On December 21, 2020, in front of a dry cleaning shop in Nanguan Street, Shanhaiguan District, Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province, a bustling scene, in the presence of street cadres and business representatives, the new owner took over the "Yongjun Store" signboard in the hands of the old shopkeeper.
"Handover ceremonies like this are staged several times a year on the 'Pro-Army Road.'" At the scene, Yu Ping, director of the People's Armed Forces Department of Shanhaiguan District, told this writer that Shanhaiguan has been a strategic place since ancient times, and there are many garrisons. At first, in order to facilitate the lives of military personnel and military dependents, several merchants in Nanguan Street, Shanhaiguan District, spontaneously organized activities to support the military and their dependents. Gradually, the participating merchants gathered more and more, forming a "pro-army road" of about 130 meters long. Later, with the support of the district party committee and district government and the district people's armed forces department, Nanguan Street and all the merchants of "Yongjun Road" jointly established the "Volunteer Army Alliance", and all 83 stores introduced specific measures to support the army and benefit the army that are more in line with the actual needs.
It has been learned that in order to ensure that the preferential support for the army is carried out in a down-to-earth manner, the "supporting the army road" merchants have formed unwritten rules, that is, they cannot do without the measures to support the army, otherwise they cannot hang up the signboard of "supporting the army stores" and cannot join the supporting army organizations; if the measures to support the army are not real, they will be inspected and evaluated every year, dynamically listed and delisted, and will be announced on the behavior of falsely supporting the army and really seeking profits; if the measures to support the army are not true, they cannot be selected at the star level to support the army, and they can hang signs and make public commendations.
"People can be changed, but the tradition of supporting the army cannot be broken in my hands." Xu Junying, who has just taken over the dry cleaning shop, has not yet entered the right track, and he first launched a policy of free pick-up and delivery of military laundry and half-price discount.
Lian Meizhi's barber shop was one of the first merchants to settle in the "Yongjun Road", she regularly went to the army camp to give officers and soldiers free haircuts, one year was 17 years; Zhao Cuiru's father was a veteran, she ran a small restaurant, while opening a small dinner table for the military children, the food only charged cost price, volunteered to pick up the military children to and from school; Hu Chunxiang ran a clinic, every year for the difficulties of life of retired veterans and military families free medical examination, send family medicine boxes, more than ten years like a day...
Shi Jianhong, political commissar of the People's Armed Forces Department of Shanhaiguan District, told this writer that all along, the operating rights of various stores on the "Yongjun Road" have changed more than a hundred times, but no matter how people change and how stores change, none of the shops have abandoned the tradition of supporting the army.