Fujian villages bear witness to changes

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Gao Quanguo, now in his 70s, still rides his motorcycle every day, as he has for decades, through the streets of Junying, a village tucked deep into the high hills of the coastal city of Xiamen in southeastern China's Fujian province.

The more than 10 motorcycles he has worn out over the years are a testament to how this once-impoverished mountain village clawed its way out of poverty.

"In those days, every trip was difficult," Gao recalled. "The whole village had no proper roads — only dirt paths full of potholes."

In the 1980s, buoyed by China's reform and opening-up policy, as well as strong central government support for special economic zones, Xiamen emerged as one of the country's early engines of rapid economic growth.

Yet Junying, a village located just dozens of kilometers away in the mountains, remained deeply impoverished. Home to more than 600 residents, the village's annual per capita income barely exceeded 200 yuan ($28) at the time, with livelihoods relying mainly on tea cultivation.

The stark contrast left a deep impression on Xi Jinping when he made his first fact-finding trip to the village in 1986 in his capacity as vice-mayor of Xiamen, after traveling up hundreds of winding mountain turns to reach the village.

Upon meeting Gao, then head of the village committee, Xi raised his first question, "How many households here are the poorest?"

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