International Department of the CPC Central Committee       BEIJING REVIEW
Special Issue Dedicated to the Heroes of the CPC's 100-year History       MONTHLY
Heroes Since 2012
 

 

 

Zhang Guimei

Born in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province in 1957, Zhang Guimei is a teacher and the principal of Huaping Girls High School in Lijiang City, Yunnan Province. She is well-known as she established the first girls' public high school in China, which does not charge tuition fees, but also for achieves high percentage of graduates who enter universities.

In 2001, Zhang, then a teacher of local middle school, was appointed the part-time president of a center for homeless children in Huaping county, she found many of the girls who lived at the center were abandoned by their parents. She also noticed many girls in the region, especially from poor families, had little chance of getting education.

These experiences inspired Zhang to establish a school for girls living in the mountainous areas, mainly those who are unable to continue their studies after completing the nine-year compulsory education. She was determined to make sure the school did not charge tuition fees.

In 2007, Zhang was selected as a representative of the 17th CPC National Congress, and the local government issued a special grant for her to purchase some new clothes before she went to attend the meetings in Beijing. Instead she used the money to buy computers for her students.

At the meeting, a reporter noticed Zhang was wearing jeans with holes in them, and reported her story. Since then, Zhang and her dream to start a school for girls have drawn attention from the public. Consequently, governments of Lijiang city and Huaping county allocated one million yuan, respectively, to construct a school, and the Huaping High School for Girls was officially opened in September 2008.

In the past 13 years, Zhang has helped more than 1,600 girls achieve their university dreams. Zhang has changed the fates of these girls by enabling them to pursue education and preventing poverty from being passed on to the next generation.

She has been honored with the title "Role Model of the Times" in recognition of her dedication to education for girls.

Zhong Nanshan

Dr Zhong Nanshan is a renowned respiratory disease expert in China. He received the Medal of the Republic, the highest state honor, for his outstanding contribution to fighting the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020.

Dr Zhong was born in October 1936 in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. In 1960, he graduated from Beijing University Medical School and worked at the School. During 1979 to 1981, he studied at the Edinburgh University and London University as a fellow scholar, majoring in research of hyperoxia and hypoxia and their impacts on pulmonary blood circulation. Zhong became president of the Chinese Thoracic Society in 2000 and became president of the Chinese Medical Association in 2005. He is currently the director of the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Thoracic Disease.

Zhong discovered the SARS coronavirus back in 2003 and played an important role in the country's fight against the epidemic as a leading scientist. He was voted one of China's top 10 scientists in 2010. He is also one of the most respectable and trusted figures during China's battle against COVID-19 and serves as an adviser to the government in managing the crisis.

Zhong Nanshan was named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2020.

Huang Wenxiu

Huang Wenxiu, the late first secretary of Baini Village in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, was awarded as a National Excellent Communist Party Member for her poverty alleviation efforts by the CPC Central Committee in 2019.

After graduating from Beijing Normal University in 2016, Huang returned to her hometown, Baise City, where she served as an official with the publicity department of the Baise CPC Municipal Committee.

She was appointed as the first secretary of Baini village to help with poverty alleviation in March 2018. She dedicated herself to her career, working day and night to help villagers increase their income and escape poverty.

On June 16, 2018, Huang was trapped in a mountain area by a flash flood while on her way back to the village after visiting her sick father in another county on the weekend. She was found dead the next day at the age of 30.

Her death drew huge attention among the locals and netizens on social media, who mourned for her because she devoted her life to the well-being of others instead of her own.

Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, praised that Huang gave up opportunities to work in big cities and returned to her hometown after she graduated from university, and devoted herself to the poverty-alleviation work in her hometown. Xi encouraged Party members, officials and young people to learn from Huang.

Fan Jinshi

Fan Jinshi, born in 1938 in Beijing, is the president of Dunhuang Academy and spent more than five decades in cultural relic research in the northwestern historic city, earning the moniker "The Daughter of Dunhuang".

