Foreign orphans adopted by Chinese parents become college students of New China, giving up the opportunity of staying in Beijing to contribute to Xinjiang’s construction for nearly 60 years
This "foreign face" CCP member said this to young party members...
A tall figure with slightly curly white hair, leaning on a cane, staggered a little, walked towards us.
The 83-year-old man in front of me, with a high nose and deep eyes, and blue eyes, looked like a "foreigner" at first glance.
"I'm an authentic Chinese!" There was no strangeness in the first meeting. The old man's voice was bright and his mouth was authentic Beijing dialect, and he enthusiastically talked with reporters.
This Chinese with a foreign face is named Li Yizu.
His life can be called a "legendary": he was born in troubled times, a foreign orphan, raised by Chinese parents, and became a university student of New China.
Nearly 60 years ago, he was willing to give up the opportunity to stay in Beijing, travel from the heart of the motherland to the border areas, and dedicated his life to the development of Xinjiang.
Recently, his deeds have attracted widespread attention after being reported by the media, and people are moved by his love for being a child who is willing to take root in the border and serve the motherland.
Why is he willing to stay in Xinjiang for a lifetime?
How do you view your legendary life?
"I'm just an ordinary geological worker who did what I should do. The party and the country nurtured me, and people must be grateful."
One sunny spring afternoon, in front of an old six-story residential building near Tiyuguan Road in Urumqi, we brought these questions to the elderly Li Yizu and listened to his patriotism at close range.
Go to the place where the motherland needs it most
"I specially selected this dress and dressed it up." Wearing a beige shirt, black short trench coat and jeans, he smiled and looked radiant.
As a member of the Urumqi Municipal Committee’s Veteran Cadre Bureau’s "Party Flag Yao Beginning Heart" Preaching Group, he is ready to tell the young party members about his own experience.
At this time, nearly one Jiazi had passed since Li Yizu left Beijing at the age of 24 and rushed to Xinjiang in a spirited manner.
Why did you choose to go to Xinjiang?
"This is closely related to my growing up experience and education." Li Yizu said.
In 1938, Li Yizu was born in a missionary hospital in Tianjin. His foreign parents disappeared. A Chinese couple brought him back to Beijing to raise him.
Perhaps it is hoped that he will not forget his roots in the future and his adoptive parents named him "Yizu".
When he was a child, he always liked wearing a hat wherever he went because of his eye-catching blond hair.
After being wronged and frustrated, his adoptive mother, Zhao Xiuzhen, is his safe haven.
"My mother has no culture and has been very difficult in her life. But she kept telling me that one should be a person of spine. This sentence has a great influence on me."
He spent his childhood in the countryside of Shandong, his adoptive mother's hometown, and returned to Beijing after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War and received his education in a primary school on East Chang'an Street.
The talented and talented Li Yizu succeeded in his studies and was admitted all the way to Beijing Yuying Middle School and Beijing No. 2 Middle School.
"Walking in to realize his ideals and going out to serve the society", he still remembers the school motto engraved in front of his alma mater Beijing No. 2 Middle School, and the scene when his geography teacher led his students to Xiangshan to learn about geology.
Like many people in that era, he admired Paul Kochakin, the protagonist of the novel How Steel Is Made.
In high school, the school organized them to pair up with "China Paul" Wu Yunduo.
This "China Paul" is regarded as an idol in reality.
A passage Wu Yunduo gave to middle school students had a great impact on Li Yizu: "Each of our young people should be vigorous and energetic fighters, ready to go to the most difficult, most difficult, and most needed place... Power, our wisdom, our lives, everything we have is handed over to the motherland, to the people, and to the party! From the people and the party, we will gain infinite power to move mountains and seas, develop minerals, build sluices, and conquer The desert, build our motherland into a beautiful garden!"
"After listening to Wu Yunduo's report, I went to the Xinhua Bookstore to buy this book." Li Yizu has always cherished a 1953 first edition of "Dedicating Everything to the Party".
"It followed me from Beijing to Xinjiang." Although the cover has turned yellow, the damaged parts of the book cover were carefully glued with scotch tape.
Before graduating from high school, the school invited two students from Beijing Institute of Geology to give a report.
Unexpectedly, this incident changed his destiny.
"They brag about how beautiful the scenery is when working in Qinghai; they also said that they lived in a tent at night, and the bear came in... I said to my heart, hey, this fits my character! So, at that time, the first choice for college entrance examination was the first. Major, I fill in the major of geological survey and prospecting in Beijing Institute of Geology."
