Chongqing - A man with a bag and a selfie stick traveled over 8,000 kilometers to visit 12 villages that were former poverty alleviation villages in Chongqing alone, completing 100,000-word visit notes, taking hundreds of photos, and making over 500 videos. As one of the post-2000s generation, who just graduated, this is a special gift from Liu Shiyang to himself.
His steps measured the distance between the towns, and he recorded the trips with a camera. It was no longer abstract numbers when the development and revitalization of each village jumped to his mind.
Liu Shiyang introduces the customs of the village. (Photo provided to iChongqing)
Spent two years visiting 12 villages
Shiyang Liu graduated from Chongqing University in 2022 and has been preparing for the trip since 2020. At that time, he often read reports on rural revitalization. He was deeply moved by an article about Xiazhuang Village in Wushan County.
"It shocked me to read previously that 108 people carved an 8-kilometer road to the village by hand in 7 years. But these words still sounded unfamiliar to me, so I came up with the idea of looking around these villages in person." Liu Shiyang said. This was how he began his visit.
During this stop-and-go, almost two-year journey, he once visited a former poverty alleviation workshop in Datan Village, Tongliang District, to collect stories. He encountered the stunning sunset on one occasion after getting lost in Baigao Village, Zhongxian County.
By sorting out these notes and editing the video, he gradually carried the points of talent revitalization, ecological revitalization, industry revitalization, cultural revitalization, and organizational revitalization. Every way of rural revitalization can be seen in these 12 villages.
The first stop overturned the model of the village in his mind
The first place he visited was Huaxi Village in Zhongyi Township, Shizhu Tujia Autonomous County.
"After taking a train for about an hour, I arrived in Shizhu County. The train was convenient, with a departure every half an hour. Then I took the shuttle bus to the village. The road was not only wide and flat but also very clean." Liu Shiyang remembered that the scenery was beautiful on both sides. He still felt amazed when he arrived in Zhongyi Township.
"I once considered village sanitation to be a serious shortcoming. However, the truth was that the village was not only equipped with public toilets but also with garbage classification! The garbage cans were clearly visible near the village entrance." Liu Shiyang said modern buildings, such as hospitals or kindergartens, were fully equipped.
Due to its high mountains, deep valleys, and dense vegetation, Huaxi Village has a long tradition of beekeeping. Now "China's Bee Valley," it attracts crowds of tourists and forms an industrial chain of honey production, processing, and sales.
This is just a microcosm of these 12 villages. The other 11 villages are as clean and convenient as Huaxi Village, shattering his stereotype of rural areas.
Collecting more than 100 stories
The best way to understand a village is to become familiar with its residents. Liu Shiyang has heard hundreds of stories along the way.
Among these storytellers are front-line villagers, village cadres, college students, live streamers, B&B (Bed and Breakfast) owners. As a northeastern boy from Liaoning, Liu Shiyang inevitably had difficulty understanding the local dialect in these villages. They would make hand gestures when they spoke, which brought fun rather than trouble.
Liu Shiyang listens to local villagers telling stories. (Photo provided to iChongqing)
Shooting videos to show the styles of villages
The countryside was once viewed as a symbol of poverty by Chinese people. By shooting free videos in the villages Liu Shiyang visited, he hoped to eliminate this outdated image. Using innovative methods, he will show the vibrant village landscapes from the perspective of young people. In addition to recording the current situation and characteristics of the village, his videos also interspersed some stories from local residents.
Liu Shiyang experiences the live stream. (Photo provided to iChongqing)
"I was busy with the postgraduate application process, so I had to stay up late to edit the videos, anticipating that more people would change their stereotypes about rural life." Liu Shiyang said. He also intended to present the video as a gift to the locals for publicity.
Ran Yiting, the director of the Fuba Village E-commerce Center, had met Liu Shiyang in the village and introduced the situation to him.
"To film the video, he often headed to relevant places for on-the-spot rehearsals and filmings and then chose the appropriate clips and footage after exchanges and communications. Video clips he filmed can showcase our village's unique features and spread local customs!" Ran Yiting said.
(Chen Lu, as an intern, also contributed to the report.)