Year in review: Most inspirational figures of 2019

Editor’s Note: A number of individuals have inspired people across the nation in 2019. From the “Father of Hybrid Rice” to China's volleyball heroines, from the record-setting pilot in her eighties to the self-made internet guru, let’s take a look at some of the most inspirational figures and their behind-the-scenes stories.

1. Yuan Longping

At the age of 89, Yuan Longping, also known as the “Father of Hybrid Rice”, is still going strong. On Sept 29 this year, after receiving the Medal of the Republic in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Yuan spoke at a seminar at the Chinese Academy of Engineering in the afternoon, saying he was greatly honored to receive the award, but still had two major missions to accomplish - he hopes to achieve a hybrid rice yield of 18 metric tons per hectare by the end of this year, and transform at least 6.7 million hectares of China’s saline wasteland into breadbaskets. Almost half a century has passed since Yuan developed the first strain of hybrid rice in 1970. The nation has witnessed many tremendous changes, but one thing remains the same – on most days when the decorated agriculturist is not away, he is busy working in the rice paddy at a hybrid rice research center in Central China’s Hunan province.