A Tale of Two Cities Supporting Xinjiang

In the corridor, Jiang Hengli knocked on each of the team members' doors, his voice weary, "Get up, comrades, it's Liaoning time!"

Li Chao, with his hair in a mess and still sleepy-eyed, walked into the conference room.

"Everyone, look your best!"

Zhou Mingyu clapped his hands. "Hurry up, the workers in Dalian will be starting work soon. You guys need to communicate with your respective units again. As soon as the comrades in Shihezi arrive at 10 a.m. today, we need to get into work mode. We can't let the comrades here see us as so undisciplined. First impressions are very important."

"Received, I'll contact my unit right now."

Li Chao had only heard Zhou Mingyu say this much, and didn't know the specifics of what was going on, so he just casually expressed his opinion.

Immediately, the other comrades in the room also moved upon hearing the news.

After finally enduring until 10 a.m., the sun in Shihezi lazily climbed higher, and local businesses began to reopen. The aid workers immediately switched roles and officially began their work in Shihezi.

In the office of the development zone management committee, Zhou Mingyu, along with Li Chao, held a meeting with local officials.

"Director Zhou, welcome back again!"

A local Uyghur cadre, Aihmaiti Tursun, warmly shook Zhou Mingyu's hand, saying, "This industrial upgrading depends entirely on the new ideas you bring!"

Zhou Mingyu responded with a smile, "Director Ai, you're too kind. We're here to learn and to cooperate. Li Chao, please report our preliminary plan for facility agriculture to Director Ai."

Li Chao quickly spread out the blueprints and began explaining them in Mandarin with a slight Northeastern accent.

Faced with Li Chao's plan, Aihemaiti Tursun still felt it was somewhat unbelievable, so he let Li Chao do as he pleased. Zhou Mingyu, on the other hand, was getting a little impatient.

"Li Chao, your proposals might be applicable where we are, but whether they will work here depends on our local conditions. We need to conduct on-site research. Instead of discussing it here, I suggest you go and see for yourselves. That might give you a clearer direction."

Aihmaiti Tursun applauded Zhou Mingyu's suggestion, saying, "Director Zhou really understands our situation here. We've tried many agricultural projects before, but they haven't been successful due to climate and other factors. Teacher Li, why don't we go and take a look in person?"

Li Chao arrived at his apartment in Shihezi right after getting off the plane, and going out to see the world was something he had been looking forward to.

Aihmaiti Tursun picked up Li Chao in his car, and the two drove towards the village.

"Teacher Li, this road is not easy to travel."

Aihmaiti Tursun turned the steering wheel and gave Li Chao a warning in advance: "The roads here are not as good as those in Tacheng."

The car bumped along the gravel road, and Li Chao, sitting in the passenger seat, repeatedly bumped his head against the ceiling. All he could see was a vast expanse of Gobi Desert, but a few dead trees outside the window caught his attention. "What happened to these trees?"

"They froze to death. Planted the year before last, all gone in a cold snap last year. In Shihezi, winter temperatures drop to minus thirty degrees Celsius, and the wind howls like knives. Forestry and fruit industry? We've been talking about it for five years, planted trees for five years, and have had them die for five years."

Li Chao's face flushed red instantly, and he couldn't help but recall the ideals he had just been discussing in the office.

Have you considered any other solutions?

"We've tried everything, but there's still no progress."

Li Chao is not an expert in agriculture, but he is a professionally trained agricultural scientist and has a relatively clear understanding of the impact of environment and climate on plant growth.

Needless to say, in his understanding, there are basically no fruit trees that can withstand such severe cold at minus thirty degrees Celsius.

Even in Dalian, the lowest winter temperature only stays around minus 15 degrees Celsius, and such moments are very rare.

To mitigate the impact of climate on fruit trees, farmers implement various maintenance measures such as mounding soil around the trees, but tree diseases and deaths still occur frequently. Faced with such harsh climate here, Li Chao felt that his ideals had been shattered by reality.

"Are the farmers just going to give up like this?"

What good will it do if we don't give up?

"So how do they mainly make a living?"

"Growing wheat is barely enough to make ends meet, and growing greenhouse vegetables doesn't keep them warm in winter. Young people are leaving, leaving behind mostly the elderly. Last year, Old Ma's family tried growing strawberries, but after one snowfall, they lost everything."

Hearing this, Li Chao was speechless. He had originally planned to bring some agricultural promotion projects to the area, but now he himself didn't know what to do.

On the way back, Li Chao remained silent the entire time.

Zhou Mingyu helped him out of the predicament with some ease, saying, "That's how it is when you're sent to Xinjiang; you'll encounter all sorts of unexpected problems. But as long as we stay focused, we can always find a solution."

By the way, this afternoon, Director Yang Zhitong of the Liaoning Aid-to-Xinjiang Eighth Division Command is signing a coal-to-ethanol project agreement with Tianye Group. We need to go and observe to learn from their approach to industrial aid to Xinjiang; it might inspire your agricultural extension efforts.

Li Chao nodded, but his heart remained heavy.

He never expected that this seemingly ordinary ceremony would allow him to witness firsthand the thorny predicament encountered by another cadre sent to Xinjiang for assistance.

Before the applause at the signing ceremony had even subsided, Yang Zhitong's phone received a notification from the Eighth Division's Natural Resources and Planning Bureau.

"Director Yang, congratulations!"

Just as Mr. Zhao, the project manager from Tianye Group, came over to offer his congratulations, he immediately stopped upon seeing Yang Zhitong's expression. "Director Yang, such a good thing, why don't you seem very happy?"

"It's nothing serious, the land use approval process is just stalled."

Yang Zhitong came to Xinjiang with the initial intention of supporting the region for the second time, hoping to bring the 25-ton coal-to-ethanol project to fruition, which would not only create jobs but also improve the local industrial chain. Little did he expect to run into a tough problem right after signing the contract.

Just then, Zhou Mingyu led Li Chao to the entrance of the meeting hall. He took the initiative to greet him: "Director Yang, this is Li Chao, who works in agriculture and forestry in our team. He just heard about the project signing and came to learn and exchange ideas. What difficulties have you encountered?"

Yang Zhitong sighed: "Don't even mention it, the project's land acquisition is stuck."

"Oh dear, I just took Li Chao to the county to see the agricultural situation, and I could feel the difficulties here. There's never a smooth journey when it comes to supporting Xinjiang; we're all tackling the toughest challenges."

Yang Zhitong couldn't wait any longer, so he headed straight for the Eighth Division's Natural Resources and Planning Bureau.