Learning in Progress丨Story of General Secretary Xi Jinping and Ningxia Drone | Helan Mountain | Xi Jinping
[Learning in Progress] On the afternoon of the 19th, General Secretary Xi Jinping inspected and investigated in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. He came to the Changcheng Garden Community in Jinfeng District, Yinchuan City, to learn about the community's role in playing the role of grassroots party organizations, optimizing convenient and beneficial services for the people, and promoting exchanges and integration among people of all ethnic groups. "Learning in Progress" launched an article to learn about the story of the General Secretary and Ningxia.
The rolling Yellow River, the towering Helan Mountains, and Ningxia, the south of the Yangtze River in the Great Wall, have always been the focus of General Secretary Xi Jinping's affection and heart.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has visited Ningxia twice, in 2016 and 2020, and urged people of all ethnic groups to build a beautiful new Ningxia with prosperous economy, ethnic unity, beautiful environment and prosperous people.
"East-West poverty alleviation cooperation and targeted support must be maintained for a long time"
The northern part of Ningxia benefits from the water of the Yellow River, with flat terrain and crisscrossing rivers and canals, and is known as the "South of the Yangtze River on the Great Wall". However, the southern loess hilly area is full of gullies, damp and cold. Xiji, Haiyuan and Guyuan here are collectively called Xihaigu, and together with Hexi and Dingxi in Gansu, they are collectively called the "Three Wests", which have been "the poorest in the world" since ancient times.
In the 1990s, the central government decided that Fujian would provide assistance to Ningxia. In 1997, Xi Jinping, then deputy secretary of the Fujian Provincial Party Committee, led a team to Ningxia for an inspection and came to Xihaigu for the first time.
At that time, some villagers lived in caves, and there was nothing valuable in their homes. Some families only had two or three pairs of pants. Xi Jinping visited one family and saw a bundle of hair algae hanging on the top of the cave. This was the only valuable thing. The family had some food, but not enough to eat. The little water they had was carried from far away. Because there was no water to wash, everyone was dirty.
Talking about the trip to Xihaigu, Xi Jinping said, "I have seen and lived in poor places, but in the 1990s, after many years of reform and opening up, there were still such poor and miserable places, which shocked me greatly."
Xi Jinping said that we must respond to the central government's call and do a good job in targeted poverty alleviation. Fujian established a leading group for the Fujian-Ningxia cooperation, with Xi Jinping as the group leader to focus on this matter.
Xi Jinping and his comrades in Ningxia took a major action, which was to relocate people to Diaozhuang. "Diaozhuang" is a word in Ningxia, which means to move a village from there to here. At that time, thousands of households were relocated from Xihaigu to the vicinity of Yinchuan. Xi Jinping personally named it "Mining Village": "Mining Village is now a dry beach, and it will be a golden beach in the future."
This is a photo of Minning Town, Yinchuan City, Ningxia, taken on September 7, 2022. Photo by reporter Feng Kaihua
In July 2016, General Secretary Xi Jinping made a special trip to Yuanlong Immigrant Village in Min Ning Town during his inspection tour in Ningxia.
The general secretary first drove around the town to see the new look of the new village - red tiles, white walls, and rows of small buildings. A cadre recalled that the general secretary asked about the people's income, schooling, medical treatment, and the village's infrastructure along the way.
When the General Secretary came to the villagers, he was moved by the scene. He said to the villagers, "In the past 20 years, Minning Village has developed into Minning Town, and your income has increased from 500 yuan per capita to more than 10,000 yuan now, nearly 20 times. I am very pleased to see that you are starting to live a good life and your faces are filled with happiness."
Xie Xingchang, who immigrated from Xiji County to Min Ning Town, excitedly told the General Secretary that after his family moved there, they felt new changes were happening every day, and that it would take three days and three nights to express their gratitude to the Communist Party.
General Secretary Xi Jinping responded to Xie Xingchang and said that in our socialist big family, we must let the people feel the warmth of the Party and the government at all times.
