It is an ordinary and great thing for An Wenzhong to participate in the Western Plan and volunteer. In July 2015, he came to Qinglin Township, Zhongshan District, Liupanshui City, Guizhou Province to carry out volunteer services. He worked in Qinglin Township for three years.

I lived a full life in Qinglin Township, where there are many things worth doing. He has been thinking about how to help fellow townsmen who have difficulty in living, how to bring industry into the mountains, and how to drive poverty out of the mountains with technology and industry. There are more ways than difficulties. He is determined to start from small things, combine the professional knowledge he learned in school with the actual local situation, make good use of every piece of land in the village, and build a road to prosperity for the villagers by planting cash crops.

An Wenzhong guided farmers to pollinate kiwifruit. Courtesy of An Wenzhong

Under the arrangement of the Youth League District Committee and the township government, An Wenzhong and the poverty relief cadres went into the village to carry out training for fellow villagers, guide them to plant and develop economic fruit forests, set up breeding cooperatives, introduce economic crops, and help fellow villagers shake off poverty and become rich. In three years, they led the people to interplant cash crops such as kiwi fruit, forage grass and flue-cured tobacco, and also built new farms of different sizes, promoting the development of ecological industry.

During the service period, An Wenzhong and poverty relief cadres guided more than 40 farmers and cooperatives in Qinglin Township to plant more than 1000 mu of kiwi fruit. After years of fruit forest management, it is now able to produce more than 1200 jin of kiwifruit per mu, and each household has an annual economic income of more than 10000 yuan. Wang Zhengchao, a large kiwi grower, was also rated as one of the "Top Ten Planters" by Liupanshui Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

An Wenzhong instructed farmers to smear the buds of kiwi fruit. Courtesy of An Wenzhong

These characteristic industries have brought tens of millions of economic income to fellow villagers, and gradually built a development pattern of "every village has its own industry, and every household has money to earn" in Qinglin Township.

The countryside is vast, and young people are promising. In July 2018, after the service period, An Wenzhong returned to his hometown —— Xiangshui Community, Blacksmith Miao Township, Hezhang County  。 During the field survey, he found that there were many wild kiwi trees growing in the deep mountain gully of his hometown. Wild kiwifruit can grow in deep mountain gullies, indicating that the environment and soil of my hometown are suitable for planting kiwifruit. So he led the villagers in his hometown to plant kiwi trees.

In September 2023, as the kiwi tree in his hometown brings economic benefits, the villagers will give a thumbs up to praise An Wenzhong and the staff. Kiwi fruit is big, with many varieties and good taste. It has been praised by customers and is very popular. By March 2024, more than 260 mu of kiwi has been planted in the hometown, helping 46 households increase their economic income.

This year, An Wenzhong and the villagers plan to spend five years to expand the planting scale, and promote the newly grafted kiwi varieties, so that the kiwi industry can produce more abundant "fruits" in the mountains, and use practical actions to boost rural development!

On March 18, An Wenzhong participated in the sharing meeting of "Paying tribute to volunteers of the Western Plan" in Guiyang. Courtesy of An Wenzhong

Along with the times and those who shine, there is sweat, tears, laughter and harvest along the way. An Wenzhong is very proud!

"I am very honored to take root in the rural revitalization front line with the volunteers of the Western Plan, and witness the rapid development and changes in the western part of the country with the youth of struggle." An Wenzhong believes that more young people will join the Western Plan in the future, and sing the strong voice of the times of "clear love, only for China" with the passion of Qingchun, Let youth bloom in the hot practice of building a strong country and national rejuvenation! (Reporter Li Yanlong)