[Explanation] On November 3, a fog on the Jizhong Plain gradually dissipated, and Nanlonghua Village, Zhao County, Hebei Province became clear.

Although it was approaching noon, Chen Mingle and his wife were still busy tying their broomsticks.

Nanlonghua Village is the largest broom processing distribution center in North China, and almost every household in the village is engaged in broom processing.

　　[Concurrent] Chen Mingle, a villager in Nanlonghua Village, Zhao County, Hebei Province

　　I have done this (broomstick) for more than 20 years.

My name is Chen Mingle. I tie a hundred broomsticks every day, earning three hundred and sixty seventy dollars a day. The broom tying makes a good living and is very flexible.

　　[Concurrent] Chen Mancang, a villager in Nanlonghua Village, Zhao County, Hebei Province

　　I have been working for more than 30 years. Our husband and I (mouth) earn more than one hundred thousand yuan a year, (this year) I have been doing it for sixty-nine years. Even if I can’t do it, I’m just a good person. It's hard to rest at work.

　　[Explanation] According to Fan Yongcun, the party branch secretary of Nanlonghua Village, the villagers of Nanlonghua Village have a tradition of engaging in handicrafts. Since the 1980s, there have been people in the village engaged in basket weaving, and then someone introduced broomsticks into the village. After more than 30 years of development, the broom processing industry has gradually formed a scale in the village.

At present, there are more than 1,500 villagers engaged in broom processing in Nanlonghua Village, and more than 10 million brooms are processed annually.

　　[Concurrent] Fan Yongcun, Party Branch Secretary of Nanlonghua Village, Zhao County, Hebei Province

　　After 2000, our broom (processing industry) has formed a trend, (from) the small workshop-style production (transition) of each household has formed a large-scale centralization, and has developed in this direction.

In addition to the existing few individual retail households tied (brooms) at home, there are now more than a dozen broom factories in the village, and they are now the main force.

　　[Explanation] The reporter saw in the broom processing factory of villager Chen Guiying that a truck of bamboo sticks pulled from Hangzhou was unloading. These bamboo sticks were used to make brooms.

The bamboo branches can be made into a broom through a few simple processes such as sorting, weaving, and tying. Therefore, it is effortless for the elderly villagers and women to tie the broom.

　　[Concurrent] Chen Qiuzhen, a villager in Nanlonghua Village, Zhao County, Hebei Province

　　I have been working here for over ten years. I tied fifty ties a day and earned three dollars a hand. It’s better than going out to work. It’s no longer easy to find a job on the construction site like my age. Now I’m already Sixty (years old).

　　[Concurrent] Chen Guiying, a villager in Nanlonghua Village, Zhao County, Hebei Province

　　Our factory has been in operation for 15 years. There are forty to fifty workers, and about 30,000 broomsticks are produced a year. The broomsticks are sold all over the country for use by sanitation workers.

Working in this industry, not only has I become rich, but also the people in the village have also become rich. The next step I want to do is to work hard and increase wages (for workers).

　　[Concurrent] Fan Yongcun, Party Branch Secretary of Nanlonghua Village, Zhao County, Hebei Province

　　The villagers are all rich. The next step is to upgrade the village appearance of our village in a planned way to become a veritable broomstick professional village and create a more beautiful prospect.

　　Ai Guangde reports from Shijiazhuang, Hebei

Editor in charge: [Zhang Aolin]