During this inspection, General Secretary Xi Jinping hosted a symposium on East-West Poverty Alleviation Cooperation in Yinchuan. The General Secretary stressed that East-West Poverty Alleviation Cooperation and Paired Support are a major strategy to promote coordinated development, collaborative development, and common development of the region, a major layout to strengthen regional cooperation, optimize industrial layout, and expand new space for domestic and foreign opening up, and a major measure to achieve the goal of helping the poor to become rich first and ultimately achieve common prosperity. "East-West Poverty Alleviation Cooperation and Paired Support must be maintained for a long time."
“Socialism is achieved through hard work, and happiness is achieved through struggle”
There is a Jinhuayuan community in Litong District, Wuzhong City, Ningxia, which was once awarded the title of "National Model Collective for Ethnic Unity and Progress". This community has more than 10,000 permanent residents, nearly half of whom are ethnic minorities, and everyone lives together in harmony.
In June 2020, General Secretary Xi Jinping visited this community during his inspection tour in Ningxia. He learned about the community’s party building work, the establishment of an ethnic unity community, and services for the people, and had a cordial conversation with representatives of community volunteers.
In Yuxi Community, Litong District, Wuzhong City, Ningxia, Wang Lanhua, who is over 70 years old, discusses the arrangements for volunteer service in Yuxi Community with members of the volunteer service team. Photo by reporter Jia Haocheng
Volunteer Wang Lanhua is a veteran Party member and model of the Hui ethnic group, who is the same age as the Republic. When she met the General Secretary, Wang Lanhua said excitedly: "When you came to Ningxia for research in 2016, I will always remember what you said, 'Socialism is achieved through hard work.' It is not easy for the country to develop to where it is today. It was achieved step by step."
In July 2016, General Secretary Xi Jinping visited the Ningdong Energy and Chemical Industry Base in the suburbs of Yinchuan City to inspect the world's largest single coal-to-liquid project built by workers and gave an impromptu speech. The phrase "Socialism is achieved through hard work" has always inspired the broad masses of working people.
The General Secretary responded to Wang Lanhua warmly: "This includes you and the vast number of volunteers. Everyone is working hard!"
Wang Lanhua regards solving the worries and concerns of community residents as her top priority. She has persisted in volunteer service for more than ten years, leading the "Wang Lanhua Enthusiastic Group" to solve various difficulties for residents, mediate various civil disputes, and carry out public welfare activities.
The General Secretary said to Wang Lanhua, "Your experience is very good, and it truly reflects that actions speak louder than words. Socialism is achieved through hard work. People of all ethnic groups must work together, and volunteers must play their full role. Thank you for your efforts and contributions."
"Each generation of us must walk our own Long March"
In 2016, it was the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Red Army's Long March. When General Secretary Xi Jinping visited Ningxia in July of that year, his first stop was Jiangtaibao in Xiji County. In October 1936, the three main forces of the Red Army met in Huining and Jiangtaibao, marking the successful end of the 25,000-mile Long March.
This is the Jiangtaibao Red Army Long March Reunion Memorial Park located in Xiji County, Guyuan City, Ningxia. Photo by reporter Lu Ying
It was a rainy day. In front of the Red Army Long March Meeting Monument, General Secretary Xi Jinping arranged the ribbon, presented a flower basket, and bowed three times to the revolutionary martyrs.
Afterwards, the General Secretary visited the Red Army Long March Meeting Memorial Park and Memorial Hall. The guide who received the General Secretary recalled a detail: the General Secretary stopped in front of the "Red 25th Army Shanjiaji Notice" as soon as he entered the door.
Shanjiaji is a Hui Muslim settlement area. The Red Army publicized the Party's ethnic and religious policies and formulated this notice. When the 25th Red Army passed through Shanjiaji, they taught the local vermicelli making technology.
