Li Quansheng is interviewed by People's Daily Online at Dongshaoqu Primary School, Miyun district, Beijing.
In late March, the hillsides around Dongshaoqu village in Beijing were blanketed with peach and apricot blossoms. Delicate pink and white petals drifted gently onto the windowsills of the village school, the quiet courtyard of an elderly woman's home, and the freshly tilled soil of the spring fields.
Yet Li Quansheng, first secretary of the village, had little time to admire the flowers. At 51, dark-skinned and slender, a man of few words, he had already spent two years in this peaceful village in Miyun district. Sent from Beijing Foreign Studies University, the villagers affectionately call him "Teacher Li." Before long, he had become one of their own.
Across China, countless people are engaged in the same cause. They are known as "first secretaries"—dedicated cadres dispatched from government departments, universities, and state-owned enterprises to rural villages. Their mission is to help develop local industries and improve the lives of the people.
"I was born in the countryside," Li said. "My greatest wish has always been to help our fellow villagers live better lives."
