The tireless efforts of one delegate elected to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) from southwest China's Sichuan Province have succeeded in changing the fortunes of residents of Lianghe village and lifting them out of poverty.

Yao Qingying proudly shows photos taken in 2011 when more than 385 households in the village were finally able to move out from their dilapidated homes. They are now living in beautiful homes, with all the necessities that one can imagine. 

Villagers who were used to work outside the province say they have more options to lead a prosperous life: they have moved to new houses, living conditions have improved and their income is much higher.

Their lives were not changed overnight, and the drastic change could not have been made possible without Yao, the Party branch secretary of the village.

Yao has held the post for the past two decades, during which the village’s average annual per capita income increased from just above the poverty line to over 30,000 yuan. For some, income climbed to over a million a year.

“The county had a Party delegate 50 years ago. Now 50 years later, I have also become a delegate. We want to develop, but not alone, we want other villages to become rich as well. We, as Party members must help make all villages become rich and that is the way to a better life,” Yao said.

Leading villagers out from poverty is just the first step. Yao has bigger ideas. 

She wants the “Liang He Kou” brand to be well-known across the country and has taken this goal seriously. 

Yao began buying improved breeds of fruit, like kiwi, citrus, and winter strawberry for her own garden. Other Party members in her village followed suit. And with a good harvest and competitive prices, all villagers soon joined.

“Villagers are looking at us, our Party branch, they want to know what we think, and if we can fulfill our promises. We have four Party members who have led the village in learning new agricultural techniques and discovering the market. The four members are the richest in the village, so they know how to help others,” Yao noted.

Now that the village has set up 700 hectares of land for cultivation, its annual output value has reached 86 million yuan. The village’s products have been sold in Beijing, Shanghai and many coastal cities. With this steady stream of abundant income, many migrant workers have opted to return to the city, and they say Yao is their hope to a prosperous life.

Hu Lin was one of the young talents who believed in Yao. 

Born in the 90s, Hu yearned for the city’s modern way of life. He thought he would never come back to the village until Yao found him, and offered a public service position.

As he is experienced in e-commerce marketing, Hu was commissioned with expanding the e-commerce market for agri-products and creating an e-commerce platform for the village.

“Although the salary is not much, only over 1,000 yuan a month, but the sense of accomplishment is huge, it is incomparable even if you add another few thousand yuan for me,” he said.

“I was not welcomed by some when I first became the Party branch secretary, a lot of people had opinions about me. One thing they thought was that there are many things even a man cannot do, how could you as a woman be capable of handling it. So I promised all villagers that everything we do here will be in accordance with fairness, justice and openness to everyone. Our rural land has great opportunities, we must make the village a better place, regardless of what land, living conditions and environment we have. We will lead our villagers to prosperity together, develop our land and food, and bring forth our experiences to our next generations. They cannot all leave and go to the city,” Yao said.

Yao says the Chinese Dream is one of success. She is taking the responsibility to lead the village to a prosperous future, and part of the secret of success is to bring fairness, justice, and openness to all.