At the award ceremony of “Touching China’s 2020 Person of the Year” held on February 17, 2021, a man with a slightly stooped back but a resolute expression on his face stood on the podium. Mao Xianglin was one of the 10 candidates being awarded. Eight days later, Mao was honored as a model poverty fighter at a grand gathering held in Beijing to mark the country’s victory in the battle against poverty. Receiving such honors made him recall the journey which led him here: building a road on a cliff, being among a group of villagers who lifted themselves out of poverty, and playing a part in the revitalization of their village after developing agritourism.
Mao Xianglin stares at the cliff after the completion of the new road in Xiazhuang Village, recalling the contributions made by each villager.
Building a Road on a Cliff
Mao, born in January 1959, is the Party secretary and director of the village committee of Xiazhuang Village in Zhuxian Township, Wushan County, Chongqing Municipality. Xiazhuang Village, with less than 400 people, sits between the Pingding River and Houxi River in the upper reaches of the Lesser Three Gorges. Surrounded by cliffs whose elevations range from the 200 meters to more than 1,000 meters, the entire village seems to be situated in a giant sinkhole, isolated from the outside world. Life under such circumstance was very inconvenient.
Changes happened when 38-year-old Mao was elected the Party secretary of the village. After Mao returned from a training for village cadres that year, he realized that the village had been left far behind by villages that made full use of the preferential policies of the reform and opening-up. He began to think of a way out of poverty.
On his first night back in the village, Mao convened a meeting and proposed to build a road on the cliff by themselves. However, the proposal faced much disapproving voices. How could the road be done without money and specialized equipment? Other questions like this were raised, including where to obtain the required explosives, the funding, and how long the project would take.
To persuade the doubtful villagers, Mao cited some statistics: among the 398 local villagers, 315 had never ridden in a car, 360 didn’t know what a TV set was, and 23 died after falling off the edge of the cliff, with another 60-plus injured or 15 disabled from falling accidents.
Mao further pointed out, “To sell poultry and livestock, we have to slaughter and cut them into chunks before bringing the meat to a nearby market. And it often takes us a whole day for one round trip. If we could build a road, the vegetables and livestock would be transported out and sold at a good price.”
The villagers finally reached an agreement to build the road with self-raised funds. For Mao, he utilized RMB 700 of his mother’s pension, and RMB 3,000 his younger sister had saved for home renovation. He borrowed another RMB 10,000 from the rural credit cooperative in his own name.
On December 12, 1997, the villagers of Xiazhuang led by Mao started to build the first road leading to the outside world by themselves. Men were busy working on the mountains, and women were responsible for cooking, transporting supplies back and forth, as well as planting the fields. Elderly people looked after young kids at home, and older children helped in transporting necessary materials after school. Men all slept in temporary shelters set up on the cliffs, and returned home only once a month. During the day time, Mao took the lead in drilling blast holes, placing explosive, and carrying rocks. At night, he tied a safety rope around his waist with the other end tied to an old big tree growing in a crack of rocks, and slept at the very outer edge of the shack. Mao took it for granted that it was his duty to take the heaviest and most dangerous work.
Safety was the biggest challenge for Mao and the other villagers working on the cliffs. Even though they took ample precaution, sometimes, unfortunate things were still unavoidable. In 1999, 28-year-old Shen Qingfu and 36-year-old Huang Huiyuan were killed after being hit by falling rocks. “I felt a deep remorse after Huang’s death. For the first time Mao’s resolve wavered.
Mao felt personally guilty for the deaths of two villagers, because he proposed to build the road. He voiced his worries frankly at Huang’s funeral. Unexpectedly, Huang’s father lent him his strong support and said, “I won’t let my son die for nothing. Only if we complete the road can we shake off poverty.” Mao and other villagers were deeply moved and became even more determined to overcome whatever difficulties that might lay ahead. The next day, villagers continued their work as usual, with Huang’s wife joining in.
After seven years of hard work, the two-meter-wide and eight-kilometer-long road, winding through cliffs, was completed on March 2004. A monument was set up at the entrance of the village, engraved with the names of those who died during its construction. “They are the heroes that should be remembered forever,” said Mao.
A Way Out of Poverty
Then Mao began to think about what could be done to create a better life for the villagers.
After visiting nearby villages and seeking advice from agricultural technicians, Mao decided to plant Newhall navel oranges in the village. He first learned the planting techniques by himself and then went door-to-door to teach other villagers. In only few years, 100-plus acres of orange trees were planted and an economic cooperative was established to conduct professional management. The new industry was expected to rake in a revenue of RMB 2 million for villagers. In addition, Mao encouraged them to plant sesame, wheat, watermelon, and pumpkins. An agricultural mode with fruits as the mainstay and multiple cash crops developing simultaneously has formed. Every year, the watermelon plantation alone can bring more than RMB 3,000 to each villager. During the off-season, surplus laborers were mobilized by Mao to take on odd jobs out of the region. More than 100 villagers have worked in that mode over the past decade, with an annual income of over RMB 2 million.
The situation was improving, but the road was so narrow that only motorcycles and small agricultural vehicles could pass through. On rainy days, mud and rocks slid down from the mountain often blocking the road. It became essential that the road be widened.
In 2015 Xiazhuang was identified as a poor village, which allowed it to be the recipient of preferential policies from the local government. It received a special funding of RMB 4 million to renovate and widen the road to 4.5 meters, cover the surface with cement concrete, and add guardrails along the outer edge of the road.
The completion of the cemented road gave villagers more confidence and they were ambitious in their desire to raise their income. In 2018, a road connecting to the Shanghai-Chongqing Expressway and the Dangyang Grand Canyon broke ground, which was designed to attract more tourists to Chongqing and nearby provinces. It was also an opportunity for Xiazhuang Village to develop its tourism industry. “We have taken three actions in order to seize this opportunity,” said Mao. First, they renovated some dilapidated houses and decorated them to provide comfortable lodging for travelers. Second, they built the village into a training base with a small museum where visitors can watch its historical exhibits and learn the spirit of self-reliance. Third, they invested more on orange and watermelon planting and invited tourists to pick fruit. The booming agritourism market has brought the villagers of Xiazhuang much closer to a prosperous life.
Mao has fulfilled his promise to the villagers. Under his leadership, a total of 96 households shook off poverty. In 2020, the village reached a per capita income of RMB 12,670. In Mao’s mind, a good life is in everyone’s own hands.
