Cultivating Tea and Harvesting Dreams

By CHEN TINGMING

IM the party secretary of Hetaoba Village， Meitan County， Guizhou Province. Im 56 years old and have been working for the village for nearly three decades since I was elected vice chairman of the village committee in 1990. Through tea cultivation we were able to get rid of poverty and watch our lives improve with each passing day.

Over the past 40 years since reform and opening-up was initiated， the average income per person in Hetaoba has surged from RMB 40 to RMB 16，400. Forty years ago， living conditions were harsh， and it was difficult to get by and fulfill basic necessities. Now each family owns a car， and every person has their own business. Everything has drastically changed， and we can pursue our dreams and desires， and live contented， happy lives.

Poverty Aroused the Desire for Change

In the fall of 1978， I entered high school. Times were tough and my poverty-stricken family had to deal with my mothers illness while all us siblings were in school， leaving the burden of providing for everyone as well as managing everything else on my fathers shoulders.

The following folk ballad familiar to people of my age and older may serve as a realistic description of Hetaoba in the 1970s：

Hetaoba Village is twisted into several coves，

Nine out of 10 years from drought it suffers.

Sweet potatoes and corn barely fill the stomach，

To fetch water people have to traverse over several hills.

Boys flee when they came of age，

No girl ever willing chooses to be married into these mountains.

My schooling expenses amounted to RMB 8 per month， an amount which was not easy for my father to afford. He was forced to borrow from our relatives and neighbors. The only way we could pay the money back was to sell our home produce： tobacco and ginger. I remember my father carrying them over 10 miles of rugged roads to the market， wearing his worn-out shoes. After repaying debts， there was hardly any money leftover. The entire village was virtually the same： every family struggled and everyone was poor.

I graduated from high school in 1981. By that time， a household respon- sibility system had been implemented in the village. With the contracted land， life began to improve for every family. But the crop yields were very low due to poor soil conditions. That year the then Party secretary of my village introduced high-quality tea seedlings from the Guizhou Tea Research Institute. After two years of trial planting， he believed that selling tea could be a new source of income for local residents.

Our entire village began to grow tea in 1983. Without proper grain yield， planting tea was our last hope. Since I was one of the few high school graduates in the village， I was elected deputy director for the villages economic cooperative， assisting the Party secretary in developing our nascent tea economy.

Things changed for the better for my family after I graduated from high school， because I could share my fathers burden of providing for the family. As the village economy gradually improved， my father and I grew tobacco， vegetables， and ginger， and raised pigs. It was hard work， but as they say， “no pain， no gain.” Everybody felt that things were changing.

In 1985， I quit the position of deputy director of the village economic cooperative. I got married， and lived in a 12-square-meter house that had a bed and two sets of bedding. They were our only belongings. In the same year， people saw the economic benefit of planting tea， and the scale of our tea industry expanded. I myself grew tea on a piece of land of 0.26 hectare， three-fourths of which was rented out. Tea leaves cannot be harvested until three years after they are planted， which meant a three year gap without any income. To compensate for the loss， I bought ginger and pigs and resold them.

In 1986， my daughter was born. In 1988， my son came into our life， and by then， my tea trees were ready for picking. That year I earned RMB 7，000 by selling tea leaves. Together with other sources of income， my total income exceeded RMB 10，000， which was rare in the whole country at the time. As I clearly remember， almost all of the 200 households in my village earned around that amount.

By 1989， we had already had a Forever bicycle， a Shanghai watch， a Bee sewing machine， and a Yanwu recorder， all of which were famous brands at the time. It took Hetaoba only 10 years to go from being on the cusp of starvation to soaring prosperity， which were in step with the first decade of Chinas reform and opening-up and accelerated economic development.

Further Development

In 1993， I was elected chairperson of the village branch. Led by our Party secretary， Hetaoba kept developing and expanding its tea industry， and became the pioneering tea village in Meitan County.

In July 1996， I took over the post of village Party secretary. I set rules for myself at the very beginning： I must follow in the steps of my predecessor to unremittingly develop the village economy， and seek through innovation to make breakthroughs and new achievements.

That year， the tea plantation in our village reached 90 hectares， bringing every resident a net income of RMB 2，200 every year. In order to further increase everyones income， I revised the villages tea industry development plan with other members of the village Party branch and the villagers committee， and reached an agreement with the villagers that “all suitable land will be utilized for planting tea.”

This plan was well received by the villagers. By 2012， our tea plantation had reached 559 hectares. The village had 807 households with a population of 3，347 people. With 0.17 hectare per head， the average net income per villager amounted to RMB 8，300， of which a tea industry revenue accounted for over 85 percent. As tea growing expanded， we adopted a “Party branch-companyassociation” model to strengthen standardized planting and processing.

From 2001 to 2011， Hetaoba founded three leading enterprises at provincial and city levels， 35 small-scale tea processing factories， and a tea company with chain stores in Beijing， Shanghai， and Shenzhen. After years of development， Hetaoba has earned the title of“the most eco-friendly tea village in western China.”

In 2010， my family moved into a new house of 120 square meters. As everyone else did， I spent over RMB 70，000 to purchase a car. In the same year， I also won the awards of “Top 10 Village Party Branch Secretary in Guizhou Province，”“Model Workers of Guizhou Province，”and “Promoters of Prosperity through Science and Technology in Guizhou Province.” That year our village also won several honors.

In 2011， Hetaoba was awarded the title of “Model Member of China Rural Special Technology Association.” I was also awarded “Outstanding Party Affairs Worker” by the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee.

These honors and awards always remind me of President Xis words， “Happiness is achieved through hard work.”

Better Days Ahead

From 2012， we started to rebuild and renovate more than 600 residential buildings， upgraded the water and power supply facilities and roads， pro- viding the villagers with a comfortable living environment. Our work was in line with our goal of having a “strong foundation， flourishing industry， beautiful village， and new look.” We also established and strengthened more than 10 organizations and associations， such as the Labor Union， Womens Federation， Young Volunteers Team， and Voluntary Patrol Group with an aim to standardize social management at the community level， explore ways of the Partys leadership in rural areas， improve the villagers self-governance system. It also increased their ability to participate in the deliberation and administration of state affairs.

My predecessor would be excited and happy to see our achievements today if he were still alive. By developing rural tourism and a tea industry， the output value of Hetaoba in 2017 exceeded RMB 230 million， and the average income for every villager rose to RMB 17，000.

The tea industrys transformation and upgrading is driving Hetaoba forward. Right now， every household in the village owns a tea plantation， and runs its own business besides farming. The village now owns four provincial and city-level enterprises， more than 80 tea processing factories with an annual output of one million kg tea sold to major domestic cities and European markets. Tea processing alone generates an annual output value of more than RMB 100 million.

In addition， the village adopted a set of measures to turn resources into capital， and then capital into disposable funds. This included the effective transfer of contracted farmland and lands for homesteads and rural collective construction， and the reform of the certification of rights over homesteads， houses， tea plantations， and mountain forests. These measures not only provide financial guarantees for the construction of the tea farmers base， but also increase the villages collective property.

Todays Hetaoba boasts a beautiful environment， charming folk customs， material prosperity， and booming industry. Based on our tea industry， we have also started agritourism， attracting city dwellers with our fresh air and natural scenery.

We are living out our dreams in our tea plantations.