The following story first appeared on the front page of Jiangxi Daily on April 24, 2026, as part of a series on China’s “Go West” volunteer programme. It features Liu Guotong, a 2023 graduate of Jiangxi University of Science and Technology (Jiangli), who chose to serve on the country’s western edge.
In the Land of Ten Thousand Mountains, the Sound of Growth
From Ganzhou, Jiangxi, to Kizilsu in Xinjiang, the straight-line distance on a map is short, but the rail journey stretches more than 5,000 kilometres. In the summer of 2023, Liu Guotong — a freshly graduated mechanical and electronic engineering major — boarded a train heading west. With the idealism of a Jiangli youth, he arrived at Qia’erlong Town, Akto County, in the Kirghiz Autonomous Prefecture of Kizilsu, to serve as a volunteer in the national “Go West” programme. “With this tiny body, I step into an enormous world,” he wrote on the train. This thoughtful engineering graduate wanted to measure the land with his own feet and take in the far horizon with his own heart.
On April 10 this year, a reporter met Liu in Qia’erlong. In the dry mountain wind, facing this dark-skinned, energetic young man, the reporter asked, “Why Xinjiang?” Liu was candid: upon graduation in 2023, he had received more than 20 job offers. One new-energy vehicle company offered an annual salary of 250,000 yuan. But he wanted to do something “meaningful when measured against a whole life.” The chance came in April that year, when he attended a briefing for the Jiangxi provincial volunteer service programme. The slogan — “Go west, go to the grassroots, go where the motherland and people need you most” — struck him instantly. Here was a young man of the new era, he thought, who should go and shine wherever he was needed most. Immediately after the briefing, Liu submitted his application and sat the exam, listing three preferred destinations: Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, and Tibet. Soon, he was accepted by his first choice — Qia’erlong, in Akto, Kizilsu. On the westbound train, he wrote a line as romantic as poetry: “Out of the swirling yellow sand, romantic roses can bloom. I will give my youth to the frontier; I will enrich people’s lives with my deeds.”
In Qia’erlong, Helping Herders “Move Out and Stay Settled”
Kizilsu, in southwestern Xinjiang, is known as the “land of ten thousand mountains.” Qia’erlong is high-altitude terrain. When Liu first set foot here, what greeted him was not poetry but the barrier of language and culture. The town is home to Kirghiz, Uyghur and other ethnic groups; many older residents speak only their native tongue. “Wind blows rocks around, no soil to farm, a walk out of the house means circling mountains” — that was once life in Qia’erlong, where almost everyone lived a nomadic existence. In 2017, a state relocation programme moved the herders out of the mountains into the newly built Kunlun Jiayuan community, about eight kilometres from Akto’s county seat, complete with new houses, a school, a clinic and small shops. The town also built more than 2,000 greenhouses, allocated by household, to give the relocated herders a livelihood.
In November 2023, Liu was transferred from the town’s Party-building office to its employment service centre. The task, for him and his colleagues, was to help residents “move out and stay settled” by promoting greenhouse farming. But he soon found that many herders were reluctant. Abudurezhake Yaolidashi, a Kirghiz herder in his fifties, was typical. “We cannot farm. Our ancestors never did.” With that, the door was shut in Liu’s face. Liu figured that repeated visits and long chats might change the old man’s mind. With a colleague, he went every week, even bringing agricultural experts to teach planting techniques. After more than a month, the old man had grown friendly, but his view had not budged. “For generations we have herded sheep. In summer, when the grass is lush, we drive the sheep out. In winter, the sheep stay in the pen near home. To stop newborn lambs from freezing, I’ve slept holding them. You wouldn’t understand. I simply cannot farm.” When Liu saw the old man’s eyes light up talking about his sheep, he paused. “Seeing these elders who long to sit by the sheep pen breathing in that smell, and the herders who gaze at the distant mountains from the edge of the greenery, I realised I had been too simple in my thinking,” Liu said. For mountain herders, pastoralism is in their bones. Watering, fertilising, harvesting — those are hard habits to adopt. So Liu shifted his approach: he secured policy support to help the old man raise sheep — over 100 of them. At the same time, he did not give up on the greenhouse, guiding family members to try planting. Gradually, Abudurezhake’s household developed a new “herding plus greenhouse” rhythm of life.
