The spirit of the Party flag flies high at the grassroots level. Ding Lan has kept several pairs of red socks in her drawer. During her zodiac year in 2019, several elderly women from the village returned from the market and pressed the red socks into her hands. "Secretary Ding, you refuse gifts and meals, and you keep spending your own money for the village. We feel bad, so we bought you a couple of red socks for good luck." Ding Lan cried when she accepted the socks, and she has kept them ever since.
From serving as Party branch secretary of Yuyingwa Village to her current role as deputy Party secretary and mayor of Mashenqiao Town, Ding Lan summarizes her over ten years of grassroots work experience: "As long as you are sincere with the people, they will sincerely work alongside you."
When she first arrived in Yuyingwa Village, Ding Lan inherited a difficult situation. The village had not collected contract fees for eight years and was burdened with hundreds of thousands of yuan in debt on the books. Consequently, she led the village cadres door-to-door to negotiate with residents. Within a few months, the outstanding debts were cleared. The contract fees that hadn't been collected for eight years were paid in full at once. Over 300 acres of expired contracts were renegotiated and standardized, and for the first time, the village collective had a surplus in its accounts.
Yuyingwa Village is known for its high-quality apples and plums, but the apples, despite their quality, were not fetching good prices. To address this, Ding Lan repeatedly visited markets and sought out channels, eventually facilitating cooperation with enterprises. Through high-end customization, the price of apples rose from just over one yuan per jin to four or five yuan, generating cumulative sales exceeding two million yuan. The village collective shed its "poor帽子" (poor label), and Yuyingwa Village transformed into a five-star village.
Now, as mayor, Ding Lan has brought this same sincerity to the entire town. "Relying solely on one person's strength cannot drive the development of an entire area," Ding Lan stated. "It requires pooling everyone's efforts together, making everyone work hard collectively." She implemented a "quarterly forum" system across the town—every three months, Party branch secretaries from all villages gather. If a particular village's industry has notable successes, everyone visits to learn from their experience, fostering mentorship between experienced and new village cadres.
Mashenqiao Town is a major agricultural town where blueberries are the dominant industry. A few years ago, when promoting substrate cultivation and introducing new varieties, residents were hesitant. "If we invest this money and the returns are poor, what if it's wasted?" To alleviate these concerns, Ding Lan led village cadres and party member growers to visit leading enterprises, established "demonstration greenhouses" where party members and cadres experimented first, and had technical experts provide hands-on guidance in the fields.
"First, show the farmers how it's done, then lead them in doing it," Ding Lan explained. "We need to break the ice hindering industrial development. When farmers see party members demonstrating and leading, and as techniques become more mature, their worries naturally diminish." Today, Mashenqiao Town's blueberry cultivation area spans nearly 3,000 acres, with an annual output value reaching 118 million yuan, making it the largest blueberry planting base in North China.
Cuigezhai Village is adjacent to Yuqiao Reservoir, necessitating a balance between ecological protection and economic development. Over 80 rural housing sites in the village had been idle for years. After repeated research by Ding Lan and town and village cadres, a decision was made to introduce social capital, establishing a model of "enterprise operation, collective coordination, and farmer participation."
Initially, villagers feared being shortchanged, and enterprises worried about policy instability. A dedicated town task force provided proactive services, assisting enterprises with approvals while patiently explaining policies and calculating benefits with villagers household by household, gradually building trust. Now, those once-dilapidated old houses have been transformed into popular homestays. Enterprises have stable resources, the village collective earns service fees, and farmers receive both rent and wages.
Through repeated forums and study tours, village cadres broadened their perspectives and found direction. The morel mushroom industry was developed from scratch, now covering 450 acres with an annual output of 270 tons. Deep processing industries for dried fruits, jams, fruit wines, and more were successively launched. Premium vegetable gift boxes became hot-selling items. This year, Ding Lan capitalized on the momentum to plan "three tourism circuits"—focusing on health and wellness in the north, characteristic industries in the center, and waterside activities in the south—linking scattered resources together.
This past Spring Festival, Mashenqiao Town's blueberries hit the market early and sold for excellent prices. Villagers say that working under Mayor Ding gives them confidence.
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