Industrial Development Holds the Key to Retaining the Relocatees

Wang Jinfu, who was packing fruits in a greenhouse, told the reporter that many out-of-season fruits they grew in the greenhouses with pollution-free technology were in short supply. “We pick the fruits today, and they will appear in the market of Beijing or Xi’an tomorrow.”

Ma Xiaoping, secretary of the village Party branch, told the reporter the history of the greenhouses. Yuanlong village used to be strewn with gullies and gravels. About two years ago, a PLA army unit sent personnel and equipment to level hundreds of mu of land and helped set up two greenhouses, which are now of quite a large scale.

The unique climate at the Helan Mountain area in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region makes the Yinchuan Plain a “golden area” widely recognized in the wine industry. Many wineries have come to Yuanlong village at the foot of the mountain.

During the busy season, more than 200 people are needed to pick grapes per day – a job undertaken by the labor service company founded by the village, which alone can bring in nearly RMB 3 million for the villagers every year, not to mention the more than RMB2 million annual land fees paid by the wineries to the villagers through the village Party branch.

“Relocation doesn’t just mean building some nice apartments. We need to help the relocatees settle down and get rich – that’s the only way to make them put down roots.” According to Ma Xiaoping, the villagers have realized the vast potential of industrial development and become more motivated and passionate. They have taken root in the Gobi desert indeed.

The Dry Dunes Turn into?a “Golden Land”

Under the warm winter sun, a peculiar yard with more than 150 square meters caught the reporters’ attention. It was the “Yuanlong village service center” – a multi-function venue providing a wide range of services, including daycare, dining, laundry, hairdressing, and bathing.

It is the first all-around service center in Minning town, which is invested by a PLA army unit and officially came into operation in April 2020. The center serves the 25 households of lonely, widowed, ill or disabled elders and those who have lost the ability to work by providing them with free lunches and suppers and laundry services.

The staff arranges meals according to every elder’s dining habits and physical conditions, and works out weekly menus to ensure sufficient and balanced nutrition. They also provide home delivery services for those with walking difficulties. Each of the 25 households has a tailored laundry service. The staff would regularly fetch laundries from their home, clean, dry, and iron them, and send them back so that the elderly always have clean clothes to wear.

At the end of the interview, the reporters took a panoramic video of Yuanlong village with a UAV. Having a overlookof his hometown for the first time, Ma Xiaoping was a bit excited. “The more than 5,000 mu (about 333.33 hectares) of protection forests around Yuanlong village are planted by the villagers and the PLA soldiers together. They make us believe that as long as we put our feet on the ground and work hard, the dry dunes can be turned into a ‘golden land.’”

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