STORY: How bamboo changes fortunes of a Chinese village
DATELINE: June 25, 2023
LENGTH: 00:03:39
LOCATION: JINGGANGSHAN, China
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Shenshan Village, Jinggangshan, Jiangxi Province
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): ZUO XIANGYUN, Resident of Shenshan Village, Jinggangshan, Jiangxi Province
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): ZUO XIANGYUN, Resident of Shenshan Village, Jinggangshan, Jiangxi Province
4. SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): ZUO XIANGYUN, Resident of Shenshan Village, Jinggangshan, Jiangxi Province
5. SOUNDBITE 4 (Chinese): LAI GUOHONG, Official of Shenshan Village, Jinggangshan, Jiangxi Province
6. SOUNDBITE 5 (Chinese): ZHUO XIANGYANG, Secretary-General of Jinggangshan Bamboo Industry Association
7. SOUNDBITE 6 (Chinese): XIE YINGWU, Director of Jinggangshan Forestry Bureau
8. SOUNDBITE 7 (Chinese): ZUO XIANGYUN, Resident of Shenshan Village, Jinggangshan, Jiangxi Province

STORYLINE:

A remote village nestled deep in the mountains of China's Jiangxi, has risen above the poverty line, making use of its bountiful resources of bamboos.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): ZUO XIANGYUN, Resident of Shenshan Village, Jinggangshan, Jiangxi Province
"Shenshan Village is surrounded by mountains, with an average altitude of over 700 meters. Rainfall is abundant here throughout the year, which is quite suitable for bamboo growth."

Zuo Xiangyun is the descendant of a revolutionary martyr in Shenshan Village in Jinggangshan, which is the cradle of the Chinese revolution. To escape poverty, Zuo sought to make use of the bamboo resources and started his bamboo processing business.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): ZUO XIANGYUN, Resident of Shenshan Village, Jinggangshan, Jiangxi Province
"The bamboo in Jinggangshan is quite thick and hard. These are two distinctive advantages of the bamboos here. If the bamboo is too soft, the final carved product may not look so good, and the bamboo tube won't have the desired smoothness."

In early 2016, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Shenshan Village during an inspection tour to Jiangxi.
At the home of Zuo Xiangyun, Xi was glad to see that Zuo's family had shaken off poverty by using local bamboo resources, and wished them good fortune.

SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): ZUO XIANGYUN, Resident of Shenshan Village, Jinggangshan, Jiangxi Province
"President Xi came to my bamboo crafts workshop and saw the computerized laser engraving machine. He said he's so impressed to see the utilization of computerized laser engraving in such a remote mountain village. President Xi also encouraged me to make good use of our local bamboo resources, not only to attain personal wealth, but also to contribute to the shared prosperity of our fellow villagers."

SOUNDBITE 4 (Chinese): LAI GUOHONG, Official of Shenshan Village, Jinggangshan, Jiangxi Province
"President Xi asked us to harness our local resources and increase our income by engaging in bamboo processing. If we simply cut and sell unprocessed bamboo, one bamboo pole may be valued at 8 yuan (about 1.11 U.S. dollars). However, through deep processing, the price of each bamboo pole would rise to somewhere between 40 and 50 yuan (about 5.5 and 6.9 U.S. dollars)."

In this bamboo processing company in Jinggangshan, workers are busy creating bamboo crafts. Most of the employees are farmers from nearby villages. Now engaged in bamboo processing, they can earn an average monthly income of about 4,000 yuan (about 556 U.S. dollars).

SOUNDBITE 5 (Chinese): ZHUO XIANGYANG, Secretary-General of Jinggangshan Bamboo Industry Association
"Our company employs over 30 villagers. We utilize local resources to develop the bamboo processing industry, bringing wealth to the villagers."

In 2017, the bamboo industry was designated as one of the "four major industries" for development in Jinggangshan.
Now, nearly 50 bamboo processing companies have been established, offering over 4,000 jobs.
Their diverse range of products, including bamboo furniture, bamboo crafts, and processed bamboo shoots, have been sold far and wide.
And, building upon the red tourism resources in Jinggangshan, the local government is also exploring a new path for the integrated development of bamboo tourism and bamboo processing industry.

SOUNDBITE 6 (Chinese): XIE YINGWU, Director of Jinggangshan Forestry Bureau
"For Jinggangshan, the future development of the bamboo industry is very promising. We'll keep in mind President Xi's instructions, and we will make good use of the abundant bamboo resources and ecological advantages to increase people's incomes and further promote rural revitalization."

After years of development, the once impoverished mountain village has taken on a new look.
Residents now lead significantly improved lives, just like the thriving bamboo forests in the mountains.

SOUNDBITE 7 (Chinese): ZUO XIANGYUN, Resident of Shenshan Village, Jinggangshan, Jiangxi Province
"Bamboo has nurtured generations of people in Shenshan Village. We have adapted to our local conditions and turned bamboo from a natural resource into a source of income. Today, our rural tourism is thriving, and so are our bamboo forests. We can continue to utilize the bamboo sustainably, allowing our income to grow steadily year after year in the future."

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