Senior smooths village's rocky roads

Over the past 47 years, Liu Shide has not stopped doing volunteer repair work on the roads in his village.

Liu, 83, a resident of Xinhe in Mishan, Heilongjiang province, began the work in 1972 when he noticed villagers and vehicles were inconvenienced by the terrible condition of the dirt roads, especially on rainy days.

"I was born in the village and there were dirt roads all around in the old days," he said. "When I was a little boy, I often filled shallow potholes in the roads with pebbles, hoping to help villagers walk without discomfort."

Liu said when he was older, he noticed few people went outside the village as there was only a path which was unsuitable for vehicles.

So, he decided to build his own road.

In 1972, he spent several months transporting soil in a wheelbarrow to the east side of the village. With his bare hands and hard work, Liu dug a 500-meter-long dirt road to connect the village with the outside world.

"It was not very difficult for a strong middle-aged man to finish the work," he said. "I was really happy to see that the villagers could go outside more easily on the road and decided to maintain it properly."

From then on, maintaining his road became one of the most important things in Liu's daily life.

In his free time, he collected small stones and broken bricks in his wheelbarrow to repair damaged sections of the road. He also made running repairs to the dirt roads in the village.

In 2010, his road was cemented over by the local authorities, greatly improving the villagers' quality of life.

Despite the upgrade to his road, Liu sticks to his maintenance routine.

"Due to the heavy transportation of goods by agricultural vehicles, the road is damaged frequently and drivers are often affected by the bumps," he said. "I feel really sorry for them when I see grain falling from the vehicles because of bumps, so I can't retire yet."

Sometimes, when he comes across serious damage to the road, he sources the repair materials from trucks transporting construction waste. Other times, he finds the repair materials at a construction site and hires a truck to transport it. Liu starts his work in the early morning and returns home late in the evening. During the rainy season, he is busier than usual with maintenance work.

"I have to maintain the smoothness of the road before the rain," he told local media. "And I also use soil to fill some low-lying places in the village."

Liu's four children live in other cities, and for most of the year he refuses to leave his small village house because of his concern for the roads.

In recent years, during the coldest days of winter, he has stayed with his youngest son in Beijing. After a few days rest when he returns home in spring, he begins his road repair work around the village.

"Some of my relatives and neighbors tell me that I can't solve all the problems and advise me to stay home because of my age," he said. "But I just want to do something that can make it easier for everyone to get around."

Liu said the work is good physical exercise, which keeps him healthy and in a good mood. "I will continue doing the work as I believe I am still strong enough," he said.