Chixi Village: Steps Out of Poverty
Text by Meng Zhaoli and Tu Hongchang
Chixi children in front of a monument that reads “China’s No. 1 Poverty Relief Village.” The village has blossomed over the past 30 years. by Zhang Guojun/Xinhua
During Spring Festival, the streets of Chixi Village in Panxi Township, Fujian Province, bustle with activity. Red lanterns of good fortune line the streets, and culturally distinctive paper cuttings of the She ethnic group can be seen on windows and doors while merchants dressed in ethnic costumes serve local specialties like white tea and gourd carvings to tourists.
A village where people from the She ethnic group live in compact communities, Chixi became known across China for its poverty more than 30 years ago. However, dramatic changes have taken place across the years. Today, people in Chixi not only enjoy decent standards of living, but also increasing opportunities.
Tough Times
In 1984, Wang Shaoju, then working for the Publicity Department of Fuding County, which administered Chixi, embarked on an arduous journey for the chance to interview people living in Xiashanxi, a sub-village of Chixi. Wang brought solid food with him on a twohour bus trip from the county seat to Panxi Township, and then trekked 18 kilometers up a rugged mountain to finally arrive at his destination. At that time, with Xiashanxi included, the administrative region of Chixi governed 14 villager groups scattered across nine square kilometers deep in the mountains. The only way in or out was narrow meandering footpaths through shaky mountains. Due to slow flow of resources and people caused by inconvenient transportation, poverty was widespread in the area. After the whole country had been implementing reform and opening-up policies for many years, rice and wheat flour were still considered luxuries in Chixi. Even the richest families could only afford to buy 50 kilograms of mixed side crops for Spring Festival, the biggest eating time of the year for Chinese people.
Wang soon published a Chixi survey report in the media, which caused a huge sensation and won the village massive attention. Chixi was soon dubbed China’s No.1 Poverty Relief Village. “However, while poverty alleviation sounded good, it was easier said than done,” remarks Teng Jianjun, current director of Fuding Poverty Alleviation and Development Office. At first, help from governments at various levels and social organizations were more or less the same: They sent money and goods. Fuding’s governmental agencies raised funds, and sent each of the 22 households in Xiashanxi three goats, saplings, and chicks. This method of poverty relief proved inefficient. Local hay was not fit for feeding goats. And because of the barren hilly land, saplings could hardly survive a year.
By the end of the 1980s, annual per capita income in Xiashanxi was still only about US$30, and the poverty rate in Chixi topped 90 percent. The poverty alleviation efforts it inspired ended up relieving the symptoms instead of curing the disease.
Two local ethnic She mothers chat in Chixi Village. Chixi residents believe that poverty alleviation is not just a matter of money. It is a matter of providing those in poverty hope for a better future. by Zhang Guojun/Xinhua
A Chixi villager prunes a white tea tree. White tea is a popular local specialty, and many have shaken off poverty by planting and selling white tea. by Wang Shen/Xinhua
Fighting Poverty Together
Before 1995, Chixi was home to nearly 2,000 residents in more than 400 households. About 800 of the 2,000 were from the She ethnic group, and most resided in extremely remote areas.
Due to the harsh natural conditions, the local government proposed a complete relocation plan for Chixi in 1994. In May 1995, the 22 She families in Xiashanxi bid goodbye to their homes and led the village’s relocation drive. “Each family constructed its own two-story house; 11 homes were built on each side of Chang’an New Road. The 22 families took only 80 logs of wood from their previous place,” recalls Huang Guolai, former village Party secretary of Chixi. Chang’an New Road is the central thoroughfare of Chixi today, with the length of 800 meters and width of 15 meters. Before it was paved, the area was a bamboo forest and vegetable farm. When the 22 households arrived, the cement and bricks they needed to build new houses had already been purchased with funds raised by the local government. Every child was enrolled in Chixi Elementary School. “We named the main road Chang’an New Road, because ‘chang’an’ means ‘lasting peace’ in Chinese,” reveals Huang Guolai. “We hope the 1,500 residents of this area, both Han and She, can enjoy lasting peace and prosperity.” Over the next 20 years, more than 350 She households from 12 villager groups relocated to central Chixi.
With living conditions improved, Chixi became more connected to the outside world, and the advantages of its breathtaking tourism resources became increasingly evident. In 2014, about 140,000 people visited Chixi and its neighboring areas. More than 600 locals were employed by travel agencies during peak seasons. In 2015, Chixi’s tourism grew even more: In the first half year, traveler volume through the three local travel agencies increased by 50 percent over 2014.
Li Zhixian, 44, from the She ethnic group, was among the first in the village to launch a transportation business. He has contracted five mini-buses to transport people. During busy seasons, his vehicles shuttle between various scenic spots. Li’s annual income has reached nearly US$310,000. Du Jiazhu, current village Party secretary, remarks, “In the past, navigating bamboo rafts along the river was the preferred method for delivering goods. But today, rafters earn $31 a trip to transport tourists. Poling bamboo rafts is now an enviable skill.” Flourishing tourism has developed the local economy in other ways. Today, more than 150 households in Chixi take in annual income of more than $15,000, with tourism contributing biggest chunk.
A mother rests with her baby at the Butterfly Ecological Park in Chixi. For the past decade, Chixi has attached great importance to tourism development. In the first half of 2015 alone, it welcomed 82,000 visitors. by Wang Shen/Xinhua
Spiritual and Material Rewards
In recent years, thanks to the development of local agriculture and tourism, an increasing number of villagers are launching specific projects, and substantial development has much better prospects than subsidies such as money and materials. Moreover, locals’ values and minds have changed along with the economic development.
They rejected hydroelectric projects that would have brought fast money but affected the local ecosystem. They established tourism companies with outside investors by pooling their land as collateral. The village became cleaner and more organized, and more young people began pursuing higher education. The changes that have taken place in Chixi are substantial, to say the least.
In 2013, Ningde, which administers Chixi, became the first city in Fujian Province to introduce policies encouraging university graduates to return to their hometowns to start businesses and contribute to poverty alleviation efforts. Since then, continuously improving Chixi has attracted more young people. Wang Chunhua, current head of Chixi Village, says that since many villagers worked in bigger cities in the past, the village used to be quiet and lonely. Recent years have witnessed booming industries and many new opportunities in the village, and many youngsters have returned to start their own businesses. Statistics show that in 2015, annual per capita income in Chixi reached $2,300 and the total length of village highroads exceeded 60 kilometers. About 15 percent of the total population had received junior college education or higher.
From an ancient settlement of poverty to a young village of prosperity, Chixi’s worst pains are now history. Today, locals’ dream of becoming China’s “number one village” is seizing prosperity.