From Steel Village to Silver Oasis: A Metamorphosis of Urban Priorities

When refer to Daqiuzhuang Town in Jinghai District, Tianjin, the first thing that comes to people's minds is its glorious history in the steel pipe industry. As the "Number One Welded Pipe Town in China", this place has witnessed the epic chapter of China's steel industry, the roaring sound of machine tools day and night, and the splashing of fire outlining the industrial totem of "China's No.1 Village".

When the countdown to industrial upgrading rings and the gears of industrial civilization meet the pendulum of rural revitalization, Daqiuzhuang Town recalibrates the scale of town and village development and finds a new algorithm for rural social development to meet the happiness of the villagers. In recent years, while maintaining stable industrial development, Jinhai Village in Daqiuzhuang Town has paid more attention to the comprehensive development of social undertakings, especially in areas such as elderly care services, cultural revitalization, and environmental governance, and has achieved remarkable results, becoming a benchmark for rural revitalization in Daqiuzhuang Town and even in Tianjin. This village, which has carried the glory of industry, is weaving the silk of the times of common prosperity with the fine stitches of rural social undertakings.

In recent years, Jinhai Village has been committed to building a national exemplary elderly friendly community, injecting new vitality into rural social undertakings. Jinhai Village provides retirement subsidies, "secondary reimbursement of medical insurance", and "street assistance funds" for elderly people aged 55 and above, ensuring that they have no financial worries. The Comprehensive Cultural Service Center invested and constructed in the village holds monthly activities to truly provide elderly people with a sense of security, support, and happiness. Jinhai Village currently has a population of 1270, including 217 elderly people over 60 years old and 23 elderly people over 80 years old.

In recent years, Daqiuzhuang Town has taken Jinhai Village as a pilot to actively provide comprehensive, precise, and refined services for elderly residents. Starting from the bedside and surroundings, staffs provide caring services for the elderly in terms of home-based care, cultural life, and social participation, striving to create an elderly friendly community.

In order to do a good job in aging work, Jinhai Village has established a leadership group for aging work, which holds quarterly meetings to comprehensively coordinate aging affairs. During traditional festivals or important time points, members of the village committee will visit and comfort the elderly, poor, disabled, as well as old party members and old soldiers, and send them condolence money and living materials. In addition, the village also organizes party members and volunteers to preach the party's policies and the caring measures of the higher-level party committee and government at the homes of elderly people with mobility difficulties, bringing them warmth.

In order to improve the living environment for the elderly, the village has carried out aging friendly renovations, such as installing handrails, adding emergency call devices, etc., and monitoring the living conditions of elderly people with special difficulties to reduce their living risks. At the same time, Jinhai Village has also hired legal advisors to provide legal aid for the elderly.

The exploration of Jinhai Village is not limited to the material level, but also focuses on the spiritual needs of the elderly. Villagers can exercise at the cultural square, go to the community health center for free physical examinations, write and draw with old friends at the activity center, and enjoy a rich and colorful life in their declining years. After dinner, villagers can also take a walk on Hong Kong Street in the village to experience the tranquility and beauty of the countryside.

Taking Jinhai Village as a pilot, Daqiuzhuang Town focuses on the service needs of the elderly, building a new pattern of elderly services led by the government, self governed by residents, gathering social forces, and involving volunteer teams, exploring new codes to unlock a happy life for the elderly. At present, Jinhai Village has successfully been selected as a national demonstration elderly friendly community, which is not only an honor for the village, but also a vivid embodiment of the "material wealth plus spiritual wealth" living philosophy of Daqiuzhuang Town.

At the Jinhai Village Comprehensive Cultural Service Center, elderly people can find their own fun. Here, there are reading rooms, moral lecture halls, cultural activity rooms, calligraphy and painting exhibition halls, etc., providing many places for the elderly to learn and engage in activities. The village has also established senior Tai Chi teams, dance teams, and calligraphy and painting volunteer service teams, among which the senior Tai Chi team has won first prizes in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region Tai Chi competition multiple times.

Standing on the road of Jinhai Village in Daqiuzhuang Town, you can see the vivid and concrete appearance of happy life. From being named "China's No.1 Village" to being selected as a "National Demonstration Elderly Friendly Community", Daqiuzhuang Town has always played a leading role in demonstration. In recent years, Daqiuzhuang Town has continued to provide elderly assistance services, distributing more than 700000 yuan in home-based elderly care subsidies and insurance for people aged 60 and above every year, and establishing a close medical alliance to achieve graded diagnosis and treatment and two-way referral. At the same time, relying on the New Era Civilization Practice Station, a series of cultural activities have been carried out, and the Town Comprehensive Cultural Service Center has become the only Tianjin Special Grade Township Comprehensive Cultural Station in Jinghai District.

(TIANJIN AGRICULTURE AND RURAL COMMITTEE, Writer: Du Min, Translator: Ma Jiangpeng)