A Spring Festival free of poverty: Life is getting better and better

Guizhou province has made poverty reduction its top priority. More than 8 million people have been freed from poverty inthe past six years. Local people are embracing a better life and enjoying the happiness of Spring Festival.

A series of cultural activities are held for the 2019 Spring Festival in Guizhou Province [Photo/Chinanews.com]

On February 10, the sixth day of Lunar New Year, Pu Guangyou, a resident who has just escaped from poverty in Tongren, Guizhou province, invited his relatives to his new house to celebrate Spring Festival.

This would be Pu’s first Spring Festival free from poverty. In his view,being able to provide meals for relatives and buy something special for Spring Festival are two clear measures of his new financial status.

A happy atmosphere pervaded Pu’s new house with its clean wood floors, big rooms, television, washing machine and sofa. The clean washing was hanging on the balcony, and a big “Fu” (a Chinese blessing character) was displayed by the dining table.

To cater for his big family, Pu went to market early in the morning to buy fish, shrimps and vegetables. His wife Yang Aiying helped him to cook elaborate dishes.

Spicy chicken, boiled shrimps, braised fish and egg rolls with pork were served on the table. Local specialties, cold rice Toufu and wild vegetables were also available. Pu and his family drank and chatted throughout the meal.

“We lived on the hill before. On rainy days we had to slide downhill in the mud,” says Pu, looking around at his new house. “In the mornings the kids had to walk for an hour to school, taking a flashlight when it was dark.”

Yang Aiying took over:“Now it’s getting better. We live in a bigclean house,and our daughter is enrolled at a kindergarten nearby. Life will be better and better.” 

The Pu family lived inYangshijie village of Wanshan district before, which used to be one of the poorest villages in this area. Before their escape from poverty, the whole family made a living by working outside the village.

In 2018, the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development of China published a letter giving feedback on the results of the 2017 special evaluation and inspection of poverty-stricken counties in Guizhou province. Fourteen counties or districts, including Wanshan and Tongzi, were free from poverty according to the relevant standards. Having left the hill site and moved to the city, the Pu family was one of those who were part of this success.

In recent years, Guizhou province has made poverty reduction its top priority and a key social project. More than 8 million people have left poverty inthe past six years,and the poverty incidence had fallen from 26.8 percent in 2012 to 4.3 percent by the end of 2018.

“I’ve heard that companies around are recruiting people—I’ll go out and find a job,” says Pu. There are many job opportunities on their doorstep, very convenient for the couple to take care of their family.

A similar story happened in Renyou village, Chishui city. Yang Zehui, a resident of the village, makes a living by cutting bamboo and selling spring and winter shoots. His income reached 100,000 yuan (US$14,700) in 2018.

“Life since leaving poverty is really great, and my annual income has doubled,” saysYang. He bought a new car before Spring Festival and planned to take a trip with his family.

The city where Yang lives is 500 kilometers from Pu’s village. It was among the first batch of poor counties in China to emerge from poverty, and also the first in Wumeng mountainous poor area and in Guizhou Province.

Famous for its bamboo, Chishui city now has more than 300 bamboo processing enterprises and small private business, wood and bamboo shoots. In 2018, the annual output of the bamboo industry in the city reached 7.7 billion yuan (US$1.1 billion).

In Guizhou, the “frontline” of the battle against poverty in China, after this Spring Festival, some residents are developing their own businesses by using local resources and some are finding work near their new homes or becoming self-employed. Every family is on the road out of poverty and looking forward to a better future.