Chinese and foreign media interview Shi Basan (2nd, L) at Shibadong Village in Huayuan County, the birthplace of China's "targeted poverty alleviation" strategy.

The "Chinese and Foreign Media Tour Around Hunan", launched by the State Council Information Office, was organized between August 2 and 5. Foreign media from Germany, Japan, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Spain, together with some official Chinese media, participated. They visited rural areas and factories at Chunhua Town in Changsha, Qingxi Village in Yiyang, Shibadong Village in Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefectue, and Hequn Village in Zhangjiajie to learn about Hunan's progress of promoting rural revitalization. 

Shibadong Village in Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, the birthplace of "targeted poverty alleviation", is one of Hunan's first batch of villages raised from poverty which were once listed as impoverished. The foreign and Chinese journalists saw and experienced the village's evolution from a "land of poverty" in Wuling Mountainous area to a "land of hope" with complete infrastructure, booming industry, and increasing income of villagers. 

"When President Xi Jinping visited my home in 2013, a 5-watt bulb was the only 'electric appliance' in my house," Shibadong villager Shi Basan said with emotion, adding that "today, we eat and dress well, and live a happy life, thanks to the Communist Party of China." 

At the "Four-High (high standard, technology, yield, and quality)" rice production pilot demonstration zone in Longwangmiao Village, Chunhua Town, the media were attracted by the featured agricultural facilities such as solar power insecticidal lamps and "double lure" pest traps. High technology was adopted to reduce pests in fields. A pest prevention system covers the whole zone, and chemical fertilizer and pesticide application was cut by at least 15%. A journalist from the Second German Television introduced the eco-friendly plant disease and pest prevention technology to the audience via her camera. 

In Yiyang City, the media visited exhibition hall, intangible cultural heritage hall, book store, and homestays in Qingxi Village, and learnt about local cultural and tourism development. At the crayfish cultivation and processing plant of a fishery company, the journalists from the Kyodo News Agency, TV Asahi, Japan Broadcasting Corporation and Mainichi Newspapers crowded around the company managers to learn about the role of rice-crayfish farming mode in ensuring high output and quality of crayfish production and increase of farmers' income. 

At Hequn Village in Sangzhi County, a live streaming of tie-dye skills by the girls of Bai ethnic group was eye-catching. A journalist from Japan Jili Press who has worked in China for a short period interviewed the Party chief of the village Zhong Baiyu about local industrial development and live streaming promotion. "Under the leadership of CPC, all villagers made substantial efforts in the fields, plants, and live streams", Zhong said. His simple words described how an ordinary village in Hunan Province developed from an impoverished one to getting rich after being lifted out of poverty. 

"I've witnessed huge changes in China's rural areas during my 11-year work in this country," said a journalist from La Agencia EFE of Spain. This tour deeply impressed him with Hunan's flourishing rural economy, improvement of farmers' life, and people's sense of happiness and gain in the progress of rural revitalization.

责编：田梦瑶

来源：湖南省政府英文网