A 91-year-old Chinese man and his decades-long pursuit of bringing water to a remote mountain village has deeply impressed an American influencer during his visit to southwest China.
Huang Dafa has lived his entire life in Caowangba village of Zunyi City, Guizhou Province. For decades, he dedicated himself to one thing -- leading villagers to create and then maintain a 9.4-kilometer-long "life canal" along the side of karst mountains to bring fresh water to his village.
Bringing water to the village had been a long-cherished dream for the residents. Things started to change in 1959, when Huang became a leader in the village.
Huang found that a village near Caowangba had water to spare, but the problem was that a mountain lay between them. Still, Huang decided to take on the challenge.
Things did not go well at first. Knowing very little about water conservancy, Huang was unable to build a workable canal, and after more than 10 years, water remained out of reach.
At the age of 53, while he was working temporarily at the local water management station, he started to study water conservancy technology on his own.
After three years, he learned a great deal about canal digging and was determined to achieve his dream.
With his newfound knowledge and persistence, he raised money from the local government.
Starting in 1992, working under extremely difficult conditions with basic hand tools, explosives and detonators, Huang and more than 300 villagers spent over two years carving a nearly 10-kilometer canal along sheer cliffs, crossing three mountains, passing nine cliffs and traversing more than 10 steep ridges, finally realizing the dream.
With the irrigation channel in place, people in Caowangba finally had sufficient drinking water and could irrigate rice and other crops, boosting their incomes and improving their quality of life.
The channel is named the "Dafa Canal" in Huang's honor.
During his visit to Guizhou, American political commentator and influencer Jackson Hinkle was impressed by the project, describing it as a "superhuman feat."
"It's almost like a superhuman feat, superhuman capability that we witnessed today," he said.
"So you can see this extremely steep cliff that's right behind me, and below is the water canal. They achieved a feat of human nature like this with their bare hands, one axe swing at a time. And now, the entire region has changed. The achievements that were done here and what it has led to as a greater example, serving as an impetus and a basis for the new major infrastructures we see in modern China," he added.
The influencer also called on more people to visit China and witness the country's development themselves, instead of relying on media narratives.
"Maybe we should, rather than say nasty things about this country and not understand it and make up our own stories, maybe people should come here, should learn, should understand what China is all about," he said.
US influencer impressed by decades-long canal dream in rural China
