The lives and whereabouts of retired leaders have always attracted much attention. However, except for some major occasions and events, they are generally difficult to find in public reports, but once they appear in other places, there are always sharp-eyed friends who will find them and spread quickly. Today, when social media is developed, it is difficult to have anecdotes.
At a rough count, Hu Jintao has been "naked" for more than seven years. When he officially retired, he won high praise from the central government. On March 17, 2013, Xi Jinping said at the closing meeting of the National People's Congress that "Comrade Hu Jintao, with his rich political wisdom, superb leadership ability and diligent work spirit, has established outstanding meritorious achievements for upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics, and has won the heartfelt love of the people of all ethnic groups across the country and the universal praise of the international community."
In sharp contrast to this highly regarded, once he retired, Hu Jintao quickly disappeared from public view. There are only a few occasions that appear again, and there are more than three types of occasions that are relatively memorable: one is the memorial service of other retired leaders; the other is the major activities of the party and the state, such as the celebration of the 65th anniversary of the founding of New China, the 9.3 military parade, the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and so on; the other is traveling in other places. Most recently, at the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China, Hu Jintao watched the ceremony at the Tiananmen Tower.
How different from the average elderly
Raising a family after retirement is the wish of many old comrades. According to reports, after his retirement, Hu Jintao's past harshness and seriousness have gradually faded, his face is gentle and kind, and his smile is increasing. His biggest principle is not to talk about work with anyone, but he likes to chat with ordinary people. It is understood that every morning after getting up, Hu Jintao would practice calligraphy, play harmonica and cut paper, and when he was interested, he would twist a northeast song with his wife.
Of course, as a retired leader, his daily life is still different from that of ordinary people. According to the Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on establishing a retirement system for veteran cadres issued in 1982. After the old cadres retire, the basic political treatment remains unchanged, and the living treatment should be slightly superior.
According to the regulations, Hu Jintao and others can still read documents, listen to important reports, participate in certain important meetings and important political activities, and so on. And their medical treatment, transportation and other treatment before retirement will not change.
Behind the unchanging, there are also subtle differences. On April 25, 2013, the Literature Research Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China edited and published Hu Jintao's "On Building a Harmonious Socialist Society". It is also the only book published since Hu Jintao left office.
More than a year later, in September 2014, Xinhua Daily, the organ of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee, reported the death of Cao Keming, former secretary of the Jiangsu Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission and former chairman of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and in the list of current and retired central leaders who sent wreaths, Hu Jintao's ranking appeared for the first time after the current Politburo members, along with other veteran comrades. Three months earlier, in reports on the ceremony of Ma Man-kei, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, his name ranked after the Seventh Standing Committee and Jiang Zemin.
What has Hu Jintao been doing in the past few years after his retirement?
After his retirement, the domestic public report on Comrade Hu Jintao, in addition to participating in some major activities of the party and the state, is to leave Beijing, although it seems that there are only a few times.
He left Beijing to go out, which can be roughly divided into several categories:
The first category is homecoming.
On December 27, 2012, he returned to taizhou, Jiangsu Province, where he had been away for 34 years, and in September 2013, he returned to longchuan village in Jixi County, Anhui Province, where he was born, to worship his ancestors.
In Taizhou, he returned to his alma mater, Taizhou Middle School, sat in his seat to take photos, and planted a ginkgo tree as a souvenir in the open space on the west side of the teaching building, and invited his wife to water it together.
In Jixi Longchuan, he and his wife went to the Ancestral Residence of the Hu Family, visited the Hu Ancestral Hall, and went to the ancestral tomb to worship the ancestors together. In his ancestral hometown, when the staff served the hometown "Jinshan Shiyu" tea, and the wife was still admiring the scenery of the old house, Hu Jintao said to the wife, "Don't stand, come, sit down, let's drink a cup of hometown tea."
The second category is revisiting the same place.
In December 2012, Hu Jintao, who left his post half a month ago, went to Zunyi, Bijie, Guiyang and other places in Guizhou to investigate. He served as Party Secretary of Guizhou Province from 1985 to 1988.
In April 2014, he visited Tongren and other places in Guizhou.
On May 7, 2015, five days before the 7th anniversary of the Wenchuan earthquake, Hu Jintao went to Beichuan to visit the local people recovering from the earthquake. This is Hu Jintao's fourth visit to the Sichuan earthquake area after the earthquake, and Beichuan is a must-visit place in every trip. According to local sources, the chief said that "this is a private trip" and the chief's entourage asked not to report, so the local government did not arrange media reports.
The third category is leisure.
Of course, there will be no public reports on such activities. In April 2013, a month after officially stepping down from office, Hu Jintao made his first public appearance, visiting the famous attractions of Guilin and Yangshuo. After that, I also watched the performance of "Impression Liu Sanjie" and chatted with Huang Wanqiu, played by Liu Sanjie.
A year later, in April, he appeared at Yuelu College of Hunan University and Fenghuang Ancient City. Visiting Yuelu Academy can be regarded as Hu Jintao's long-cherished wish. As early as more than 10 years ago, when Hu Jintao went to Hunan to investigate, he expressed his hope to visit Yuelu Academy, but he could not make the trip due to busy official duties.
The second time I visited the field was on October 20, 2015 in Wuyi Mountain. He had already had two spring trips before, and this one was his first autumn trip after retirement.