Taipingzhuang Village: To address the common problems in northern rural areas

Ongoing Changes in Taipingzhuang

Great changes have taken place in the life of villagers. Here are the stories of three households.

Wen Fengshui and his family were one of the rural households visited by Premier Li. When this reporter went to his home in early August 2016, Inner Mongolia was experiencing unusually high temperatures. Wen was enjoying the summer breeze under the Simon’s poplar tree by the door.

Standing at the doorway, it was possible to see the whole of the new house with its basic structures being in place. Although the senior citizen was temporarily living with his children in one back room, he spoke highly of the Communist Party’s policies when it came to the changes that had taken place over the past two years.

Previously he lived in a small mud house of three rooms, covering less than 50 square meters in total. It was in danger of collapse. On being asked exactly when it was built he struggled to remember: “It must be more than 60 years old.” Two years ago the little mud house was renovated under the dilapidated rural housing program, but the renovation did not live up to expectations. “The house was too derelict to be restored properly.”

Due to their limited means, Wen Fengshui and his family continued to live in the little mud house. “The harvest was all up to the weather, and we lived on the income from the crops we planted.”

Ten days before this reporter visited the village, the old house was demolished, and a new one was being built for him by a professional construction team.

They would move into the new house soon, and Wen expressed his satisfaction with the Communist Party and the government. “Without the preferential national policy, I could never have had a new house at this old age.”

Although he and his wife are growing old and weak, their 2 hectares of land will not be a concern. The land is rented out at 600 yuan (U.S. $87) per mu (15 mus are equal to 1 hectare) per year. So whether it rains or shines, their income is secure.

Now Wen Fengshui and his wife rely on social security, old-age pension, and the rental from their land. In total they have an annual income of more than 10,000 yuan (U.S. $1,450).

In addition, their children all work now. Their oldest child cultivates vegetables in a greenhouse; the second child keeps sheep. The children therefore rely on the fruits of their own labor, coupled with support from the government. With the two they are able to earn a decent living and enjoy a life that is improving steadily.

Another household the Premier visited was the Wen Shucheng couple. They had to move between their old house and a tent. Two days before this reporter’s visit, it was raining so heavily that they had to move to the tent because of roof leaks. When the tent leaked too much, they moved back to their old house. The situation seems particularly bad for Wen Shucheng, who has coronary artery disease. But he remains very optimistic: “We will reap the fruits in the end; the current hardships are no big deal.”

As a senior member who joined the Communist Party of China 52 years ago, Wen Shucheng is very selfless. He is prepared to bide his time, and allow others who are in more urgent need to have their homes renovated first.

But his problem was in the process of being resolved. He would soon have a new house as the construction team had been working there for more than ten days. Although houses in the area are built from mud and sand rather than concrete and steel, they are quite sturdy. New houses are supported by beams around the roof and foundation, which reinforces them against any shock.

Wen Shucheng is very grateful, saying “Thank the government for helping us senior citizens to enjoy a happy old age.” Now the elderly couple have joined the village cooperative with their 1.2 hectares of land. The annual income from the land rental and the dividend from third-party activities are given to their children. “Each of our three sons gives us 1,000 yuan (U.S. $146) per year, so we have a basic income.”

Zhang Lijun and Wen Guangyan from the Liangshang sub-district of Taipingzhuang now live in a new house. Their original dilapidated house had already been renovated in 2012.

Although their lives have improved a lot, they have other difficulties. Wen has suffered from uremia since 2009, and she has to take dialysis five times every second week. Each year the medical cost amounts to over 100,000 yuan (U.S. $14,582). Plus the previous borrowing for the house renovation, they remained in poverty.

With his wife being ill, and two children attending school, Zhang Lijun is unable to look for job away from the village as other locals do. So he has to rely on his own skills to repair farm machinery and do welding.

Over the past two years, the new rural cooperative medical care system and the critical illness reimbursement project supported by the civil administration system have helped reduce their medical expenditure a lot. Now they can get 5,000 yuan (U.S. $729) reimbursed each month, and this 60,000 yuan (U.S. $8,750) per year reimbursement limit has eased the economic burden on the household.

Dr. Li Jingzhou at the medical center of Qiaotou Town is the person responsible for helping them out of poverty. He provides professional and affordable medical services to Wen in a timely manner.

There are still 36 people in 21 households living in poverty because of high medical bills and educational costs in the village. Officials at the township and village levels are trying to help the families involved to increase their income.

“Each major improvement that takes place in the village is hard earned,” said Zhu Yunsheng. His constant hope is to help the local people to lead better lives.