With the approach of Spring Festival, the most important Chinese celebration, Du Honggang, a 58-year-old farmer in Tianjin, has begun to stock up on goods for the Chinese New Year and make plans to celebrate festival with his family of seven, wishing for good health and more income in the Year of the Snake.
随着中国最重要的节日——春节的临近，天津58岁的农民杜洪刚已经开始为中国新年囤货，并计划与家中七口人一起庆祝节日，祈愿在蛇年身体健康、收入更多。
Standing in front of his house, Du couldn't help but recall this time last year, when President Xi Jinping walked into the yard and chatted with the family while holding the hands of Du's 85-year-old mother.
站在自家门前，杜洪刚不禁回想起去年这个时候，习近平主席走进院子，拉着他85岁老母亲的手，与他的家人亲切交谈的情景。
Months before Xi's visit, the family had faced challenges when their cornfields and vegetable patches, totaling more than half a hectare, were inundated by a huge flood in the Haihe River Basin that severely affected the village's primary industry, agriculture, in late July 2023.
2023年7月底，在习近平到访前几个月，海河流域发生特大洪水，导致该村主要产业——农业受灾严重，杜洪刚一家总面积超过半公顷的玉米地和蔬菜田遭受水淹，家庭面临困境。
Despite the hardships, Du was able to quickly restore production with the help of reconstruction funds. When Xi visited the family, the celery that Du had planted in September with government-provided seedling funds was about a month away from harvest.
尽管困难重重，但在重建资金的帮助下，杜洪刚得以迅速恢复生产。2023年9月，他在政府提供的种苗资金支持下种植了芹菜。当习近平到访时，这些芹菜还有一个月左右就能收获了。
"When I saw President Xi walking toward our house, my heart was beating so fast because it was the first time that we saw him in person," Du said.
“当我看到习近平主席朝我们家走来时，我的心跳得很快，因为这是我们第一次亲眼见到他，”杜洪刚说道。
"The president told us that a country is prosperous only when its people live in peace," Du recalled, adding that Xi also said in the village square that the affairs of ordinary people are very important.
“主席告诉我们，只有人民安居乐业，国家才能繁荣昌盛，”杜洪刚回忆道，并补充说，习近平还在村广场上表示，普通百姓的事都非常重要。
The practice of Chinese leaders spending time with ordinary households before Spring Festival has been a tradition for years. Since being elected general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee in 2012, Xi has visited the homes of ordinary people across the country before Spring Festival.
中国领导人春节前走访普通家庭的做法已成多年传统。自2012年当选中国共产党中央委员会总书记以来，习近平每年春节前都会走访全国各地的普通家庭。
Such visits allow the Chinese leader to interact directly with people and listen to their concerns, in order to gather firsthand information on social issues and public sentiment, experts said.
专家表示，这种走访让中国领导人能够直接与人民群众交流，倾听他们的关切，从而收集关于社会问题和公众观点的一手信息。
They noted that this tradition reflects the CPC's people-centered development philosophy and the leadership's commitment to improving people's well-being.
他们指出，这一传统体现了中国共产党以人民为中心的发展理念，以及领导层对提高人民福祉的承诺。
Xi's first such tour took place in February 2013, when he embarked on a journey across hills and bumpy roads in northwestern China's Gansu province to visit villages that were situated in a challenging natural environment.
习近平第一次春节走访发生在2013年2月，当时他翻过丘陵，沿着崎岖山路来到中国西北部的甘肃省，走访了当地自然环境恶劣的村庄。
During the tour, Xi asked villagers whether they had enough food, sufficient subsistence allowances, and access to medical and educational resources.
走访期间，习近平询问村民是否有足够的粮食和生活补助，以及能否获得医疗和教育资源。
In 2020, as China approached the deadline for eradicating absolute poverty, Xi visited Li Fashun's house in Simola Wa, a village in Southwest China's Yunnan province, ahead of Spring Festival.
2020年，中国临近全面消除绝对贫困的期限。春节前，习近平走访了中国西南部云南省司莫拉佤族村村民李发顺的家。
Li, the main provider for a family of six, had been nearly paralyzed in a car accident in 2010. Through the "targeted poverty alleviation" initiative put forward by Xi in 2013, Li's family was among the 16 households that successfully lifted themselves out of poverty in the country's anti-poverty campaign in 2017, elevating the entire village above the poverty line.