During his studies at the Beijing Institute of Geology, he and his classmates had to go to the field for internships every year. He and his classmates had learned about the arduous struggle of the red regime from Hunan to Fujian.
“When I crossed Humanong Mountain in Changting, Fujian, the county comrades showed me many caves. There were slogans such as'Long live the Red Army' in the caves, which left me a very deep impression.” Li Yizu said.
When he graduated from university, he volunteered to work in Xinjiang.
"At that time, we had 330 graduates majoring in geological surveying and mineral prospecting, and more than 70 of them asked to work in Xinjiang. With the desire to serve the motherland, we took the initiative to apply to go to the frontiers and difficult places to dedicate their youth and knowledge. "In this way, in 1962, Li Yizu became a member of the 156 Coalfield Geological Exploration Team of Xinjiang Coalfield Geology Bureau.
His work in the exploration team is mine inspections, running around the mountains in the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, exploring where there are mines, how valuable they are, and whether they need the next step. They go to sparsely populated places.
"Four or five people in a car, bring two barrels of gasoline, and even bring explosives if needed for mining work. We go out in April every year and come back in September. We go to places where cars can't get in in the mountains. He drove over the mountains and ridges with the instrument on his back. The driver master forgive us and wanted us to walk a little bit less. He bumped on the roads and bumped on the rocks and drove to the place where we couldn’t walk. However, young people would also enjoy it at that time. After work, we returned to the tent. We always lived by the water. We built a pool of stones and took a bath in it." Now, when he talked about the hardship of field work, he didn't think it was hard, but he smiled smugly.
For a long time trekking among the vast mountains and rivers of Xinjiang, he learned to ride horses and camels, and mastered the skills of survival in the wild.
A few stones set up a pot to melt some snow water, and the yak meat is on the pancakes, and when it is heated, it is a meal.
"I really didn't find it particularly hard. Every day is fresh and full of energy. It is a pleasure to find underground minerals through hard work."
Not long after working in Xinjiang, he married Cao Jinxia, a girl from Suzhou who was also engaged in geology, and took her to Urumqi. Since then, he has taken root in Xinjiang.
During this period, there were also many opportunities to transfer from Xinjiang, but in the end they stayed.
"I was born in China and grew up in China. I should apply what I have learned to return to the motherland. Looking back and looking at my experience in Xinjiang, I feel that I can be said to be worthy of my life." He said that Xinjiang is his home. I have a heartfelt love for this place.
Love photography, engage in popular science, and work tirelessly to make use of the remaining heat
While studying at the Beijing Institute of Geology, Li Yizu enrolled in a photography class, and has never left the camera ever since.
He has preserved tens of thousands of photos, and most of the old black and white photos are precious records from field work in various parts of Xinjiang.
In 1976, he worked in the Toksun mining area more than 170 kilometers away from his home. No one took his young son, so he had to take it to the wild.
At that time, the leaders asked him to set up a workers' university, and he would write handouts suitable for workers to learn, and teach "general geology" and "coal geological exploration methods."
In a photo taken at that time, his son was standing among the workers, smiling happily.
Another photo is a group photo of a family of Kazakh herders.
That was 40 years ago, he was working in the Ulungu River area in northern Xinjiang.
When I was out for work one day, the car got stuck in the ditch and couldn't get it out.
He ran for more than a kilometer to a herdsman's house and wanted to ask them for help.
Open the tent and see that except for the elderly, there are children.
Hearing his difficulties, the Kazakh old man didn't say a word, so he asked the children to take Kantuman (an iron farm tool), walk to the place where the car was stuck, dig and push, and finally got the car out.
In order to thank the old man, he took a group photo of the family.
After the photo was washed out, he sent one to the old man, and the other one has been kept until now.
During 22 years of field exploration work, he experienced many dangerous moments: as soon as he passed the bridge by car, the bridge was destroyed by the flood; when he blasted with explosives, there were a few of them without sound, he risked his death and climbed into the mine to check ; During the inspection of the Altun Mountains no man’s land, he rode a donkey, first fell off the back of the donkey, and then had a fever. With the help of his colleagues, he endured the injury and insisted on climbing to the inspection point at an altitude of 4000 meters, almost delaying treatment...
In the 1980s, he was transferred to the sub-school of Team 156 of Xinjiang Coalfield Geology Bureau.
In 1981, he joined the party and since then entered the education industry, working as a physics teacher in the school.
After that, he served as the principal of the Coal Department School of the Autonomous Region, and was later transferred to the Urumqi Education Bureau until his retirement in 1998.
