Learning · Story丨Camphor as evidence to control the mountain and water to write a legend Changting | Xi Jinping | Camphor as evidence to control the mountain
In the Soil and Water Conservation Science and Education Park in Changting County, Fujian Province, the camphor tree donated by Xi Jinping 24 years ago stands tall with lush branches and leaves, witnessing the green miracle on the red land of Changting.
The camphor tree donated by Comrade Xi Jinping to the Soil and Water Conservation Science and Education Park in Changting County, Fujian Province. Changting was once one of the areas with the most serious soil and water loss in the red soil region of southern my country. "The mountains are bare, the water is turbid, the fields are thin, and the people are poor" are just eight words that describe the plight of the time. Since 1983, Changting has been listed as a pilot area for comprehensive soil and water loss control in Fujian Province.
In November 1999, Xi Jinping conducted research in the Hetian soil erosion control area in Changting County, Longyan City. On November 27, 1999, Xi Jinping, then deputy secretary of the Fujian Provincial Party Committee and acting governor, made a special trip to Changting to investigate soil erosion control. When he learned that the area of soil erosion still exceeded one million mu, he said to the cadres present with a serious expression: "Soil erosion in Changting is a 'bald head' and a stubborn disease that has not been cured for a long time. In 1983, Secretary Xiang Nan made a special study on control. People still miss him and place their hopes on him, but 'the revolution has not yet succeeded, and comrades still need to work hard.'"
At noon that day, Xi Jinping organized a symposium and stated on the spot: "The province will give preferential treatment to Changting in terms of policies and funds, even if it means bending our backs, we will continue to do so."
In February 2000, Fujian Province included "comprehensive control of soil erosion with a focus on the severe soil erosion areas in Changting" in the province's practical projects for the people and determined a special annual appropriation from the provincial finance.
Since then, large-scale soil and water erosion control in Changting has begun.
In March 2000, Changting County organized cadres and the masses to donate money to build the Hetian Century Ecological Park. After learning about this, Xi Jinping asked someone to send 1,000 yuan on May 29 to donate a camphor tree for the ecological park.
On October 13, 2001, when he went to Changting again, Xi Jinping came to Hetian Century Ecological Park and was very happy to see that the camphor trees he donated a year ago had grown lush and green. He personally added soil and watered the trees.
In October 2001, Xi Jinping investigated soil erosion control in Changting County, Longyan City, and added soil to trees in Hetian Century Ecological Park. At the soil erosion control site under the stone wall on the back mountain of the ecological park, Zhong Binglin, then director of the Changting County Soil and Water Conservation Bureau, brought the "battle map" of that year and reported to Xi Jinping on the control situation in the past two years. Seeing that the bare mountains two years ago are now lush and green, Xi Jinping showed a gratified smile on his face.
Zhong Binglin pulled out a blade of grass and showed it to him, saying, "This grass is called partridge grass. It has strong vitality and only grows in barren places."
Xi Jinping looked at the grass carefully and said, "Let us work together and work hard to control the soil erosion in Changting, and let this grass 'herald the arrival of spring'!"
The scenery of Changting Tingjiang National Wetland Park in Changting County, Longyan City, Fujian Province. Photo by reporter Wei Peiquan
After years of continuous governance, Changting is now lined with green mountains and lush vegetation. The "Changting Experience" has also been promoted globally as a successful case of ecological restoration practice in the world.
In March 2021, when General Secretary Xi Jinping visited Fujian, he learned that Changting had become a beautiful oasis. He recalled the past: "I tell you, investing money in ecology may not seem like raising chickens and laying eggs like development and construction, but this matter must be done. In the end, it turned out to be raising golden chickens and laying golden eggs."
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