Footsteps of bygone villagers retraced

Relocated villagers received with open arms

Liu Guangming is a 51-year-old trained general practitioner who was first offered the prospect of leaving Miaoxiang back in 2007. He now lives in the picturesque village of Xianqiao, with appealing bright facades and expansive views from across the hillsides. His preference for Xianqiao mainly stemmed from its vicinity to Wushan city, a mere half-hour drive on the local modern standard road system.

As a third-generation doctor specializing in Chinese medicine, he began studying for his license at the age of 17, when he attended a polytechnic institution in Wanzhou. On his return to Miaoxiang, he recalled the conditions he faced on a daily basis.

'There was no hospital in Miaotang or even a clinic like here in Xianqiao Village. We could only work from home or make house calls. Medical equipment was very basic, and we just had basic tools, such as for measuring blood pressure and sugar levels."

Liu had no difficulty settling into the local community of Xianqiao village, thanks to the warm reception from local residents and the fact that there are fellow villagers from Miaotang who also relocated here. He now runs a well-stocked clinic about twenty meters across his communal courtyard and receives a steady income with further incentives based on the number of patients he treats.

His yearly earnings of around 100,000 yuan mean he can lead a comfortable life in the village, yet he still retains a certain nostalgia for his hometown in the remote mountainsides.

"The people of Xianqiao have been very welcoming towards us. On top of my wages as a general practitioner, I also receive extra stipends worth around 400 yuan a month for treating more patients. Although there's no comparison with life in Xianqiao, I still have a fondness for my hometown and have traveled back to Miaoxiang occasionally over the years." Stories of newfound prosperity abound.

Endeavor paves the road to prosperity

The success of poverty alleviation in China cannot be explained through simply the expenditure. A cornerstone of this endeavor has always been to provide rural communities with the opportunity to take matters of prosperity into their own hands. As many countryside banners and slogans continually emphasize, prosperity is reaped from the efforts you sow.

While investment and social safety nets have provided rural communities with the solid foundations of high-quality infrastructure, the issues of medical coverage and education fees have been resolved so that people needn't fall into debt-driven poverty.

Once these conditions are in place, rural dwellers can then train and seek employment in a wide range of industries, such as rural tourism, cooperatives, or skilled trades.