Helping a Young Man Go Out and Become a Breadwinner
Walking the town’s newly paved roads, the wind carrying the breath of the Pamirs and the snowy mountains seeming almost near, Liu told the reporter that if the elderly struggle with farming, the young often refuse to venture out. Maimaiti Wuji, a 24-year-old Kirghiz man, received a home after relocation but sank into heavy drinking; his wife left him. The first time Liu saw the sturdy young man, he wondered: why would someone this strong not go out to work? Liu worked on him for more than half a year with little effect — until he found a key figure: Maimaiti’s primary-school classmate, Arman Kurban, who was working at an electronics factory in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, and had married and settled there. On WeChat, the classmate sent Maimaiti glimpses of life in Yangzhou: a bustling city, bright factory floors, lively streets — and many other Xinjiang youths, no loneliness at all. Liu and a colleague pooled their money to buy a train ticket from Kashgar to Yangzhou, so Maimaiti could go and try. A week later, he decided to stay. He now earns more than 6,000 yuan a month, lives with fellow townsfolk, and has become his family’s main pillar. “In more than 300 days at the employment centre, I’ve seen many transformations. The old slowly adapt; the young are willing to go out. I’ve grown, too,” Liu said. For him, this was a precious grassroots classroom. It taught him patience; whenever a problem arose, he would keep thinking until he found a way. His friends say he has matured.
Moonlighting as a Programmer: 360,000 Comparisons in 10 Minutes
At the end of 2024, Liu was assigned to a special task force compiling a master list of all functions the township could carry out — ensuring nothing was missed. At first, the comparison was manual. Liu and two colleagues worked for 16 or 17 hours and finished only a tiny fraction. “At this pace, we’ll burn ourselves out and still not do the job well,” Liu thought, staring at the screen. With a degree in mechanical and electronic engineering and six patents to his name, he decided to solve the problem with technology. After several late nights writing code and three rounds of iteration, the “Township Function List Comparison Tool” was born. It handled 360,000 comparisons in just 10 minutes, letting the data do the legwork. Liu says moonlighting as a programmer and putting his skills to practical use gave him a real sense of achievement.
Even more rewarding, for him, has been the community’s “Red Scarf Classroom,” where he brings a first taste of artificial intelligence to local children. To let them feel the power of technology, he spent his weekends hand-building a 3D printer from scrap materials. In one week, he had a working machine. Children gathered around, their eyes glittering like stars, watching layers of PLA filament print out tiny toys. “I want to plant a seed in their hearts,” Liu said. “Perhaps, years from now, a scientist will come from this place.” The town’s deputy Party secretary, Ma Qianle, grins: “The young man can do it all — chatting with herders, writing code to ease grassroots work, and bringing new knowledge and new dreams to children on the frontier. Ten years from now, someone will thank him.”
“Where Mountains Gather,” He Sees Hope and the Future
In 2025, the township assigned Liu as a baocun official, responsible for 24 households and 178 villagers. From rural revitalisation to employment, from home visits to mediating disputes — he had to manage almost everything. By then, Liu could handle a few basic local phrases, but real conversations were a struggle. He faced the difficulty head-on, taking a young colleague, Guzaili Yidis, on every home visit, sitting beside her, listening and learning sentence by sentence — from simple greetings to everyday chatter. At the same time, he helped villagers learn standard Chinese. “Before, in employment work, I thought finding someone a job solved the big problem. After becoming a baocun official, I’ve realised that behind every door there are needs. You have to knock, talk, note the needs, and solve them.” To Liu, the work is tedious but meaningful.
During holidays and breaks, Liu often cycles, from Akto to Wuqia County and all the way to the Khunjerab Pass, crossing the Gobi, snow mountains and alpine lakes. “The boundless Gobi at China’s westernmost point, the majestic Muztagh Ata snow peak, the sapphire Bandir Lake — hardship and beauty intertwined, a true jolt to my small life,” he wrote in his diary. “With this tiny body, I step into the wide world. I want to become one of the countless stars scattered across this vast land.”
In Kirghiz, Qia’erlong means “where mountains gather” — and here, Liu found the answer he was looking for. “I have seen the hope and the future of this land. I have already started preparing for the grassroots civil service exam in Kizilsu. When my three-year volunteer service ends, I’ll stay and make my life in Xinjiang.” Liu says he has seen many young dreamers come to Xinjiang, serve Xinjiang, and put down roots here. Turning desert into farmland and barren land into oasis has never been a myth — it is reality, written with the youth of one generation after another.
The wind continues to blow across the land of ten thousand mountains. In the wind, a sound rises — crisp and strong, like bamboo shooting upward. Carrying the commitment and passion of a Jiangli youth, Liu Guotong, together with thousands of other volunteers, is putting down roots on this western soil, growing vigorously into the future.
