(The scene of celebrating the bumper year in Anjiang)

At 18:30 on the first day of the first lunar month, Hunan Satellite TV played the program “Walking into the Memorial Park of Anjiang Agricultural School”, filmed by the TV crew “Going into the Grassroots Community in Spring Festival”, and the crew were deeply impressed by the place where Yuan Longping, “Father of Hybrid Rice,” had lived here for 37 years and succeeded in discovering hybrid rice.

Walking through the green boulevard, by the gate of Anjiang Agricultural School with unique architectural style, by the stele inscribed with“Anjiang Agricultural School Memorial Park”, and into the lively scenes of celebrating the bumper year of Anjiang—the Rice World,the crew were overwhelmingly moved by Academician Yuan Longping’s and his followers’ devotion to investigating hybrid rice.

(Harvest dance)

“With the flying-dragon-like Mount Xuefeng and the Rice World, Anjiang Town of Hongjiang City, located at the foot of Mount Xuefeng and on the banks of the Yuan River, is a typical mountainous landform with a river valley. It is a paradise for species variation, where the story of a seed changing the world begins. “Every Spring Festival, Rice Culture Festival is held in Anjiang to showcase rice-farming culture. Today, thanks to the program “Going into the Grassroots Community in Spring Festival”, my colleagues Wan Xin and Zhang Jingjing led us into Anjiang Agricultural School to spend the Spring Festival and celebrate the bumper harvest with the locals.” In front of the huge stele inscribed by Academician Yuan Longping with the words “Wishing the people in the world well fed”, sweet words from microphones were constantly heard.

(Making Ciba or a glutinous rice cake)

（Performing a dragon-boat dance show）

With the warm-up music and the dense drums, sixteen man-made dragons, led by Xuefeng man-made dragon, rice ear man-made dragon, bench man-made dragon, and evil man-made dragon, passed through the straw farming scenic spots from various positions of Anjiang Agricultural School, through the school gate of the old Agricultural School and the gate of the Rice Culture Festival, and then gathered in the square brimmed with happiness.

After the opening dance “Hundred Dragons Observe Spring”, the crowd were cheerful, singing and dancing with red dragon-like scarf paper-cut featuring Qianyang style.

(A corner of Anjiang celebrating the bumper year )

“Hundred Dragons Observe Spring, greeting the year of Dragon….” “Performing dragon dance is to pray for favorable weather and a bumper harvest.” “With Xuefeng Dragon out of the line, the lineup is very spectacular, and there are two light signs, which say ‘May the country be prosperous and the people at peace’ and ‘favorable weather’” … The microphones of the hosts Wan Xin and Zhang Jingjing sounded.

According to the record of national culture in Qianyang, as early as 7400 years ago, the ancestors of Wuxi, living in the Gaomiao site, had already known the way to go fishing and hunting and to farm rice to feed themselves; the archaeological finding of the Gaomiao shows that the ornamentation of the sun and phoenixes on the white pottery also signify good expectations and wishes.

(White pottery hits tourists’ fancy)

At the scene of celebrating the bumper year, after a dragon-boat dance, Qianyang Yugu dance, rice harvest dance and lion dance, Zhang Jingjing and Wan Xin, hosts of Hunan Satellite TV, interviewed the inheritors of Xuefeng dragon (intangible cultural heritage) and the inheritors of Chenhe palm Nuomianniu(ox-face mask). Each village is home to dragon lantern team and dragon-dance performer, dragon dance custom passes on from generation to generation, uninterrupted intangible cultural heritage is kept alive year after year and Nuomianniu is spoken highly of for its praying for favorable weather.    

 

(Qianyang Yugu dance)

(The host is sipping bamboo tube wine.)

At the same time, Zhang Jingjing and Wan Xin also interviewed Deng Huafeng, member of the Central Science and Education Commission of the China National Construction Association, executive deputy director and researcher of the National Hybrid Rice Engineering and Technology Research Center and Hunan Hybrid Rice Research Center, Xiao Changqing, the giant noted as Anjiang seed production, Liao Chao, a big shot well-known for business of rice noodles in Anjiang, and Xiang Changgen in charge of the professional cooperative for mountain terraced rice in Huayangxi Village, Shendu Miao Township, Hongjiang City.

(Deng Huafeng is in the interview)

"I have been engaged in research into hybrid rice for 38 years under the guide of Yuan Longping. Over the past 50 years of successful research into indica hybrid rice, the pedigree of hybrid rice has become more and more perfect. Saline-alkali tolerant rice, sea water rice, giant rice, ratoon rice, super hybrid rice appear suddenly, and the yield per mu reached 1251.5 kg. At present, the annual planting area of hybrid rice in the country is more than 17 million hectares, and the annual output of hybrid rice is about 2.5 million tons, which can feed 80 million more people every year. Teacher Yuan’s grand dream of ‘enjoying the cool under rice grass’ and ‘Wishing the people in the world well fed’ is gradually becoming a reality. ” Deng Huafeng said in an interview.

As one of the three major cities noted as seed production bases for hybrid rice  in China, Huaihua enjoys one third of the seed production area and yield of the province. Hongjiang City is not only a national seed production county, but also the largest seed production base in Huaihua, with its seed production area reaching 22,000 mu, and as for me, the seed production area reached 202.93 mu in 2023. As a new type of farmer, we use new agricultural machinery and new agricultural technology to do farming. We also continue to improve the innovation of germplasm resources for hybrid rice, and there will produce more and more high-yielding seeds in the future.”  Xiao Changqing answered forcefully.

(The throng in the festive mood)

(The throng of people )

“Antique high-pressure technology is used in our rice noodles, which contain much less water and taste different from ordinary rice noodles. This kind of rice noodles is not only available to us in Anjiang, but also exported to Southeast Asia, and we have customers in Singapore.” Liao Chao is very proud.

“The planting site of Huayangxi rice, located in the alpine terraced fields in the Xuefeng Mountain area, is irrigated with mountain spring; the temperature difference between day and night is great; and the local soil abounds with all kinds of organic matter and trace elements, in which the proline, the precursor of rice aroma, is very rich in content. It not only won the seventh protection list of China’s important agricultural heritage, but also won the gold medal at the 24 Central Agricultural Fair. I believe that in the next three years, we will make continuous efforts to make our rice grown in the mountain terrace win the title of important global agricultural heritage, so that more people can eat our rice.” Xiang Changgen has the full confidence in Huayangxi rice in the future..

(Translated by Yang Sigui）