10:41, May 01, 2009

From a per-capita income of less than 1,000 yuan RMB to that of 3,000, from the yak-drawn cart to the motor vehicle, from the bumpy road to smooth and wide cement road, from water fetched from a river to tap water... those are just some changes that have taken place in a once-destitute and backward village in Xigaze, with the help of soldiers of Xigaze Military Area Command.
"Now one villager can go to the city on his own to buy or sell goods, without being mudded," smiled Quxia villager Suolang, who was driving a small transport vehicle.
The 15-km road linking Quxia Village to No. 318 National Route once used to be all sags and crests. In the past, however, a whole family in the villager had to pull a yak-drawn cart for several hours to go to the fair in Xigaze.
When it rained, it would become even tougher to move as the road got even more muddy. Villagers would be stained with mud all over. So, at the sight of the dirty villagers, none of the citizens in Xigaze would want to buy the goods they carried. As a result, the villagers had to take what they had brought back home. 　
The village of Quxia is less than 10 km from Xigaze City, while in the past it used to be a village with no accesss to a road, tap water and techniques. 　
However, things began to change after Xigaze Military Area Command started to provide support and aid for the village. Several groups of technicians were sent by the Command to explore how to speed up development of the village. As a result, besides money and goods, science and technologies were brought to the village.
In May last year, the Xigaze Military Area Command Committee of the Communist Party of China offered 150,000 yuan RMB to the village and sent more than 500 officers and soldiers to help construct a smooth and wide cement road. Since then, half of Quxia villagers have bought tractors to engage in transportation.
Quxia villagers used to store rainwater as the drinking water for themselves and their livestock to drink. But as it seldom rains in Tibet for its special geological and climatic conditions, they used to be forced to fetch water from the Chu River five kilometers away.
Last May the Xigaze Military Area Command allocated 100,000 yuan to the village and dispatched more than 200 soldiers to build two reservoirs and lay pipes to divert the Chu River water into the village. Now safe drinking water is available to every household in the village. The soldiers also dug an irrigation channel for villagers.
Several years ago, vegetable-planting technicians visited the village. Thanks to their assistance, vegetables grown by villagers now sell fast on the market.
Moreover, Xigaze Military Area Command gave the CPC Branch of the village office supplies worth 80,000 yuan RMB, including computers and Tibetan-style furniture.
With the officers' and solder's support, transport and construction companies were built, increasing the per-capita income of Quxia villagers to 3,000 yuan RMB. Now most familiess in the village have a full range of electrical appliances, and villagers are living a well-off life.
Zhaxi, former head of Quxia Village, said with emotion, "in old Tibet, Tibetan soldiers were good only at theft, looting and oppressing the common people. While soldiers under the leadership of the Communist Party of China really serve the Tibetan people heart and soul." Source: Xinhua