Ngawang Nyima waters plants at his residence in Qamdo City, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, Feb. 18, 2021. Ngawang Nyima, 84, was born in Naixi Township, Mangkam County, Qamdo City, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, and used to be a serf. Laden with heavy taxes, he started to herd sheep for landlords when he was no more than eight years old, and was forced to fetch bittern from a salt pan by Lancang River. The trail to the salt pan was so precipitous that a single careless step would spill one into rapid waves in the river. Ngawang Nyima joined the militia of the Kasha government against his will otherwise he would be executed immediately for any disobedience. Fortunately, he survived the front onslaught of a fight thanks to his father who hid him inside an obsolete house. After he was liberated, Ngawang Nyima had served as head of the village committee and led his neighbors in building water ducts and improving arable lands. Instead of the shabby and leaking wooden hut he used to live in during the old time, Ngawang Nyima now enjoys his life in a Tibet-style house along with his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. (Xinhua/Sun Fei)
