Vigilance and vegetables boost border lifestyle

Sense of achievement

"I got a huge sense of achievement from my efforts. More importantly, it gave me the opportunity to look at Tajik culture from different angles, and I became more open," he said.

Because of the harsh environment, the Tajiks mostly engaged in small-scale animal husbandry for hundreds of years and relied on cultivating the small amount of arable land in the mountainous area.

Sun was happy to help the locals. To introduce and promote his planting techniques to ordinary Tajiks, he traveled from house to house and visited every greenhouse.

"He does not speak Tajik, but the language barrier did not stop me from learning how to plant, because he used all kinds of gestures and illustrations to teach me. Thanks to him, vegetables are now widely used in our cuisine," said Khalip Sadalik, a 49-year-old herdsman who Sun taught to plant seeds 10 years ago.

Now, almost every family has a government-funded greenhouse in their yard, which provides additional income. The development has fundamentally changed people's eating habits.

"When I was young, the only crops available were potatoes and highland barley. I never thought that one day I would eat various vegetables at dinner, and what is even more unbelievable is that I planted them myself," Khalip said.

Sun said: "Tajiks are a traditionally nomadic people, and that shapes their free-and-easy character. It is difficult for them to stick to one place. Sometimes, they forget to water or fertilize the fields on time, but eventually they become accustomed to the schedule.

"Han people have lived in an agrarian society for more than 1,000 years, and that makes us stick to our inherited land, as our livelihoods depend on it. We have to follow the farming program every day, otherwise we may have a poor autumn harvest."

Reforms

Last year, the government made reforms to the law enforcement system, under which the officers of the People's Armed Police Force were transferred from military status to the civil service.

Sun became an immigration officer when his troop was incorporated with the newly established National Immigration Administration.

During his 22 years of service, Sun has had a few chances to leave, but he has turned them all down. The last time (last year), he hesitated, but decided to stay.

"He deserves warm applause and appreciation from everyone at our station for what he did. I told him he could retire with pride, and we offered him a pension of almost 3 million yuan. But, he turned it down," said Wang Xianlei, senior officer at the border inspection station at Khunjerab.

In addition to his memories and love of the Khunjerab Pass, Sun has invested so much time and energy in helping the locals that he is unwilling to leave.

"I only see my family once a year. It is hard to been separated from them, but I dedicated my youth to Tashikurgan and the inspection station; how could I say goodbye to all that?" he said.