Leaving No One Behind

By staff reporter MA LI

IN Fengdu County of southwest Chinas Chongqing Municipality， a slew of private entrepreneurs have joined in the targeted poverty alleviation initiative of “enterprises helping villages.” They have not only contributed to promoting the local economy and revitalizing the countryside， but also achieved the high-quality development of their own business.

Chen Guohai is one of these entrepreneurs. He invested to develop the Jiuchongtian Scenic Area， therefore providing local villagers with jobs and business opportunities to increase their income.“In the past， the villagers joked that they were my poor relatives， but now the word ‘poor is going to be removed，” Chen Guohai told China Today.

Construction of the Jiuchongtian Scenic Area began in December 2015 and opened to visitors in July 2017. The poverty-stricken villagers living in the scenic area， by selling agricultural products and doing manual or service jobs， are gradually walking out of poverty.

Teaching a Man to Fish

Liao Changrong， 46， operates an agritainment business in Jiuchongtian Scenic Area with a net income of RMB 200，000 a year. A native of Lianhuadong Village， Liao and his wife had been working away from home as migrant workers until August 2015 when they returned home and got employed in Jiuchongtian.

In order to help Liaos family get rid of poverty as early as possible， Chen Guohai provided Liao Changrong with funds to run an agritainment facility in the scenic area in 2017.“Now with the increasing tourist arrivals， the original investment has been recovered，” said Liao. In addition to running his agritainment business， he also does some managerial work for Chen Guohai in Jiuchongtian. Chen pays him RMB 3，000 a month.

In addition to unconditionally providing poor households with opportunities to get rid of poverty， Chen Guohai has also invited specialists in hotel and catering management to Jiuchongtian to impart management experiences to poor households operating agritainment business. Whats more， he organized the villagers to visit other rural tourist attractions in places including Fuling and Chongqing， in order to broaden their horizons and change their mindsets， which effectively helped the villagers strengthen confidence and determination to lift themselves out of poverty.

With the assistance of Chen Guohai， seven poor households in Lianhuadong Village and 15 poor households in Anningchang Village have shaken off poverty successively. The scenic spot has directly and indirectly led to the increase in income of more than 1，000 residents in surrounding villages.

Great Transformation

Qin Dali and his wife in Anningchang Village used to be trapped in poverty because of illness. With the development of Jiuchongtian， they have greatly improved their lives.

Speaking of the changes brought about by the development of the scenic spot to the village and their own lives， Qin Dali， in his 50s， became excited， with tears in his eyes. “If it werent for the boss， Chen， to build the road up the mountain and develop tourism， we would have no way out，” he said. The village is 25 kilometers away from the county town. It used to take seven or eight hours for the villagers to travel to the county town. Now it only takes a little over half an hour， and they can take shuttle buses of the scenic area free of charge.

In the past， what worried the villagers most was getting sick. As there was no highway access， if somebody got seriously ill， they would have died on the stretcher carried by the villagers before they were able to reach the hospital. But now， according to Qin， one just needs to call 120 for an ambulance to send a patient to a hospital as soon as possible.

Because of health reasons， neither Qin nor his wife can engage in heavy physical labor. They used to live by selling vegetables and fruits in the county town. They often got up at 3 or 4 oclock in the morning， and walked down the mountain using a torch light or a flashlight to light the way. When they returned home from the county town， it was always late at night. “Those days of seeking a living were really bitter！” he recalled.

Following the development of the scenic area， Qin Dali was assigned to work there， and has since had a monthly salary. His farm produce， such as chickens， honey， and vegetables， can be sold in the scenic spot. Now the annual income of his family reaches RMB 40，000. “There is no extravagant expense for people living in the mountains， and now I have no worries about food and clothing，”said Qin. He renovated his house last autumn， and plans to call his son who works in the city back to run a family lodging. “Better days lie ahead，” Qin said.