After retiring, he can't take any time off. After retiring, he uses his knowledge and ability to devote himself to the work of caring for the next generation.
He writes lecture notes, makes teaching aids, and presents vivid images, which are very popular among students.
"I told the children what is called magnetic levitation. I just get two magnets and a generator, and turn it around as soon as the electricity is transmitted. Make these gadgets and let them know at a glance that inventions are not mysterious, everyone can! "
He has compiled nearly 800,000 words of lectures with extensive content and detailed information, bought video recorders and video tapes, and collected and recorded popular science, history, political and ideological education and other related video materials.
In order to facilitate the preparation of lecture notes, he also learned to use a computer.
The objects of his lectures include students, teachers, cadres, parents...
Once a Mongolian middle school student listened to Li Yizu's lectures, he often wrote to him, asking him to share the ups and downs in the examination and career selection of the puzzles encountered in teaching and growing up. The two sides have maintained communication for nearly ten years.
Some grassroots educators encountered problems in teaching and were willing to talk to Li Yizu and listen to his opinions. He has kept these correspondences.
More than that.
In the ancient years, Li Yizu did another thing. Starting in 2011, he worked as a consultant for the CCTV "Geography·China" film crew for 8 years. He once again traveled to Xinjiang and participated in the production of a series of special features reflecting the beauty of Xinjiang's landscape.
It was also after that long-distance fatigue that his knee was injured and his walking is still affected.
But he was still open-minded and optimistic, "I didn't know how many beautiful scenes I took!"
Now, in the 60-square-meter shabby room that has been inhabited for 30 years, the most important thing for Mr. Li to wake up every day is to organize the photos he took, sort them into series, and upload them to the music album for netizens to watch. .
Wang Jinying, a cadre of the Urumqi Municipal Party Committee’s Veteran Cadre Bureau, said that besides a few pieces of furniture in Li’s home, the most are books, as well as video tapes, CDs and homemade teaching aids in large and small paper boxes.
He is indifferent to fame and fortune, and he has the opportunity to select advanced candidates, which is always reserved for young people.
Talk about history, send a message to young people
This year marks the 40th anniversary of Li Yizu's joining the party.
"In a flash, nearly 60 years have passed. Among my classmates who came to Xinjiang, some gave their young lives to Xinjiang's geological cause, and some returned to the inland after retirement. Why do I stay in Xinjiang? Because I have been engaged in field geology for many years. I traveled all over the land of Xinjiang, and the mountains and rivers here left me behind.” Li Yizu recalled this way when communicating with young party members in Urumqi on April 21.
"Xinjiang has good mountains, good water, and better people. The various ethnic groups living here have formed a bold and unrestrained character, can sing and dance, and are warm and hospitable. All ethnic groups love, care and support each other." Li Yizu said.
"I am 83 years old this year, and I have traveled 80% of the land of the motherland. In 1972, my colleagues and I went to the Ngari area of Tibet to engage in geological work in the Gangdise Mountains, and then walked from Ngari along the China-India and China-Nepal borders to Lhasa. . In 2005 I went to Lhasa again and saw the great changes that have taken place in Tibet. In Tibet and Xinjiang, every inch of the land of the motherland has left me an unforgettable memory. It can be said that I have personally experienced the great changes that have taken place in the motherland. ."
"I am a Chinese of foreign descent. I was raised on this land of China by a kind and honest Chinese mother. So no matter where I go, I have a Chinese heart that will never change."
Looking back on the path he has traveled, he said: "From the young pioneers, the Communist Youth League members, to the Communist Party members, I deeply feel that the party and the state have given me training and education, and I have embarked on the road of serving the people."
He does not recognize that many media call him a "geological scientist", "I am an ordinary geologist, but I am willing to give lectures to children after retirement."
"The ancestors were not afraid of sacrifices and fought bloody battles and opened up a new era for the Chinese nation; the fathers were not afraid of difficulties, and united as one to promote the process of China's modernization; today's young people are a generation that will carry on the past. I sincerely hope that you will forge ahead, just like your predecessors. In the same way, be a Chinese who stands upright and promotes China's righteousness."
During the one-hour exchange meeting, the young party members in the venue listened carefully. Many people stared at the courseware made by Mr. Li himself on the big screen. From time to time, someone bowed their heads and recorded them in their notebooks.
At the end of the exchange meeting, everyone stood up and paid tribute to this old man who dedicated his life to Xinjiang with applause again and again.
Our reporter Pan Ying and Zhang Zhongkai