When I first saw on the news that President Xi Jinping had been to Xiangxi prefecture of Hunan Province on an inspection tour on November 3, 2013, the joy that filled my heart was as great as any who had met him in person on that day. That is because I was born and raised in Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, and my mother was born at the village called Shibadong that President Xi visited. n
Since then, several years have passed. Whenever I bring up Xiangxi in a conversation, I still beam with pride: It was during his tour of Xiangxi that President Xi raised the theory of targeted poverty alleviation. Each time I visited Shibadong, villagers never tired of recounting the once-in-a-lifetime event, and I could never have enough of such stories. It seemed the nation's top leader had never left the village. n
Xiangxi is one of the country's typically backward areas that are either remote, used to be revolutionary bases, or have a high percentage of ethnic groups in the population. Every year, I would make a trip to Xiangxi. A wave of joy would surge through my heart at any sign of progress. Nothing gives me more satisfaction than seeing my hometown improving both materially and spiritually year by year.