In Xichou County, Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, 75.4% of the area is covered by exposed or semi-exposed karst landforms, and it was once one of the regions most severely affected by rocky desertification in China.
Liu Dengrong at the site where the first blast was fired to break rocks and create farmland in Yaoshi Valley, Muze Village, Xichou County, Wenshan Prefecture, Yunnan Province (photographed on November 20, 2020).
(Photo by Luo Chunming, Xinhua News Agency)
In 1990, the first blast of "reclaiming land from rocky crevices" was detonated in Yaoshi Valley, Muze Village. All villagers, men and women, young and old, worked arduously for 105 days, and opened up 365 mu of "Three-Guarantee" terraced fields (guaranteeing stable yield, soil conservation and water retention) in the pile of rocks, which greatly increased the yields of corn and flue-cured tobacco, and helped the village get rid of the label of "food-deficient village" (a village that relies on government food assistance). In the same year, Cheng Dunru, a 40-year-old man from Chengjiapo Village, Banggu Township, and his wife, took hoes and went into the rocky desertified barren mountains. Over more than 10 years, they wore down 20 hoes and planted Chinese medicinal materials and fruit trees all over the barren mountains.
Yaoshi Valley, Muze Village, Xichou County, Wenshan Prefecture, Yunnan Province – the place where the first blast of "reclaiming land from rocky crevices" was fired. The once scattered piles of rocks have now become stretches of "Three-Guarantee" terraced fields (photographed on November 20, 2020).
(Photo by Luo Chunming, Xinhua News Agency)
The Sanguang Area in Xingjie Town once made villagers suffer a lot due to 30 square kilometers of rocky desertification. The local Party committee and government led the masses to move rocks and create farmland, transferred more than 5,000 mu of land, and planted 2,700 mu of kiwifruits; Jianglong Village also changed from a place described as "bare mountains with no water in ponds, thin fields yielding only half a year's grain" to a village with green mountain tops and more than 620 mu of fruit trees planted at the foot of the mountains.
Contiguous kiwifruit planting base in Duoyiping Village Group, Sanguang Area, Xingjie Town, Xichou County, Wenshan Prefecture, Yunnan Province (photographed on November 19, 2020).
(Photo by Luo Chunming, Xinhua News Agency)
During the governance process, the "Xichou Spirit" gradually took shape, which holds that "Moving away is not as good as moving rocks; suffering in idleness is not as good as working hard; waiting is not a solution; only working can bring hope". By 2020, Xichou County had cumulatively controlled 140 square kilometers of rocky desertification, completed 500,000 mu of afforestation and 870,000 mu of closed-off afforestation. Its forest coverage rate has increased from 25% to 50.68%, writing a vivid answer sheet for rocky desertification control.
Jianglong Village, Xingjie Town, Xichou County, Wenshan Prefecture, Yunnan Province – once a place described as "bare mountains with no water in ponds, thin fields yielding only half a year's grain" – now not only has green mountain tops, but also has more than 620 mu of fruit trees developed at the foot of the mountains (photographed on November 20, 2020).
(Photo by Luo Chunming, Xinhua News Agency)
(Note: The content of this document is sourced from Xinhua News Agency and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People's Republic of China.)
