Lan Biaohe: down-to-earth civil servant fighting poverty

On April 14, 2018, a WeChat account with the name of "reporting to the people" stopped renewing posts, for good.

The owner Lan Biaohe died at the age of 44 following several straight days of work, leaving behind half-done work and a packed schedule.

Lan, deputy chief of Rong'an county in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, had been working for poverty alleviation for more than 20 years.

"He was expressing grateful sentiment to fellow villagers, I suppose," Lan's elderly brother Lan Biaosong, who was left to explain what the WeChat group's name meant.

"Born in a poor family, we were taught by our father by his actions that we should offer a hand when fellow villagers reach out for help," Lan Biaosong said.

Bearing this in mind, Lan Biaohe devoted himself to poverty alleviation over his short but fruitful 20-year career life when he visited nearly every impoverished county included in the poverty eradication campaign in Guangxi.

China has set 2020 as the target year to win the tough battle against poverty. To this end, millions of civil servants and employees of organizations under central authorities visited poverty-stricken areas to facilitate the endeavor, many of whom laid down their lives like Lan Biaohe.

"It is worthwhile doing something to help the needy," the late county deputy chief once said.

Field trips, meetings, discussions and visits to poor households draw a sketch of his daily life.

The notebooks he left highlighted frequent words and phrases, such as "keeping a close watch on the project" and "seeing to it as soon as possible."

Friday, April 13, 2018, was supposed to be his time to rest after a long week of work, but Lan Biaohe rushed from the county seat to Tongshi Village, carrying some cooked meat with him.

His destination was a villager's home where he invited others for a gathering.

"I want to discuss with you what we should do in the future for poverty eradication."

Villagers present went into brainstorming.

After taking care of business, the villagers asked him to take a sip of homemade wine, but he refused, saying he planned to finish a report that night.

To everyone's astonishment, the refusal heralded a last goodbye.