“I am a daughter of the mountains and a member of the Chinese Communist Party. It is my lifelong aspiration to allow the villagers to live a good life without worrying about food and clothing and not to let anyone be left behind on the path to happiness, “said Zhu Xuelan, Party Secretary of Shanping Village. in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Shanping Yao Minority Village is located in the northwestern part of Liubao Municipality, which is considered the home of Chinese tea. The area with endless winding and bumpy mountain roads is high altitude, relatively cold and surrounded by clouds and trees all year round.
Zhu Xuelan grew up here. In his childhood memories, his natives lived a life dependent on the mountains and almost isolated from the outside world. Whenever he went to town, he had to walk in the mountains for half a day. The poor life and difficult environment forced her to return home to use the skills he had learned to play the part of him to change the situation there.
In 2008, with the approval and great expectation of the entire village, Zhu Xuelan was appointed secretary of the Village Party. The first thing he did after taking office was build a road. As the Chinese saying goes: “To get rich, you must first build a road”. After the roads were built or repaired, Zhu Xuelan used the growing fame of Liubao tea to change the poverty and backwardness of the village. Liubao tea is a well-known black tea in China and its production process is listed as a national intangible cultural heritage.
Liubao tea has been grown in the mountains for 1500 years. During the Qing Dynasty, it was selected as one of the 24 famous teas in China and exported to Southeast Asian countries.
In the past, Liubao tea was only spread around the village by individual families and not grown on a large scale. The quality of the tea also varied. Zhu Xuelan taught people how to make free Liubao tea, passed down from his family’s ancestors.
The villagers’ annual per capita income has risen to over 21,000 RMB yuan from the previous 5,000 RMB yuan. The young people of the village went to work, but now everyone has remained in the village to grow and work the tea. Thanks to the good quality of the tea, there is no need to worry about the sale. During tea picking season, Shanping’s courtyards and streets are always crowded with shoppers’ cars.
As a delegate of XX. At the CCP Party Congress, Zhu Xuelan never forgot his original intention: “I will spend the rest of my life dedicating myself to revitalizing the village and leading the Yao people to a happier life.”
