Diary documents win over poverty

"Zhao Jiwei, 45, grows corn in his field which covers only 3.5 mu (2,333 square meters). His annual income is less than 2,000 yuan ($311). Sun Shaoshan's right leg was amputated while working as a migrant worker in Shenyang. He used to be the breadwinner of his family."

In his diary, Liu Zhigang records the hardships of villagers in Youzhangzi village in Liaoning province.

The deputy Party chief of China Railway Shenyang Group's Yebaishou station came to the village in 2015 to help residents shake off poverty.

"The day I arrived at the village, I was shocked by the poor situation and shabby infrastructure," Liu recalled.

However, with the support of the Shenyang Group, after nearly 2,000 days he has helped villagers improve their living standards, while recording the changes in his diary.

Youzhangzi, a small village surrounded by mountains, is 26 kilometers from the county town of Kazuo, Chaoyang.

With per capita arable land of less than 930 square meters, the village mainly relies on traditional crops and aquaculture. Due to the poor natural conditions, the shortage of labor and the lack of industries, Youzhangzi was stuck in poverty for decades.

However, Liu quickly set about his work to end severe poverty. Within two months, he had visited more than 800 households. He sent out more than 1,000 questionnaires to villagers and later summarized their ideas and hopes.

Based on the summary, he put forward a targeted poverty alleviation plan, with 89 of the poorest households raising cattle, five raising sheep and one raising donkeys.

"This could partially help the poverty-stricken households. But in order to ensure the villagers were permanently lifted out of poverty, we needed a sustainable and reliable industry," Liu said.

He actively promoted the implementation of poverty alleviation projects by consulting experts, negotiating with villagers and enterprises.

In 2018, a photovoltaic power station, the first collective industry in Youzhangzi, was completed and successfully connected to the State Grid.

Since 2014, the China Railway Shenyang Group has invested special funds in key areas such as infrastructure construction and the development of industrial projects to inject lifeblood into the village economy.

The group carried out eight poverty alleviation projects over the past seven years.

By the end of last year, the per capita income of formerly poverty-stricken households exceeded 8,000 yuan ($1,200), and the entire village was officially lifted out of poverty.

"It has been a blessing to participate in the poverty alleviation project," Liu said. "I hope I'm living up to the expectations of the villagers and the Shenyang Group."

By the end of 2015, there were 1.17 million people living in poverty in Liaoning, with 16 counties in the northwest of the province accounting for more than half, according to official statistics.

Historically, the major reason for poverty was inadequate transportation facilities, especially poor railway infrastructure due to the mountainous terrain.

Liu said making railways the "road to prosperity" for residents in Liaoning's northwest is a core aspect of the Shenyang Group's poverty alleviation work.

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20), the Shenyang Group's length of railway tracks in Liaoning reached 1,483 kilometers, of which 37.5 percent are in the northwest. Within five years, the length of tracks in the northwest went from zero to 556 km.

"In the past, the area was not attractive," Liu said. "Now, with convenient transportation, more enterprises are investing there and more tourists are visiting."

Bi Xuefei contributed to this story.