[Photo from Interviewee]

"Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, stressed that women's cause and women's federations must follow the right political direction and work with one heart and one mind with the CPC in their work and women's development. Through my work, I find it is very important to bolster the motivation of women. Many women have played an important role in grassroots social governance. As a grassroots cadre, I will lead women in unswervingly following the Party, and in comprehensively promoting rural revitalization and common prosperity," says Jiang Lijuan, secretary of the general Party branch, village committee director and women's federation president of Xiajiang, a village in Chun'an, a county in east China's Zhejiang Province. Jiang, a delegate to the 13th National Women's Congress of China, was elected a member of the 13th Executive Committee of the All-China Women's Federation. Jiang is the first university student from her village to return home and start a business, and she is dedicated to promoting rural revitalization and leading villagers as they strive for better lives."

[Photo by Zhang Jiamin/Women of China]

Town's New Look

Jiang was born in 1989 in Xiajiang, then an impoverished village. "My parents often told me to study hard and walk out of the village to pursue a better life. So, changing my life through education was my dream when I was a student," Jiang recalls. With her parents' support, and through her own hard work, Jiang realized her dream of attending university.

After her graduation, Jiang became a white-collar worker in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province. While she was living in the city, she often found herself reflecting on some of her wonderful childhood experiences; for example, herding cattle in the wild, catching frogs in the rice fields, and catching fireflies on summer nights.

Every time she returned to Xiajiang to visit her family, Jiang noticed the changes that had occurred in the village. Throughout the years, Xiajiang has taken on a new look, with the implementation of the Green Rural Revival Program, to improve the eco-environment of villages and rural residents' quality of life in Zhejiang Province. Xiajiang has become an eco-friendly village, with more beautiful scenery than before.

In the past, it took more than three hours for Jiang to travel from Hangzhou to Xiajiang. Now, the time is considerably shorter, as a result of the improved transportation infrastructure in her hometown.

[Photo from Interviewee]

Starting a Business

Jiang is always thinking about her hometown. In 2016, Jiang decided to quit her job in Hangzhou and return to Xiajiang to start a business. She planned to run a family hotel, and to attract urban tourists who wanted to enjoy leisure time in a rural area.

"The decision stemmed from my confidence in the new era. I believed the countryside had entered its best period of development, so I had the courage and self-confidence to return home to start a business," Jiang says.

After investigating several family inns and hotels in other places, Jiang transformed her house into a family hotel, which met the needs of young people in the city.

In the village square stands a sign, which reads, "A Place Where Dreams Begin." For Jiang, the village is the place where she began her entrepreneurial dream. Running the family hotel is the starting point of Jiang's career in the countryside.

Jiang has incorporated good memories of her childhood in the running of her family hotel. She organizes various activities so her guests can experience the joy of rural life; for example, picking tea leaves, digging sweet potatoes, catching fish, grinding soybean milk, and making zongzi (a traditional Chinese food made of glutinous rice, stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves).

When she worked in Hangzhou, she traveled a lot on business, and she often worked late. "While working in my hometown, I feel a strong sense of happiness, as I can accompany and take good care of my parents and my son," Jiang says.

[Photo by Zhang Jiamin/Women of China]

Beneficiary and Builder

Jiang's family hotel has attracted an increasing number of guests, as Jiang knows how to meet the needs of young tourists, and also how to promote her hotel online.

Since witnessing Jiang's prosperous business, many of the villagers have decided to follow in her footsteps. Jiang has offered concrete guidance to the villagers, and she has helped them develop their own family inns and hotels.

Many young villagers, inspired by Jiang's experience, have returned to Xiajiang to start their own businesses. These vibrant young people have injected new vitality into the village, and they have become the driving force for the village's development.

Under Jiang's leadership, the villagers have played their parts in developing the rural tourism industry in Xiajiang. Bars, cafes, tea houses, beer houses and other supporting facilities have opened.

In September 2018, the United Nations held an award ceremony, for recipients of the Champions of the Earth Award, the UN's highest environmental honor. Zhejiang's Green Rural Revival Program won in the Inspiration and Action category, which was one of the five categories. Jiang, a representative of farmers of Zhejiang's delegation, attended the ceremony.

