Better life for local residents in Fangjiazhuang

A local renovation project has transformed the once impoverished Fangjiazhuang Village in Urumqi County of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region into a hub of agritainment resorts and restaurants.

Machao Agritainment Resort and Samuersen Resort are two places in close proximity at Fangjiazhuang. While the former has been open for years, the latter just began operation about a month ago. Two female employees working at these two places respectively, Yang Hui and Wang Jingjing, shared their personal stories of how their lives have improved with the village's transformation.

Machao Agritainment Resort at Fangjiazhuang Village (Junye Zhang/Guangming Picture)

Samuersen Resort at Fangjiazhuang Village (Photo provided by A Date with China)

Yang and Wang are both local residents of Urumqi County. Coming from rural backgrounds and without receiving much education, they both cherish the opportunity to work at their respective resorts.

Yang Hui (Junye Zhang/Guangming Picture)

Wang Jingjing (Junye Zhang/Guangming Picture)

Wang, 36, had been a housewife for the past five years. She doesn’t regret her decision of becoming a mother, but reminiscences about working life as she had to give it up for maternal responsibilities. As the job at Sameursen Resort matches her specialty of housekeeping, she is finally able to return to the workforce. “Since I came back to work, I never want to quit again,” said Wang. “The environment is nice, and I want to stay here for a long time.”

Wang was a high school drop-out and has regretted her decision ever since. Because of her personal experience, she wants her son to remain in school for as long as possible, at least to receive high-school education. After leaving school, she opened a store selling cellphones in Urumqi City, and returned to Urumqi County a few years later after she got married and had her son. Back at her hometown, Wang worked in housekeeping for four years, and then became a housewife for five years. She had finally gotten back to work three months ago after being hired by Samuersen. Currently, she helps out in the lobby, making drinks and taking orders, as guest rooms at Samuersen are still being prepared.

Photo of Wang Jingjing working at Samuersen Resort (Junye Zhang/Guangming Picture)

In Wang’s eyes, the transformation at Urumqi County took place gradually, from renovating the infrastructures to establishing the resorts. “I worked in Yili City for one year and when I came back, I was stunned to see the changes in my hometown. There are many more buildings being built and roads being constructed. The changes took place very fast,” said Wang.

For Wang, the job opportunity at Samuersen came at a perfect timing, as her son, who is now 10-years-old, is able to take care of himself, and she has been eager to get back to work. Wang is not the only woman benefiting from the opportunities at Fangjiazhuang. “This place helped many local women like me, who came from rural backgrounds and have stayed at home to get employed,” said Wang. During the years when she stayed at home, she felt pressures as her husband was the family’s sole breadwinner. Now, Wang makes enough to take care of her son’s expenses, and holds up almost “half of the sky” of the total family income.

Unlike Wang, who was only recently employed at Samuersen, Yang has been working at Machao Agritainment Resort since it opened. While Samuersen is decorated in Western-style and offers coffee, tea, and wine on its menu, Machao treats its guests with authentic local food. Homemade fried dough twist (mahua), crisp noodle (sanzi), and other local food are made by Yang and her colleagues.

Local food at Machao Agritainment Resort (Junye Zhang/Guangming Picture)

Before working at Machao, Yang did farm work like most local women, mainly planting potatoes, wheat, and beans. Due to lack of water in the region, there is insufficient harvest and hence not a lot of income, Yang’s average annual income was above 10,000 yuan. Now, Yang earns 5,000 yuan per month. When work at the resort is not too busy, she can still do farm work on the side for some extra income.

Like Wang, Yang is also a mother. She has two children who go to school in Urumqi city. When her children come back from school, they can stay in the restaurant and do homework while waiting for Yang to finish work. In a sense, Machao has become a place that helps Yang balance between family and work.

With the opportunities at Fangjiazhuang, Wang and Yang are able to earn more and enjoy better lives. Speaking about the future, they don’t have concrete plans for their children, but only hope for the best. “Whatever he wants to learn or do, I will be supportive,” said Wang about her son. “I can’t think that far ahead into the future,” said Yang. “But I do hope that my children’s lives will be better than ours in every possible way.”