From a Single Seed to a Garden Full of Fruit: Huang Qunchao's Planting Story

From a Single Seed to a Garden Full of Fruit

-- In remembrance of Huang Qunchao, commander of the Zhejiang Province Huzhou City Aid-Xinjiang Headquarters

Reporter Huang Ping, Correspondent Xu Yanfei

From the water towns of Jiangnan to the desert wastes of Gobi, from the forefront of reform to a small county town, over more than seven hundred days and nights, he traveled to **every village in Kalpin County, sincerely doing practical things for the local people until the very last moment of his life.

He was Huang Qunchao, commander of the Zhejiang Province Huzhou City Aid-Xinjiang Headquarters and deputy secretary of the Kalpin County Party Committee.

On August 11, 2015, Huang Qunchao suffered a sudden heart attack brought on by prolonged overwork and collapsed at his aid-Xinjiang post; his life was frozen at the age of 47.

Kalpin County is a small county seat located in southern **, with a total population of only 50,000. It is full of desert and Gobi, with a harsh climate and extreme water scarcity. It is a national-level poverty-stricken county; even buying groceries or sending and withdrawing money requires traveling to Aksu City, more than 160 kilometers away.

In August 2013, the organization selected Huang Qunchao, then deputy secretary-general of the Huzhou Municipal Government, for the aid-Xinjiang assignment. Without a second thought, he bade farewell to his wife, children and mother, and resolutely came to Kalpin.

Just over a month after arriving in Kalpin, Huang Qunchao had already visited every county department, township and village. Over more than seven hundred days, he braved sandstorms, trudged through thick snow, and walked across the red desert, saline-alkali land and Gobi.

"Even if my body is worn out, I will not let my work fall into arrears." This was something Huang Qunchao often said. In his 30 years of work, his post changed and his position changed, but every time he took up a new position, he threw himself into it completely and quickly became an expert, doing his work with great vigor.

Jin Ning, deputy commander of the Huzhou City Aid-Xinjiang Headquarters, said: "The commander is famous for his passion and seriousness about work. Because of this, some colleagues were afraid to work under him, because he demanded high standards, worked at a fast pace and put in lots of overtime. Everyone feared him, but respected him even more. He was often the first to arrive at the office every day and the last to leave." An aid-Xinjiang doctor said, "When we came back from the night shift, we could often see the light still on in Commander Huang's office, with his busy figure reflected in the window. Everyone greatly admired his dedication."

Kalpin's natural conditions are poor. What industry could actually help farmers get rich? After conducting solid and detailed investigations into every project, Huang Qunchao considered introducing Huzhou's Hu sheep to Kalpin.

Xu Jiping, former commander of the Zhejiang Province Aid-Xinjiang Headquarters, recalled: "One day, he came to my office and excitedly told me that he had found a project that could be promoted on a large scale -- raising Hu sheep." Xu Jiping said that at the time he felt Huang Qunchao was "acting recklessly."

Regarding this project, at first neither the county nor the aid-Xinjiang headquarters was sure about it. But once Huang Qunchao had his mind set on something, he had a stubborn streak. "Qunchao said he had done his homework, and that a few individual farming households were already raising Hu sheep. After that, he accompanied me to visit farming households on the ground and conducted repeated investigations and verification," Xu Jiping said.

To this end, Huang Qunchao returned to Huzhou 3 times, participating in sheep selection, epidemic monitoring and transportation coordination. In 2014, 1,600 Hu sheep set off in two batches from the southern shore of Taihu Lake, traveling ten thousand li to arrive in Kalpin.

"Under Commander Huang's leadership, the Hu sheep achieved zero deaths during the ten-thousand-li transport and zero deaths while safely passing through the stress period. This can be called a miracle," said Xie Dingyuan, director of the Kalpin County Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Bureau. Local mutton sheep give birth to one lamb per litter and reproduce relatively slowly, while Hu sheep give birth to multiple lambs per litter, are raised in sheds, and grow relatively quickly.

Today, the 1,600 Hu sheep breeding sheep that Huang Qunchao personally introduced have produced 2,356 lambs, and the newly built Hu Sheep Industrialization Promotion Center has also been put into use. The "enterprise + base + farmer" Hu sheep industrialization project has opened up a new channel to wealth for local farmers.

In Huang Qunchao's notebook was written a sentence: "When I come, I am a single seed; when I leave, there must be a garden full of fruit." Strolling through the urban and rural areas of Kalpin -- the Radio and Television Building, the Cultural and Sports Activity Center, comfortable housing for prosperous people, the cultural hall... Within two years, Huang Qunchao organized and implemented 37 aid-Xinjiang projects, arranged 156 million yuan in aid-Xinjiang funds, covering multiple fields including employment, industry, education, health and intellectual support.

Over more than seven hundred days, ten thousand li from home, Huang Qunchao devoted himself wholeheartedly to seeking benefits for the local people, sowing the seeds of great love in their hearts.

Kumuya Village in Gaizili Township was Huang Qunchao's designated assistance village. He had visited every household, and every villager knew him. In his heart there was always a "contingency list" of the people.

Villager Tunishahan Rouzi is a low-income household. Her husband lost his labor capacity due to heart disease, two of her 3 children are still in school, and the family scrapes by on only 15 mu of land. "Secretary Huang often came to see us, bringing money, medicine and grain to my family, bringing school supplies and tutoring books to the children, and encouraging me to strengthen my confidence and think of more ways." Standing in her own courtyard, Tunishahan Rouzi could not hold back her tears.

Ainikaer Aikebaier, 13 years old, is an orphan. In 2014, Huang Qunchao adopted him. "Papa Huang loved me very much. Whenever he had time, he would come chat with me, take me out to play, and buy me school supplies and new clothes." Ainikaer lowered his head, his soft voice carrying the sound of crying.

Musha Reheman, 61 years old, had lost his wife, and his only daughter had married away to Ili. Because he had no other relatives and was in poor health, he moved into a nursing home. The winter before last, old man Musha ran a high fever, and when Huang Qunchao learned of it, he went to visit him. At the time, old man Musha could not get out of bed. When Secretary Huang saw the chamber pot in front of the bed, he directly carried it out and emptied it... Old man Musha said tearfully: "He is really closer to me than my own child. He is my family!"

On August 14, 2015, Huang Qunchao's funeral was held in Kalpin. At dawn, several hundred people who had come of their own accord to see him off crowded to the entrance of the Huzhou City Aid-Xinjiang Headquarters. Some Uyghur elders who knew Huang Qunchao well wiped their tears while murmuring: "Such a good boy, how can he be gone just like that?"

After Huang Qunchao passed away, half of his ashes returned to his hometown with his family, and half was gently scattered in the place where he had given the most and felt the deepest attachment during his lifetime -- the Hu Sheep Development Center, the red date orchard, the banks of the Red Sand River, and beneath the white poplars of the windbreak forest.