Mana, a Shaolin disciple from the Netherlands, credited kung fu with saving her life in the new CGTN documentary "The Spirit of Shaolin."
In the documentary, Mana recounted suffering from severe depression until discovering Shaolin kung fu that profoundly transformed her life in the years that followed.
"So I was very depressed at one point in life, and was living every day between wanting to live, wanting to kill myself. So one day I was like okay I cannot live like this anymore, so I got up, [and] went to the train station. I told myself I either jump and it's all gone -- there's rest, there's peace, or I get myself together. And I went to the train station and I was like, oh no, this is too scary, I don't want to jump. So I got home and got myself together," she recalled.
At her darkest moment, she found the strength to put herself back together, ultimately leading her to the Shaolin Temple in central China.
"My friends, they all thought I was fine, it's just some day, I just didn't reply to any messages anymore, because I couldn't take it. Short while after I got an invitation from my old Shifu to go to [the] Shaolin [Temple] in China for kung fu, for a trip, and I was like, this is my sign, this is what I need, and then it literally changed my life," said Mana.
Dutch woman says Shaolin kung fu saves her life
China has continued to push forward the rural construction initiative this year, bringing steady improvements to rural production and day to day living conditions.
So far, the total mileage of rural roads across the country has reached 4.7 million kilometers.
In Songhui Village, Zanhuang County of north China's Hebei Province, local authorities have invested over 40 million yuan (about 5.96 million U.S. dollars) this year to upgrade 287,000 square meters of roads and install streetlights. A new road is currently under construction in the village.
"Once completed, the road will connect three nearby townships and 16 administrative villages, fundamentally improving travel for local farmers, the transport of agricultural produce, and the development of tourism," said Hao Longhai, a local construction official.
Villages in China have also focused on the needs of local specialty industries, targeting shortcomings in production-related infrastructure.
In Taihu County of east China's Anhui Province, where cattle farming is a major driver of villagers' incomes, local authorities have coordinated roughly 30 million yuan in rural development funds this year to advance a provincial-level breed conservation center and an organic fertilizer processing plant.
"Conditions have been improved significantly. What matters most is that my cattle pen can now connect to the province-wide remote monitoring system for livestock and poultry genetic resources, enabling work such as breed conservation, breeding, scientific research and disease prevention to be managed through an online platform," said Zhu Yong, head of a local breed conservation center.
Infrastructure for day to day living is also a key priority in rural development efforts this year.
As of the end of August, over 130 billion yuan in project funding had been secured for rural construction, and steady improvements have been made to village roads, water supply and drainage systems, sanitary toilet upgrades, household waste and sewage treatment and elderly care facilities.
Living, production conditions in China's rural areas continuously improved
