Enduring Solitude, Patient Personality, Bearing the Burden: This Man Has Guarded West-Sai Island for 30 Years

Spring warmth and blossoming, aren't you all feeling restless and wanting to go out and have some fun? You also want it to be sparsely populated, with good air quality, and beautiful surroundings?

The editor has a good place to recommend, but the prerequisite is that there is no electricity and no tap water, but it is sparsely populated, with good air quality, will you think it's worth it? If you go, how long can you stay?

This place is in the west of Yangzhong, West-Sai Island, 20 years ago there was no electricity and no tap water, there were vast reed fields, fish ponds, willow groves and riverbanks. That's exactly this sparsely populated island with limited equipment – West-Sai Reed and Willow Management Office Director Pan Bingcheng has guarded it for 30 years.

'I've spent 30 years on this island, as long as I'm still on this island, I will always persevere until retirement.' 51-year-old Pan Bingcheng still insists on walking along the riverbank every day to check the seedlings, view the fishpond breeding situation and check the fishpond situation. He says that only by mastering the island's dynamics in the first instance, can he effectively and timely manage and regulate the island's work.

Disappointed and helpless about first encountering West-Sai Island,

Recalling the first time stepping onto West-Sai Island, Pan Bingcheng used the word 'helpless' to describe his feelings at the time. On March 8, 1991, 20-year-old Pan Bingcheng stepped on the footprints of his father to Yangzhong's West-Sai Island. When he first arrived, he was still prepared, but he was surprised by the island's poor environment and natural conditions.

A 20-square-meter red brick house is his office and residence, with a bamboo fence bed inside, and the electricity is cut off after 9 pm.

'I was really stunned, but out of etiquette, I bit my teeth and persevered, and I didn't expect this perseverance to last for 30 years.'

The next day, Pan Bingcheng followed his colleagues to tour the entire West-Sai Island, learning about the layout and work content of the entire island. There was no tap water on the island, no electricity, and there were 3 shifts of boats picking up and dropping off personnel each day. Each worker could take 4 days of rest per month, and the remaining 26 days had to work on the island. The only entertainment was to watch for about 3 hours on the diesel generator during the evening when it generated electricity.

△Old photos of the employee dormitory,

Pan Bingcheng said that at the beginning, he always had a feeling of being unfulfilled, lost, and empty. He didn't know the direction of his work, didn't know what to do, and just had to complete the tasks assigned by his superiors. His work was boring, had no technology, and didn't even need to do things himself.

Dedicated to West-Sai Island, full of energy,

Young Pan Bingcheng didn't want to be like that, so he followed the old workers to learn how to drive boats, raise fish, do affairs, and financial auditing after learning about financial affairs, and slowly his heart finally calmed down.

In 1994, the riverbank of West-Sai Island partially collapsed. Because there were no large transportation machinery and personnel support, the entire island 10 people stood guard on the front line of danger for 7 days and nights. On July 17th, which was Pan Bingcheng's father's birthday, Pan Bingcheng hadn't left West-Sai Island for 15 days at that time. The whole island's staff used straw bags to build a wall that was difficult to destroy.

△Pan Bingcheng's mirror and razor in the dormitory,

In 1998, the island's production structure entered the first phase of transformation. Pan Bingcheng voluntarily complied with the arrangement and raised 10 acres of fish ponds. For three years, he braved the 30-degree Celsius high temperature to feed and cut fish grass, and went to the river early in the morning to catch fish, and when winter came, he froze his hands while clearing the pond. He bought chicken manure and drove it back to West-Sai Island… After carefully caring for it for three years, he finally ushered in the joy of harvest. 10 acres of fish ponds produced 6000 catties, which was a small island with almost no mechanical equipment and limited human resources. Pan Bingcheng experienced the fullness of life and the weight of responsibility for the first time. He changed his view of West-Sai Island.

△Pan Bingcheng wearing a waterproof suit when catching fish,

If raising fish is Pan Bingcheng's first encounter with West-Sai Island, then planting trees is his complete integration into this island.

During the period from 2000 to 2004, Pan Bingcheng carefully selected and planted high-quality seedlings. Most of the seedlings grew quickly and had good growth. He put his feelings into the seedlings together. Now, when you walk on West-Sai Island, all the old trees have grown up and you can see the trees carefully cultivated and maintained by Pan Bingcheng and his colleagues, and the timely maintenance.

Shouldering West-Sai Island, the responsibility is heavy,

In 2006, Pan Bingcheng was appointed as the Director of the West-Sai Reed and Willow Management Office of Yangzhong City. At that time, the office was in a state of loss and the production environment was backward. When Pan Bingcheng took office, he immediately mobilized all the people on the island and said earnestly: 'In the future, the heaviest tasks will be done by me, the most difficult places will be with me, and the last person to leave will be me.'

Pan Bingcheng planned to repair the damaged buildings, but because of the special geographical conditions of West-Sai Island, the labor cost was much higher than the market price. All actions were indirectly made more difficult. At this time, Pan Bingcheng took the lead to do small jobs, standing at the front of the construction. This ignited the enthusiasm of everyone, and everyone worked under Pan Bingcheng's leadership and persevered. Not only that, Pan Bingcheng also organized discussions and meetings to discuss and solve problems. In 2013, 80-plus yuan was invested in strengthening the riverbank. In 2014, 20-plus yuan was invested in West-Sai Island to connect tap water. In 2017, the first pumping station was built on West-Sai Island, and in 2018 and 2019, 1000-plus meters of cement roads were hardened. For several consecutive years, the yield of economic crops reached more than 100,000 catties, and many mechanical equipment was purchased. 2000-plus meters of electrical lines were repaired, and the living quarters of the workers were repaired… Pan Bingcheng brought not only actions to West-Sai Island, because of his diligent and conscientious efforts, West-Sai Island's economy gradually recovered, from loss to profit, and now West-Sai Island can achieve self-sufficiency and self-management.

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