STORY: Happy life in Galai Village | Stories shared by Xi Jinping
DATELINE: June 19, 2023
LENGTH: 00:05:47
LOCATION: LHASA, China
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Tibet
2. various of Galai village
3. various of file of Tibet 
4. SOUNDBITE 1 (Tibetan): DAWA CHO, Villager, Galai Village, Tibet
5. various of file
6. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): CHO TSERING, Villager, Galai Village, Tibet
7. various of Tibet
8. SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): CHO TSERING, Villager, Galai Village, Tibet
9. various of peach trees in the village
10. SOUNDBITE 4 (Tibetan): QIJIA, Former village official, Galai Village, Tibet
11. SOUNDBITE 5 (Chinese): PEMBA, Village Party chief, Galai Village, Tibet
12. SOUNDBITE 6 (Chinese): SUN SHIHONG, Member of 7th batch of cadres dispatched from Guangdong Province to aid Tibet
13. various of Galai village
14. SOUNDBITE 7 (Chinese): PEMBA, Village Party chief, Galai Village, Tibet
15. SOUNDBITE 8 (Chinese): HUANG HAIFEN, Local official, Nyingchi City
16. various of cultural and creative products
17. SOUNDBITE 9 (Chinese): HUANG HAIFEN, Local official, Nyingchi City
18. various of Galai village
19. SOUNDBITE 10 (Chinese): DAWA GYALTSEN, Villager, Galai Village, Tibet
20. various of Tibet
21. SOUNDBITE 11 (Chinese): ZHAO CHANGJIANG, Deputy director of the Tibet Autonomous Region Development and Reform Commission
22. SOUNDBITE 12 (Chinese): TSERING DORJE, Party School of Tibet Autonomous Region Committee of the Communist Party of China
23. various of Tibet

STORYLINE:

In July 2021, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Tibet Autonomous Region on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Tibet's peaceful liberation.

In the village of Galai, Xi said the village epitomizes the economic and social achievements Tibet has made over 70 years since its peaceful liberation in 1951. He hailed the village as a model of ethnic unity.

Inside an exhibition hall in Galai Village, some exhibits stand witness to the miserable lives of serfs in old Tibet.

At that time, serfs and slaves, who accounted for 95 percent of the population, had no means of production or freedom of their own, let alone private housing, adequate food or clothing.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Tibetan): DAWA CHO, Villager, Galai Village, Tibet
"The exploitation in old Tibet was very brutal. Serf owners controlled all the resources. Serfs had to do their owners' bidding. There was no freedom whatsoever."

On May 23, 1951, the Agreement of the Central People's Government and the Local Government of Tibet on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet (17-Article Agreement) was signed, officially proclaiming the peaceful liberation of Tibet.

Freed from serfdom, the villagers started to pursue a better life.

However, the scarcity of arable land and pasture resources posed a new challenge.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): CHO TSERING, Villager, Galai Village, Tibet
"Life was tough back then. We went up to the mountains and cut down trees for firewood, then sold them outside the village to make a living."

In the 1990s, the Chinese government stepped up efforts in forest protection and imposed a series of logging bans. Villagers were mobilized to protect the over 1,200 ancient peach trees in the village.

SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): CHO TSERING, Villager, Galai Village, Tibet
"Villagers have contracted to take care of the trees. And these are mine.
To protect the peach trees, in January, we'd trim the withered branches. In February, we check the peach blossoms and spray pesticide if there are pests inside."

SOUNDBITE 4 (Tibetan): QIJIA, Former village official, Galai Village, Tibet
"We saw the peach blossoms' potential for developing tourism industry. In 2002, we built a simple gate outside the peach orchards and held the first Nyingchi peach blossom cultural tourism festival in Galai."

SOUNDBITE 5 (Chinese): PEMBA, Village Party chief, Galai Village, Tibet
"By 2011, the per capita disposable income increased to 7,000-8,000 yuan (993 to 1,135 USD), but later we found it difficult to increase the income further. Then came the cadres aiding Tibet from other regions. They introduced new ideas of developing the peach blossom economy to our village."

SOUNDBITE 6 (Chinese): SUN SHIHONG, Member of 7th batch of cadres dispatched from Guangdong Province to aid Tibet
"When we arrived here, we found that the expansion of Nyingchi Airport in 2012 and the construction of Lhasa-Nyingchi high grade road in 2013 have brought new opportunities for Galai Village to develop tourism economy. But the reality was that the peach trees were surrounded by randomly piled stones, which looked very messy. There were only unsurfaced roads in the village, which would become muddy when it rained. Plus stinky pigpens and cowsheds, one can hardly find any clean spot to stand on. Basic infrastructure such as toilets was also absent. These hindered the development of the peach blossom economy."

With the help of those cadres, Galai Village has been committed to building a "village of peach blossoms." The infrastructure such as water and electricity supply, and roads, has been continuously improved.

SOUNDBITE 7 (Chinese): PEMBA, Village Party chief, Galai Village, Tibet
"We've turned the village into a scenic spot. The infrastructure has been improved. The villagers no longer need to leave the village to find a job. They prefer to stay here and contribute to the local development. Last year, the per capita disposable income in our village reached 35,000 yuan (about 4,961 USD)."

SOUNDBITE 8 (Chinese): HUANG HAIFEN, Local official, Nyingchi City
"This is an area exhibiting cultural and creative products. The number of tourists in Galai Village has increased in recent years, and the tourism business is booming. So we have developed a series of peach blossom-related cultural and creative products to boost rural revitalization.

Huang Haifen, who previously worked for years as an official in Galai Village, would still design cultural products for the village in her spare time.

SOUNDBITE 9 (Chinese): HUANG HAIFEN, Local official, Nyingchi City
"After graduating from Guangdong University of Finance and Economics in 2017, I came to work in Nyingchi City. During the period when I was working in Galai Village, I saw with my own eyes that the villagers' life has been getting better under the leadership of the Party."

Besides developing tourism, Galai Village has been exploring other ways to increase local people's income.

SOUNDBITE 10 (Chinese): DAWA GYALTSEN, Villager, Galai Village, Tibet
"I've been engaged in transportation since 2018, and now I earn about 100,000 yuan (about 15,260 USD) a year. Part of the income comes from ticket sales of the peach orchards and we can also get dividends at the end of the year. Besides, there are incomes from land circulation, farming, and breeding. Thanks to favorable policies of the country, we are enjoying a happier life."

The blooming peach flowers have paved a road to prosperity for Galai Village, which has also become a model for rural revitalization through ecological protection in the plateau region.

SOUNDBITE 11 (Chinese): ZHAO CHANGJIANG, Deputy director of the Tibet Autonomous Region Development and Reform Commission
"The new era has brought the best development, the greatest changes, and the most benefits to the people in Tibet. Tibet's GDP grew at an average annual rate of 8.6 percent, and its per capita disposable income grew at an average annual rate of 10 percent."

SOUNDBITE 12 (Chinese): TSERING DORJE, Party School of Tibet Autonomous Region Committee of the Communist Party of China
"Tibet has now embarked on a new journey of advancing national rejuvenation through Chinese modernization. Tibet will certainly enjoy an even brighter future."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Lhasa, China.
(XHTV)