在这个六口之家里，李发顺是家里的主要经济支柱，但2010年他因车祸几乎瘫痪。由于2013年习近平提出了“精准扶贫”政策，包括李发顺一家在内的村里16户家庭在2017年全国扶贫行动中一起成功脱贫，全村也因此整体脱贫。
Talking to Li and his fellow villagers, Xi said, "I wish your village of happiness even more happiness." In the local Wa language, Simola means "place of happiness".
在与李发顺及村民们交谈时，习近平说：“祝你们幸福村更加幸福”。在当地佤语中，“司莫拉”意为“幸福的地方”。
As more tourists began visiting the village following Xi's visit, Li transformed his house into a farm stay in 2021, offering visitors a taste of local specialty dishes and snacks. "Rice cakes like those made by General Secretary Xi during his visit are particularly popular," Li said.
习近平到访后，越来越多的游客开始来到这个村庄。2021年，李发顺将自家房屋改造成民宿，为游客提供当地特色菜肴和小吃。“总书记到访时做的大米粑粑特别受欢迎，”李发顺说。
Last year, the family earned annual income of more than 150,000 yuan ($20,480). "Now we are leading a content life without having to leave our home," he said.
去年，李发顺一家年收入超过15万元（20480美元）。他说：“现在我们不用离开家乡就能过上满意的生活。”
Xi has emphasized on many occasions that the CPC never forgets that the ultimate goal of pursuing reform and development is to ensure that people live better lives.
习近平多次强调，中国共产党始终牢记，改革发展的最终目的就是让人民过上更好的生活。
In his 2025 New Year message delivered on Dec 31, Xi told people across the country that "of all the jobs in front of us, the most important is to ensure a happy life for our people".
12月31日，习近平发表2025年新年贺词，他向全国人民表示，“家事国事天下事，让人民过上幸福生活是头等大事”。
"We should work together to steadily improve social undertakings and governance, build a harmonious and inclusive atmosphere, and settle real issues, big or small, for our people. We must bring more smiles to our people and greater warmth to their hearts," Xi said.
“我们要一起努力，不断提升社会建设和治理水平，持续营造和谐包容的氛围，把老百姓身边的大事小情解决好，让大家笑容更多、心里更暖，”习近平说。
Icelandic Sinologist Ragnar Baldursson said that the CPC's people-centered philosophy has remained unchanged since "serving the people wholeheartedly", which originated with a speech by the late Chairman Mao Zedong, became the motto of the CPC.
冰岛汉学家拉格纳尔·鲍德松表示，中国已故主席毛泽东在讲话中提到“要全心全意为人民服务”，此后，这句话就成为了中国共产党的根本宗旨，中国共产党以人民为中心的理念也始终未变。
"I think this philosophy can be traced back to Mencius, who advocated a famous saying about the importance of people. That is, the people rank the highest, the land comes next and the ruler counts the least," Baldursson said.
鲍德松说：“我认为这一理念可以追溯到孟子，他有一句关于人民重要性的名言，即‘民为贵，社稷次之，君为轻’。”
According to the ancient Chinese philosopher Mencius (372-289 BC), a governor exists for the sake of giving the people peace and wealth. A ruler who neglects responsibility to the people, or even misuses power and oppresses the people, could be overthrown by the people.
中国古代哲学家孟子（公元前372年—公元前289年）认为，统治者的存在是为了给人民带来和平与富裕。如果一个统治者忽视其对人民的责任，甚至滥用权力欺压人民，那么人民就会推翻他。
"Only when the government values its people and puts its people first, will the people trust the government. This is what is happening in China," Baldursson added.
“只有当政府重视人民并把人民放在首位时，人民才会信任政府。这就是中国正在发生的事情，”鲍德松补充道。
Guo Daojiu, a professor at Tianjin-based Nankai University's Zhou Enlai School of Government, said that the nature and purpose of the CPC eventually led it to place the people at the center, so all the Party's work is aimed at serving the interests of the people.
南开大学周恩来政府管理学院教授郭道久表示，中国共产党的性质宗旨最终决定了其必须将人民放在中心位置，人民利益是中国共产党一切工作的出发点和落脚点。
"The CPC has been guiding its behavior with a people-centered philosophy in its longtime practice. Placing the people at the center is the worldview, values and methodology of the Party in governing the country," Guo wrote in an opinion piece published in Tianjin Daily.
“在长期实践中，中国共产党始终坚持以人民为中心的行为方式。以人民为中心是党治国理政的世界观、价值观和方法论，”郭道久在《天津日报》发表的一篇评论文章中写道。
bumpy
adj.颠簸的