At the memorial hall, General Secretary Xi Jinping said affectionately that the Long March of the Red Army led by our party wrote a heroic epic of lofty sentiments. The great spirit of the Long March is a vivid reflection of the revolutionary style of the Chinese Communists. We must continue to inherit and carry forward it in light of the new reality. The new Long March to advance the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics must be carried out continuously and for a long time, and each generation of us must walk our own Long March road well.
"Cherish the Yellow River more and take good care of it"
As an important ecological security barrier in the northwest region, Ningxia shoulders the important mission of maintaining the ecological security of the northwest and even the whole country. Ningxia's ecological environment protection is also a matter of concern to General Secretary Xi Jinping.
The Yellow River has enriched Ningxia, and it has long benefited the people here. Since the Han and Tang Dynasties, people have dug canals to divert water and reclaimed land, and the area has been known as "Jiangnan on the Great Wall".
This is the Ningxia section of the Yellow River photographed on June 13, 2024. Photo by reporter Wang Peng
In June 2020, General Secretary Xi Jinping visited the Guchengwan protected section of the Wuzhong Riverside Avenue on the Yellow River, walked along the coastal trail, inspected the ecological management and protection of the Yellow River, and listened to a report on the ecological protection management and water conservancy project construction in the Ningxia section of the Yellow River.
The General Secretary pointed out that Ningxia should have a sense of the overall situation and responsibility, cherish the Yellow River more and take good care of it.
General Secretary Xi Jinping visited the Rice and Fish Space Rural Ecological Tourism Park in Helan County. Here, rice is grown and fish and crabs are raised, which in turn fertilize the rice fields; farmers transfer their land, work and invest in the park, becoming both workers and shareholders; tourists can visit the park, taste delicious food and buy agricultural products.
After listening to the introduction, General Secretary Xi Jinping nodded in approval: "There is not only primary industry here, but also secondary and tertiary industries. The efficiency of water resource utilization has been improved, and the added value has also increased."
General Secretary Xi Jinping climbed up the tower and looked out into the distance. Thousands of acres of rice fields were rippling with green waves. He walked along the ridges into the depths of the rice fields. It was the season for releasing fish, and the General Secretary scooped up fish and crab fry and put them into the canals beside the fields.
The General Secretary stressed that Ningxia should cherish the water resources of the Yellow River, pay attention to resolving the contradiction between rice and water, adjust the agricultural industrial structure, and actively develop water-saving and high-value-added breeding and farming industries.
The Helan Mountains after the snow, photographed in Suyukou National Forest Park, Helan Mountains, Ningxia on February 9, 2023. Photo by reporter Wang Peng
In Ningxia, the Yellow River is called the "Mother River" and the Helan Mountains are called the "Father Mountains". The Helan Mountains are an important natural geographical boundary in my country and an important ecological security barrier in the northwest, protecting the ecological security of the northwest and north China.
In the early years, high-quality "Taixi coal" was discovered in the northern part of the Helan Mountains. Years of excessive mining and open-pit mining operations have caused great damage to the ecological functions of the Helan Mountains.
General Secretary Xi Jinping attaches great importance to resolutely protecting the Helan Mountain ecology.
Since 2017, all coal, sand and gravel mining enterprises within the Helan Mountain National Nature Reserve in Ningxia have been shut down and withdrawn for environmental remediation and ecological restoration, and the approval of mineral resource mining and construction projects in the reserve has been stopped.
In June 2020, General Secretary Xi Jinping visited the Yellow River beach area on the eastern foot of the Helan Mountains.
The photos on the display boards show that the pits left behind by past illegal mining are riddled with holes, but are still vaguely visible after being cleaned up.
The General Secretary stood in front of the display board, looking out at the towering Helan Mountains, and said earnestly that ecological restoration will come at a great cost, but there must be no ambiguity and great efforts must be made to do it well.
In recent years, Ningxia has developed the industry and improved the ecology by renovating the beach areas and developing grape cultivation.
The General Secretary encouraged everyone to combine the development of the wine industry with strengthening the management of the Yellow River floodplain and strengthening ecological restoration to create their own well-known brands.
