Yan'an, iconic revolutionary base, bids adieu to poverty with government assistance
Greener city
Located in the hinterlands of the Loess Plateau, Yan'an was once vulnerable to drought and floods.
The adverse environment and poor industrial foundation also instilled in locals the importance of environmental protection.
About 40 kilometers south of the city center, Nanniwan township is famous for a large-scale production campaign mobilized by Mao Zedong in the 1940s, who urged the adoption of a revolutionary spirit to turn uncultivated land into farms. The goal was to become self-reliant in grain.
Hou Xiuzhen, 73, witnessed the great changes to the town over the past half-century.
As the daughter-in-law of a veteran of a brigade of the Chinese Eighth Route Army, which led the campaign at that time, Hou and her husband continued to work the fields cultivated by the brigade after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.
"In the 1950s, the hills were covered by farms instead of trees. But we had meager grain yields because of the barren soil and arid climate," Hou said.
With government subsidies, Hou led her villagers to plant trees in the surrounding hills in 1999. Thanks to two decades of reforestation, Nanniwan now has a new look, with all the surrounding mountains covered with green trees in late spring.
