Guarding the Border and Uniting the People, Lincang Paints a New Picture of Border Happiness

"The Wa people sing new songs, and happy new songs are endless." In Longnai Village, Mengdong Town, Cangyuan County, Lincang City, Yunnan Province, villagers are filled with happiness. They have witnessed the village's transformation from poverty to prosperity, and deeply remembered the entrustment of "building a beautiful home, safeguarding ethnic unity, and protecting the sacred motherland". The belief of listening to the Party, being grateful to the Party, and following the Party has been deeply integrated into the spiritual blood of cadres and masses of all ethnic groups in the border areas.

Today, the beautiful villages, increased incomes and happy life in the Wa Mountains vividly tell the touching story of Lincang's practice of the "Three Good Things" entrustment. Defending the motherland's territory and building a beautiful home together have become a vivid embodiment of effectively forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation.

In Paliang Village, a border hamlet in Cangyuan, characteristic industries thrive. 200 mu of citrus reticulata and 238 mu of physalis peruviana bring prosperity to the land; the intangible cultural heritage Wa brocade has become popular, enabling villagers to increase their income at home; the characteristic service brand built through nearby urban employment is widely recognized, with the per capita income of the whole village exceeding 25,000 yuan. Meanwhile, the village's ecological environment has been continuously optimized, with a forest coverage rate of nearly 90%. With greenery visible from windows and parks accessible at the gate, the former "border village" has turned into a livable "garden". The new generation of village cadres has taken over the baton and is planning agriculture-culture-tourism integration projects to lead villagers steadily towards a better life.

Building a beautiful home is the common expectation of border residents. Since the "14th Five-Year Plan", Lincang has kept the "Three Good Things" entrustment in mind, promoted the coordinated development of characteristic economies, fully consolidated and expanded the achievements of poverty alleviation and effectively connected them with rural revitalization, and the city's total economic volume has stepped onto the 100 billion yuan mark. As the first region in the province to launch the construction of border well-off villages, Lincang has built 44 border happy villages. Cadres and masses of all ethnic groups in the border areas are united and help each other, living an increasingly prosperous life.

A more beautiful home and richer life have brought the hearts of all ethnic groups closer. In Nanmei Township, Linxiang District, a young village doctor, though small in stature due to a congenital disease, guards the health of more than 3,000 people in 4 villages with benevolence. She has turned obscure medical theories into catchy rhymes, regularly visits elderly people living alone to measure their blood pressure and deliver medicines, and opens the "door of unity" for hearts of all ethnic groups to communicate with her local accent and sincerity, becoming a vivid epitome of ethnic unity in the border areas.

Lincang, where 24 ethnic groups have lived together for generations, has countless such stories of ethnic unity. From the centuries-old maxim of "The Wa and Han peoples are one family, never separated for generations", to the legendary story of "The Dai people yield the plains, the Wa people yield the mountains"; from the construction of various publicity and education positions for ethnic unity and progress, to the compilation of relevant historical and cultural materials, the "Five Identities" are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people of all ethnic groups. Everyone is closely united like pomegranate seeds, continuing to write the touching chapter of "a harmonious and happy family". In 2023, Lincang City was named a "National Model City for Ethnic Unity and Progress", and the flower of ethnic unity and progress blooms more brightly on the motherland's border.

Where the flower of unity blooms, there is national territorial peace. At the "Cloud Outpost" 40 kilometers away from Zhenkang County, 5 joint defense team members have been stationed all year round in a mountain col only 100 meters away from the national border line, guarding 4.2 kilometers of the border. Since the outpost was built in 2021, they have successfully handled nearly 200 border-related incidents. In their spare time from patrols, they reclaim land to grow vegetables and flowers, turning the outpost into a "home". They interpret the belief of "guarding the border is guarding the home" with their perseverance, and are willing to be the "life boundary monument" nailed on the national border line.

Protecting the sacred motherland is the responsibility and mission of the border people. Since the "14th Five-Year Plan", Lincang has continuously improved the mechanism for joint border defense by the Party, government, military, police and people, built a three-dimensional prevention and control system along nearly 300 kilometers of the border line, and ranked among the top in the province in the quality and efficiency of cracking down on cross-border crimes, realizing the transformation of border governance from "managing the present" to "long-term governance", and building a solid security barrier for the motherland's southwest border.

Grateful and forging ahead, hand in hand. From the harvest scene of a beautiful home, to the songs and laughter of ethnic unity, and then to the joint protection of the sacred motherland, the people of all ethnic groups in Lincang practice the "Three Good Things" entrustment with solid work, letting the happy story of "The Party's glory shines on the border, and the border people's hearts turn to the Party" spread like a magnificent picture scroll on the southwest border of the motherland.