The Impression of Liangshan from A British Youth

问起在中国喜欢去哪儿玩，托比·西蒙兹竖起大拇指毫不犹豫地推荐：“中国的乡村真的很美丽，一定要去看看。”

When asked where he likes going in China, Toby Symonds, a British young man, said without hesitation that Chinese countryside is so beautiful that foreigners should definitely visit it.

The beautiful natural scenery of Liangshan

2008年9月，英国纽卡斯尔大学历史系的大三学生托比，成为四川大学的交换学生。

In September 2008, when he was a junior history student at the Newcastle University in Britain, Symonds came to study in the Sichuan University in Chengdu, capital of southwest China’s Sichuan province, under an exchange program.

“刚来成都时，我不会中文，人生地不熟，但是这里给我留下了很热情、不排外的第一印象，我很快就适应了中国的生活。”

“When I first arrived in Chengdu, I couldn’t speak Chinese and was a complete stranger in the city. But the city soon impressed me with its hospitality and inclusiveness, so I adapted quickly to the life in China.”

交换学习经历虽然短暂，但他喜欢中国，喜欢这里蓬勃的生机和人们的乐观。当英国的学业完成后，他再次来到成都，一边写作，一边和朋友创业。

His experience of studying in China as an exchange student, though short, made Symonds fall in love with the country and its exuberant vitality and optimistic people. After finishing his studies in Britain, Symonds returned to Chengdu to start a business with his friends while writing.

这些年，因为职业原因，他非常关注中国的教育发展，也走访过许多地方进行实地考察。一位名叫莫石洗乌的彝族小姑娘的故事给他留下深刻印象。

In recent years, Symonds has paid close attention to the development of education in China and made field trips to a lot of places across the country because of his work, during which a girl of Yi ethnic group named Moshixiwu has left a deep impression on him.

Moshixiwu (middle), a girl of Yi ethnic group in Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture, southwest China’s Sichuan province, discusses schoolwork with classmates at school. (People’s Daily Online/Song Haoxin)

2013年，托比第一次来到四川省凉山彝族自治州雷波县上田坝镇四维村，走进莫石洗乌家。村子当时还没通电，莫石洗乌一家人住在土房子里，家里只有一盏煤油灯照明。莫石洗乌跟村里其他小朋友一样，最大的愿望是家里能装上电灯，“有了灯，晚上就不怕黑了”。

In 2013, Symonds went to Siwei village, Shangtianba township, Leibo county, Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture, Sichuan province, for the very first time, and visited the family of Moshixiwu. At that time, Siwei village didn’t have electricity, and Moshixiwu’s family lived in an adobe house lit by a kerosene lamp. Like other children in the village, Moshixiwu’s biggest wish was to have an electric light in her house.“If we had electric light, we wouldn’t be afraid of the darkness at night,” Moshixiwu told Symonds.

去年夏天，托比再次来到莫石洗乌家。当年的土房子不见了，取而代之的是富有民族特色的彝家新居，几个小孩子正围坐在电视机前，观看东京奥运会。家里亮堂堂的，电冰箱、洗衣机等家电一应俱全。

Last summer, when Symonds visited Moshixiwu’s family again, he found that their adobe house was replaced by a new one with rich cultural elements of the Yi ethnic group, and that several children were watching the Tokyo Olympic Games on TV. The new house was bright and equipped with various kinds of home appliances, including refrigerator and washing machine.

四川凉山地区水电资源丰富，但以前基础设施跟不上，“背山靠水却吃不上水”。得益于精准扶贫政策，国网四川电力公司在凉山地区持续投入，当地的水电资源优势转化为经济优势，带动了地区经济发展。

Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture is endowed with rich hydroelectric resources. However, due to poor infrastructure, easy access to clean and safe drinking water used to be a challenge to local people. Thanks to China’s strategy of targeted poverty alleviation, the State Grid Sichuan Electric Power Company has made continuous efforts to improve local infrastructure and help translate the prefecture’s advantage in hydroelectric resources into economic advantage, eventually driving the economic development of the locality.

村民告诉托比，这些年，村里通了电，大家的日子也越来越好。2019年，四维村顺利实现整村脱贫，摘掉了几十年的“贫困帽”。经济发展的同时，当地教育水平也在不断提高。

Local villagers told Symonds that they have got access to electricity and their lives have become better and better in recent years. By 2019, Siwei village lifted all households out of poverty, shaking off the shackles of poverty that tortured it for decades. As economic development picks up speed, educational conditions of the prefecture have also been continuously improved, something Symonds has seen first-hand.

A village has been electrified and villagers are growing vegetables and fruits around their houses

托比对此深有体会：“今年再到大凉山，我又跑了好几个县。那些过去很贫困、见不到几所学校的地方，如今一栋栋现代化的教学楼拔地而起。孩子们在宽敞、安全的运动场上畅快奔跑，校园里到处是孩子们的笑声和读书声……”

“I went to quite a number of counties when I visited Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture again this year. And I found that those places which were very poor and had few schools in sight now have many modern school buildings. Children run freely on spacious and safe playgrounds, and schools are filled with students’ laughter and sound of reading,” Symonds said.

Children are happily attending classes at a primary school in the village of Aho.

再次与莫石洗乌聊起“梦想”，小姑娘笑着对托比说，“现在我的梦想是能考上大学。”

“Now my dream is to go to college,” Moshixiwu told Symonds with a happy smile when she talked about dream with him again.

“以前，我以为‘小康’是城市生活的‘代名词’。大凉山的变化告诉我，‘小康’不仅在城市，也在乡村。只有‘老乡’们都‘小康’了，才是真的小康。

“In the past, I thought ‘Xiaokang’ is a phrase used only to describe urban life. The changes in Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture made me realize that ‘Xiaokang’ exists not only in urban areas but also rural areas. Only when all rural residents achieve ‘Xiaokang’ can China truly realize the goal of ‘Xiaokang’,” Symonds said.

“看到村民们生活的巨大变化，许多像莫石洗乌一样的孩子，在物质、教育资源改善后，拥有了更美好的理想追求，我由衷地感慨中国共产党的伟大。”

“When I saw the great changes in villagers’ lives, especially when I knew that children like Moshixiwu have more beautiful dreams after they got better material and educational resources, I had heartfelt respect for the greatness of the Communist Party of China (CPC),” he said.

Photo taken on Jan. 1, 2021 shows an aerial view of a super-large bridge of a spur line of the first expressway meandering in the Xiaoliangshan mountainous area in southwest China’s Sichuan province. The spur line, which is located in Mabian Yi autonomous county, Leshan city, Sichuan province, officially opened to traffic in 2021, shortening the travel time between Mabian county and Chengdu city, capital of Sichuan province, to 3.5 hours. (People’s Daily Online/Yang Fei)

Photo taken on Jan. 10, 2022 at Xichangxi Railway Station in Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture, southwest China’s Sichuan province, shows train attendants in traditional costumes of ethnic minority groups posing for a photo with Fuxing high-speed train No. D843, which is about to make the first trip from Xichangxi Railway Station to Kunming, capital of southwest China’s Yunnan province. The train trip marked that Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture officially ushered in the era of high-speed trains. (People’s Daily Online/Hu Zhiqiang)

图文综合：人民日报 四川在线