After graduating from Peking University in 1963, Fan was dispatched to work in Dunhuang. Since then, Fan began studying and protecting the Dunhuang Grottoes as well as disseminating Dunhuang culture. Fan pioneered and promoted the nationwide booking system of traveling in Dunhuang. She also compiled an Archaeological Report on Grottoes 266 to 275 at Mogao Grottoes, authored Interpretations of Dunhuang, and advanced the “Digital Dunhuang” project, thus exerting her life-long efforts not only to save the invaluable treasures in Dunhuang but also to introduce them to the world.

Fan has been awarded the honorary title of “National Advanced Laborer”, and in 2008, she was honored as one of the ten distinguished alumni of Peking University, and in 2018, she earned the title of “Reform Pioneer”. This year, Fan won the “Award for Positive Energy” at the ceremony of “Lui Che-Woo Prize” held in Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center on October 3, and she was also listed as a recommended candidate for the “The Most Beautiful Striver”. In addition, Fan has received the national honor of “Outstanding Contributor to the Cultural Heritage Preservation” for her substantial contribution to the permanent preservation and sustainable utilization of the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang.

Zhoigar and Yangzom

Zhoigar and Yangzom, two women from a herding family in Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region, were awarded with the title "Role Model of the Times" in recognition of their loyalty and contributions to safeguard the border area.

With their father Sangye, this family is based in Yumai, China's smallest town in terms of population, which sits at the southern foot of the Himalayas, where steep slopes and rugged paths make access difficult.

For decades, it was called a "three-people township," for only Sangye, his daughters Zhoigar and Yangzom and their families lived there, tenaciously safeguarding the national border. Among their activities is keeping an eye out along the border and reporting suspicious activities like possible smugglers.

Zhoigar and Yangzom wrote a letter to Xi while the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) was in session in Beijing. They told Xi their experiences in safeguarding the border area and the development of their township over the years.

In his reply, Xi acknowledged their efforts to safeguard the territory, and thanked them for the loyalty and contributions they have made in the border area. He also encouraged them to set down roots in the border area, safeguard the Chinese territory and develop their hometown.

With the staunch support of the central government, the per capita net income of Yumai registered 34,012 yuan ($5,312) in 2020, 68 times that of 1991. The "three-people township" has now more than 200 residents in 67 families, becoming a well-off and beautiful place.

Aireti Mamuti

Aireti Mamuti, former deputy director of the public security bureau of Pishan county, Hotan Prefecture in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, was awarded with the title of “The people's hero”.

Born in October, 1969, Mamuti died in September 2016 when searching for A-class fugitives. He was killed by a suicide bomber. For 27 years, he had been fighting on the frontline for safeguarding social stability and security. By giving full play of his counter-terrorism combat experience, he led the police to successfully solve a series of cases.

Teams of Chang'e, Shenzhou and Beidou programs Space exploration teams

Researchers behind the Chang'e lunar exploration program, Shenzhou series of spacecraft and Beidou Satellite Navigation System contributed greatly in space exploration. And they were credited as "The Most Beautiful Striver".

China achieved huge progress in space exploration. In 2020, China launched the Chang'e-5 probe, successfully bringing home 1,731 grams of moon samples. It aims to launch the Chang'e 6 probe to collect samples in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon around 2024. In this April, the successful launch of the Tianhe module marks that China's space station construction has entered the full implementation stage, which lays a solid foundation for the follow-up tasks. China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System was finished after decades of planning and construction, and China possesses one of the world's major navigation satellite systems.

The average age of Chang'e mission team and Shenzhou mission team was 33 while Beidou team's mean age was 35. China’s President Xi Jinping called young people "the most dynamic and creative group of our society" and said that they should "stand at the forefront of innovation and creation".

Warriors in white suits: front-line medical workers fighting against the COVID-19

Facing with the sudden outbreak of the novel coranavirus disease (COVID-19), millions of medical workers grappled with the epidemic at the front line across China.

Showing professional devotion and a deep respect for life, many of them risked their own lives, racing against time and working round the clock to try to save every patient. They built a Great Wall against the virus, bringing light and hope to the nation at a dark time.

They endured tremendous fatigue and stress, and paid a heavy price. More than 2,000 medical workers were infected, and scores died in the line of duty. No one is born a hero, yet their selflessness made them fearless. These people, with the nobility, kindness, and devotion that are intrinsic to their profession, have etched an unforgettable chapter in the history of the Chinese nation and in the hearts of the Chinese people.

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