The year 2018 marks the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up, and it also witnesses tremendous changes in China over the past four decades under the leadership of the communist party of China. The focus of our party and country’ work has shifted to economic construction. We have made great achievements on economy development. Our comprehensive national strength has become stronger dramatically, and the living standards of people have risen rapidly. We Chinese people are devoting ourselves to make China dream come true and reach to national rejuvenation.

My hometown, Zhumadian is located in the south of Henan province. known as ‘the hinterland of Yuzhou, the center of China’, Its name was given by a messenger in history. Since the 40 years of reform and opening up, Zhumadian has undergone titanic changes.

Forty years ago, we need to use food coupons for food, flour, oil and rice and so on. These food coupons were of great significance to people’s lives. But now, we can buy anything we wanted in anywhere. people begin to pursue a balanced diet while ensuring to eat enough. Forty years ago, due to the low level of economic development and the limited amount of cloth tickets, people wore conservative clothes with monotonous color style. Clothes that are slightly exposed to the body are considered "unfair" by people. With the enrichment of materials and the liberation of thoughts, People's daily dressing has become diversified. The color of clothes has become more and more vivid, and the style has become more and more bold. Clothing consumption has become a consumption culture, and the clothing standard of citizens in Zhumadian has changed from strong and durable in the past to beautiful, individual and fashionable.

40 years ago, there was no convenient transportation in Zhumadian . Most of the people still rely on their legs to travel between the two places. In the early days of reform and opening up, the development of transportation and communication facilities was extremely slow. Bicycles were already the more expensive means of transportation in the eyes of the people. The home phone was also a luxury item for the residents at that time. After the reform and opening up, the Zhumadian municipal government increased its investment in transportation and communication facilities. Basic industries and facilities such as transportation and communications have developed rapidly. Nowadays, Zhumadian not only has a railway station that can accommodate 4,000 people at the same time, but also a brand-new high-speed rail station, and the construction of the Minggang Airport has begun. Today's Zhumadian City trains, high-speed trains and planes run through the north and south, can match its name ‘horse post’. In terms of communication, every household in Zhumadian City now has fiber optics, and smart phones are an indispensable part of people's lives.

Forty years ago, most people lived in low, archaic houses with large families crammed into a handful of old houses. There are few tall buildings in zhumadian. Nowadays, with the improvement of people's living conditions, people are no longer satisfied with housing survival but pay more attention to comfort. With the implementation of the housing loan policy, the purchase of housing and decoration became the hot spot of residents' consumption, people's living conditions greatly improved. Sanitary facilities, kitchen facilities and other conditions are also advanced day by day. The living environment of people is relatively crowded in the initial stage of reform and opening up, give consideration to all sorts of functions such as living kitchen at the same time inside a room, most dweller now live in a relatively comfortable environment, all sorts of living facilities are provided in the house of townsman, rural dweller also lives mostly on buildings. Since the reform and opening up, with the increase of family income, it not only satisfies the food problem, but also the surplus income can be used to improve people's living environment.

The reform and opening up has caused changes in the lives of people in Zhumadian. The improvement of educational resources is particularly remarkable. In the early stage of reform and opening-up, people often used the term "mud house, clay platform, black children sitting in it" to describe rural schools. After so many years of hard work, a series of fully equipped new schools have become a beautiful landscape, and then developed into a modern school with both software and hardware. At that time, the thirst for talent and lack of social resources caused thousands of troops to go through the college entrance examination, which became the subject of basic education. But today, universities have developed from elite education into popular education, giving more people access to high-quality education. Nowadays, “all roads lead to Rome” and “quality education” are the key words of education in the new era. Huanghuai College, a local college in Zhumadian, is also expanding its enrollment every year to make local students receive higher education.

Forty spectacular years, we have had the privilege of witnessing a great era. Forty years of twists and turns, we have experienced the hardships of entrepreneurship all the way. In the future, we will face another forty years. We will unite closely, remember the original heart, bear in mind the mission, work side by side, open the next brilliant forty years, and write a magnificent chapter of the new journey of socialist modernization.

改革开放40年驻马店变化英文版