Author: Lu Yanru Hu Haibo
On May 13, the author learned from the Veterans Affairs Bureau of the Fourth Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps that the list of "the most beautiful veterans" of the Corps in 2024 was announced, and Yan Xinqiu, a retired cadre of the 66th Regiment of the Fourth Division, was among them.
Yan Xinqiu took pictures of the workers. (File photo)
In 1950, he entered Xinjiang with the army, and in 1954, he transferred to the Corps, where he reclaimed the border for 40 years......
After 32 years of retirement, he organized more than 2,000 propaganda activities, and his voice spread to the farthest corner of the group......
Paired with villagers and young college students, he has always contributed to the cause of national unity......
He is known as a "local reporter", who has written and photographed countless news pictures, and has been engaged in propaganda, ideological and cultural work all his life......
He is the veteran Yan Xinqiu.
is proficient in using computers and cameras, and if you don't say how old you are, it's hard to see that Yan Xinqiu is 94 years old. With a camera and an interview book, he witnessed the rapid changes of the XPCC since the 50s of the 20th century.
Yan Xinqiu (third from right) formed a group of elderly people to preach for students. (File photo)
In October 1929, Yan Xinqiu was born in a remote village in Huozhou City, Shanxi Province. Whenever the music of "Prairie Night" sounds, he will think of the hard years of reclamation and garrisoning. Time flies, the vicissitudes of the sea, and the soil nests of pits and grass have become history. Yan Xinqiu has experienced five relocations, witnessed the changes in Kekedala, and now lives in a garden house, living a happy and comfortable life.
Lao Ji is in the woods, and his ambitions are thousands of miles. After retirement, Yan Xinqiu did not enjoy leisure, but became more and more busy. He took the lead in setting up the Elderly Volunteer Service Team, the People's Propaganda Group, the Lei Feng Volunteer Team, the Elderly Traffic Safety Coordinator Team, and the Wind Supervision Team.
Yan Xinqiu (first from left) preached the party's policies and the spirit of the Corps for the veteran cadres. (File photo)
No matter how hard it is, Yan Xinqiu will find time to teach everyone to learn photography. Under the guidance of Yan Xinqiu, Ye Dingming, an old man from the People's Propaganda Group, has repeatedly used his news photography works; Under the guidance of Yan Xinqiu, two students from the 66th Regiment Middle School of the Fourth Division won the third prize of the International Silk Road Photo Competition. Yan Xinqiu has always had a wish, using the camera in his hand to record the first generation of military reclamation people who have dedicated their lives to the Corps. More than 20 years have passed, and the images of more than 160 veterans have been recorded. Most of them are now deceased, but their images will live forever on the history and spirit of the Corps.
In recent years, the propaganda group organized by Yan Xinqiu has preached more than 200 times, covering more than 10,000 people, publishing more than 200 photographic works in various media on average every year, and has been hired as a special reporter by the People's Photography Newspaper and three provincial newspapers and periodicals for the elderly, and has been rated as an excellent correspondent by various newspapers and periodicals for many times. In January 2021, Yan Xinqiu was a guest on CCTV7's "Hello Veteran" column and told the people of the whole country about the great achievements of reclamation and garrisoning the border areas and the good people and good deeds of national unity.
Yan Xinqiu has successively won national, provincial, ministerial and corps honorary titles such as "The Most Beautiful Old Cadre", "The Most Beautiful Five Old Advanced Individuals", "Advanced Individuals Caring for the Next Generation", "National Advanced Collective Representative of Old Cadres", "Model Individual of National Unity", and "Labor Medal for Reclamation and Garrisoning".
Source: The Fourth Division of the Xinjiang Corps, Kekedala City Rong Media Center
Editor: Xiao Zhenxing
Review: She Guanghui Cui Kai