China News Service, Yinchuan, September 23 (Reporter Li Peishan) On the occasion of the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day, the Rose Park in Xixia District, Yinchuan City, Ningxia is warm and cozy. On September 22, more than 300 married families, paired students of all ethnic groups, and local residents gathered together to participate in the "Lovely Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day, Friendship Across Mountains and Seas" social event. They expressed their feelings through partying, gathered people's hearts with warmth, and vividly told the story of unity at the foot of Helan Mountain that crosses regions and ethnic groups to help each other.
Families and paired students hung wish cards on the pomegranate-shaped landscape tree to express their good wishes. Photo courtesy of Xixia District Media Center
This gathering includes a video review of achievements, sharing of marriage stories, artistic performances, questions and answers on national unity, intangible cultural heritage experience, and convenient services. National dance, allegro, folk dance and other performances were performed in turn, and immersive experiences such as tea art tasting and 100-meter-long scroll painting allowed everyone to get closer to each other through interaction and feel the charm of China's excellent traditional culture.
Actors from all ethnic groups performed on the same stage to celebrate the Double Festival. Photo courtesy of Xixia District Media Center
Behind the lively friendship is a warm relationship that lasts for eleven years. This relationship began with an act of kindness in 2005. Resident Jia Shuqin took good care of college students from other places who came to Ningxia to study, and a seed of goodwill was planted. In 2015, the Xixia District Sharing Community officially launched the "Mate and Mutual Help" project. From a spontaneous act of charity by one family, it has now grown into a national unity brand characterized by party and government coordination, school-site linkage, and widespread participation of the whole society, building a heart-warming bridge for people of all ethnic groups to interact, exchange, and blend.
Calligraphy enthusiasts painted calligraphy on the spot, families and the public stopped to watch, immersing themselves in the charm of traditional Chinese culture. Photo courtesy of Xixia District Media Center
So far, Xixia District has helped 182 families and 10 companies to pair up with 209 students of all ethnic groups from 28 provinces across the country. The local area has cultivated 39 advanced models of ethnic unity, including Wang Juru. Wang Juru was rated as a national model individual for ethnic unity and progress. The shared community was selected as a national inter-embedded development plan pilot. Wenchang Road Street was rated as a national ethnic unity and progress demonstration area. The brand influence continues to increase.
Today, "marriage and mutual assistance" continues to iterate and upgrade, moving from daily assistance to in-depth exchanges and integration. Paired families and students regularly carry out "Five Ones" themed activities. Participants of all ethnic groups have performed more than 400 cultural performances and participated in more than 900 volunteer services. Married students have given more than 100 themed lectures and created many local literary and artistic works full of warmth. At the same time, this activity has completed the transformation from spontaneous private exploration to institutionalized operation. Xixia District has introduced a special plan to standardize the entire pairing process and provide an incentive mechanism to transform the good deeds of the people into long-term governance practices.
Pairing is also a two-way process of growing together. Over the past eleven years, the local area has helped paired students solve more than 200 academic and life problems, and nearly 50 companies and government departments continue to provide practical positions to help young people grow and become talents. Residents of all ethnic groups took the initiative to participate in community governance through paired assistance. Successive students traveled to various places after their studies, becoming the fire of national unity and spreading the warm stories of the Helan Mountains to the north and south of the country. (over)
