Xizang bond still strong for pioneering official

BEIJING－In 1979, Li Chunmin spent six days on bumpy, muddy roads suffering from severe headaches before reaching Southwest China's Xizang autonomous region, about 3,000 kilometers away from his hometown in North China's Tianjin municipality.

Since then, he has visited Xizang 20 times as a part of government efforts to bring officials to Xizang to help with local development. This year marks the 70th anniversary of China's peaceful liberation of the region.

Now 70, the retired Li has witnessed decades of huge changes in Xizang. "In the remainder of my life, I hope to visit all of the places in Xizang and to see the amazing region," says Li.

Li, an official of Tianjin Dredging Co Ltd, part of the State-owned company China Communications Construction, was one of more than 3,000 officials from across the country who traveled there in 1979 to aid local development. He applied to go to the county of Riwoqe, meaning "mountains" in the Tibetan language, which is located in northeastern Xizang.

"I needed to work there for five years, but my baby was only 4 months old at that time," Li says. "My wife and my parents were quite supportive, especially my father. He said we should go wherever the motherland needs us."

Li boarded a train from Beijing to Chengdu, Sichuan province, before transferring via a bus, which ran for six days on muddy roads.

Almost immediately, Li had to learn to ride horses, speak the Tibetan language and adapt to conditions in Riwoqe, which sits about 4,500 meters above sea level.

"I had to ride a horse to rural areas to promote government policies and conduct surveys about people's lives," Li says. "Some countryside roads were so difficult that I had to ride on the horse for three to four days."

During this time, Li bonded with his one-eyed horse. To help him learn the Tibetan language, he explains:"I prepared a small notebook. I used the pinyin phonetic alphabet to mark the Tibetan pronunciation, and I used every second I had to recite sentences."

He gradually became close with locals after eating, living and laboring in the fields with them. He helped them mow the grass, carry fertilizer and taught them scientific knowledge.

One thing that caused Li issues was not being able to get enough vegetables in his diet. "The lack of vegetables led to constipation," he says. "In the most severe case, I was stopped up for six days."

Eventually, Li's landlady introduced him to a Tibetan remedy that relieved his symptoms.

In 1983, Li suddenly fell severely ill due to overworking, and authorities transported him back to Tianjin for treatment. Fortunately, with treatment, his health recovered.

After almost five years of working and living in Xizang, Li felt a strong attachment to the region. In 1993, he took a trip to Riwoqe.

"I saw a classroom with no windows. The wind was blowing right through the room, and the students were shivering," he says. Li was heartbroken. He gave some money to the school and asked them to repair the windows.

Since then, Li started paying more attention to education in Riwoqe and tried his best to help improve the education conditions there. In 2006, he visited Riwoqe again and, with help from friends, donated 350,000 yuan ($54,635) to upgrade local student dorms and teaching facilities. He also launched a foundation to raise money to help impoverished students. The foundation has raised over 9 million yuan, of which 1 million came from Li himself.

Despite having heart surgery last year, this April Li made his 20th visit to Riwoqe. This time, he met with experts to find a way to ensure a consistent water supply for local solar water heaters.

"Li is a hero for us," says Dong Jianhua from Shanghai, who is currently aiding Xizang and has joined Li in the solar water heater project. "Over the years, he has selflessly dedicated himself to helping Xizang, and he has never changed."

Li's efforts are part of a broader picture, as the government has made a great effort to help with Xizang's development.

Over the past 70 years, the central government has introduced many favorable policies for the region, covering tax and finance, infrastructure, industrial development, education, health, cultural preservation and environmental protection.

Last year, Xizang's GDP exceeded 190 billion yuan. Since its peaceful liberation, the region has gradually established a comprehensive transport network of highways, railways, air routes and pipelines. Highways totaling 118,800 km in length have been built in Xizang.

The region has also made coordinated progress in improving its environment, investing a total of 81.4 billion yuan in the area by the end of last year. In 2020, the forest coverage reached 12.3 percent, and the comprehensive vegetation coverage of natural grassland grew to 47 percent.

In the new era, Xizang is enjoying rapid and sustained growth thanks to social harmony and stability.

"I have witnessed many things, including the opening of the Qinghai-Xizang railway," Li says.

He plans to visit more places in Xizang in the future. "There are many places and many things waiting for me to explore," he says.

Xinhua