, which is one of the world's most uninhabitable places, renowned for its harsh environment.

Wang was born in Haizi Village, Longde County, one of the nine counties and districts together known as Xihaigu.

He still remembers the embarrassment when he had to borrow money to make a wedding dress for his bride in the 1960s.

"I felt rather guilty about the poor life she would suffer with me, so I told myself I must work hard to support my family and give them better living conditions," Wang said.

Bare mountains, sandstorms and drought consumed Wang's nightmares when he was young. People in Xihaigu had nothing but hunger and thirst.

Statistics showed that there were more than one million poverty-stricken people in Xihaigu in 2000.

"If a family could raise five sheep and store 500 kg of wheat per year, then it was definitely a 'wealthy' family," Wang said.

Haiyuan County, the birthplace of Qiao Yalong, suffered more severe droughts than Longde. The 42-year-old farmer remembers each villager had one shoulder pole and two buckets, which were used to carry water from nearby creeks, and his younger siblings were often asked to help the family carry water every week.

In the eyes of people in Xihaigu, water-related things such as the distance between the home and the source of water and the number of cisterns built underground to collect rain and snow were important elements to measure a family's wealth.

"People might leave their home doors unlocked, but cisterns must be locked," Qiao said.

Thanks to the efforts made by China's central and local governments over nearly half a century, the problem of safe drinking water was solved. With a series of projects like building cisterns, drawing water from the Yellow river and supplying tap water, farmers in Xihaigu finally have the confidence to develop a high-efficiency agriculture and breeding industry.

When food and water are no longer problems, electric appliances and brick houses became must-have features of a wealthy family.

Wang bought the village's first black-and-white television in 1993 and later a tractor in the early 2000s. "I could see envy in the villagers' eyes for a long time," he said. "They did farm work during the day and gathered in my yard at night to watch TV."

As part of the poverty alleviation campaign, Xihaigu began to develop industries like animal husbandry and the cultivation of potatoes and other vegetable in recent years.

Nowadays, the sizes of cattle and sheep herds and vegetable greenhouses and a steady income have become the new wealth indexes.

"People in different places and eras give varied definitions of wealth. Today, the scale of industry and a stable income enable us to ensure the sustainability of a family's prosperity," said Mu Haibin, a village official.

Seven years ago, Wang, along with his villagers, were relocated to Yinchuan, capital of Ningxia. In his twilight years, he receives over 1,000 yuan from his pension per month.

"I only wish I could live longer and see my grandson get married after graduation from college," he said.

As for Qiao, who still lives in the mountainous area, he said he does not think wealth is all about money. "I put more weight on health and quality of life for my family. Happiness is the biggest wealth of the world," Qiao said.

Editor:Jiang Yiwei