Concrete road of ‘muddy village’ brings villagers new life

Located in Xiji County, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Hanjiang village was once nicknamed as “muddy village,” as its dusty road would be muddy after rain.

Su Xiaoping and his family live at the foot of the mountain, which is on the edge of the village. The seven-person family, including Su and his 83-year old mother, his wife and children, made ends meet by farming a 0.67-hectare piece of farmland.

Su’s home is more than 3.5 kilometers away from the town hall.To him,until 2017, it was extremely inconvenient to leave the village. Crops could only be transported to other places via three-wheelers. During rainy or snowy days, the slushy and slippery road made it even more difficult to go to school or fetch water.

Things started to change when Hanjiang was chosen as a site for a new poverty alleviation project at the beginning of 2017.

The local government invested in the road construction for the village that year. Su purchased three cows with a 50,000-yuan (US$7,860) bank loan. By the year-end, thanks to cattle breeding, his annual household income increased from less than 20,000 yuan (US$3,140) to more than 50,000 yuan (US$7,860).

At the same time, a 7.5-kilometer concrete road was built with 120 solar streetlights installed along the line. The villagers now also have access to tap water and internet at home. According to the local government, the per capita income of the village increased from 2,800 yuan (US$440) in 2016 to 6,800 yuan (US$1,070) in 2017.

In 2018,Su planned to build a new cowshed and raise ten more cows. “Our life here will be better and better,” Su said.

Since 2013, Xiji has invested a total of 1.29 billion yuan (US$203.26 million) in road construction. By the end of 2017, the county had a total of 2,428 kilometers of rural roads, with its 295 administrative villages being linked by concrete roads.