She burst into tears when Zhejiang's program was announced as the winner. She was proud of her hometown's beauty, and even more proud of China's rural revitalization. Since Zhejiang won the award, Jiang has been more confident and determined in her commitment to promote rural revitalization.

General Secretary Xi has stressed "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets." Jiang has taken that to heart. "I am a beneficiary of the program, and a builder of the 'lucid waters and lush mountains.' I will do my utmost to improve the ecology in my hometown, and to make life more prosperous and harmonious," Jiang says.

Sense of Happiness

In 2020, Jiang was elected secretary of the general Party branch of the village. Visiting each household — to understand the villagers' needs, and to help them solve their difficulties — was her first order of business. In her view, grassroots cadres must do practical things for the people.

As some of the elderly villagers didn't know how to use their smart phones and mobile-payment apps, Jiang set up a special counter at the agricultural product exhibition and sales center, to help them sell pumpkins, sweet potatoes and other vegetables. Jiang gives them the cash after their vegetables are sold.

When it snows heavily, Jiang and her colleagues help the villagers repair their greenhouses at the agricultural base. During flood seasons, they are always on duty, in rotation, to ensure public safety. Jiang has won the trust of the villagers by helping them solve the difficulties in their lives.

Jiang and her colleagues are also dedicated to providing high-quality services to seniors and children. The food quality of the canteen for the seniors has been improved, and a leisure center for the elderly and a children's home have been established. People aged 70 or older are offered free smart wristbands to monitor their physical conditions. Jiang has helped the villagers to have a sense of happiness.

Jiang has exemplified the pioneering spirit of young people as she has helped villagers upgrade their family inns and hotels, and as she has played her role in advancing the rural tourism industry.

Based on Jiang's suggestion, the villagers have been managing their inns and hotels in a unified manner. For example, all of the bedding, toiletries and other daily use items bear the brand logo of Xiajiang. The villagers have increased the supply of local agricultural products in their inns and hotels.

[Photo from Interviewee]

The Spokesperson 

Under Jiang's guidance, the cadres and villagers have adopted modern management concepts in promoting sales of agricultural products, and in developing training and the tourism and other industries, with local features. Cultural and creative fairs and livestreaming activities have been held to promote development of the rural industries.

Xiajiang and several of the neighboring villages established a joint, rural-revitalization Party committee to strengthen industrial cooperation and integrate resources for common development. Xiajiang has attracted an increasing number of its young people to return home to contribute to the village's rural revitalization.

Xiajiang was named a national beautiful and leisure village in 2018. The general Party branch of the village was named a national poverty-alleviation advanced collective, for its achievements in fighting poverty, at the National Poverty Alleviation Summary and Commendation Conference on February 25, 2021.

Jiang attended the 20th CPC National Congress, held in Beijing, in October 2022. During a group interview, she shared the story about how Xiajiang had advanced rural revitalization and pursued green development.

The radio drama, Sound of Flowers Blooming, tells the story of young people who return from the city to the countryside of Zhejiang, overcome difficulties and lead villagers in the pursuit of common prosperity. The program reflects the vitality and great changes in rural Zhejiang. The story is based on Jiang's experiences.

"I will continue to work hard, tell the story of Xiajiang well, and inspire more young people to return to their rural hometowns to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams," Jiang says.

The construction of a beautiful countryside has brought about remarkable changes to Xiajiang, and the village has become a popular tourist destination.

Some scenes in the 2020 film, My People, My Homeland, were shot in the village. In the film, clear streams run through the village, houses with white walls and black tiles are situated near the mountains, and the village has rich agricultural products, elegant bridges and beautiful homestays, which are fascinating.

"My hometown is beautiful, and each of us should be an environmental-protection envoy, to make it more ecological, prosperous and harmonious. Xiajiang is the place where our dream of green development begins. With a grateful heart, a striving spirit and solid work, we will do our utmost to build a beautiful countryside, and to advance rural revitalization," Jiang says.

(Women of China English Monthly January 2024)