I was at the scene, recording the moment and making it history.
Starting in 2019, we have launched the "I was at the scene" column, which uses the precious interview experience of Xinhua News Agency reporters to "sink their hearts, bend down, and integrate into their emotions" to tell what they saw and heard at the scene of major news events. , what you think.
In 2023, they will practice the "Four Forces", from key projects of the "Belt and Road" to in-depth research along the Yangtze River, Yellow River, and the Great Wall; from the scene of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to entering an African country that has just experienced a coup; from the Arctic Circle From the key projects of the "Polar Silk Road" to the hot infrastructure projects in the Greater Bay Area; from the launch and recovery of the Shenzhou spacecraft to the development and operation and maintenance of the "China Sky Eye"; from the severe flooding in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region to the Jishishan earthquake-stricken areas Life rescue; from the international competition venues of the World Championships, Asian Games, and Universiade to local events such as "Village Super" and "Village Ba"; from the father and son who have protected the martyrs for more than half a century to providing free door-to-door education for disabled children The rural teacher and his daughter...
They solidified the moment of news and recorded history.
Starting from January 1, 2024, the "I was there" column will successively broadcast the masterpieces of many Xinhua News Agency photographers in 2023 and the stories behind the photos. I hope their works and stories can bring you hope and strength.
"Motherland" is a warm word. In some special moments, some people and some things will always touch the softest place in our hearts inadvertently, making our eyes filled with tears and feeling grateful for our motherland.
This year, there are always some moments like this that touch me, and there are some flashes of tears that are fixed in my lens. The warmth from the motherland is reflected in these tears.
The guardian hero was speechless and choked
In late spring and April, at the southern edge of the Taklimakan Desert and at kilometer zero of the old 219 National Highway (Xinjiang-Tibet Line) - Yecheng County, Xinjiang, there was no romantic grass growing or flying birds, only sand and dust visiting every day. There is an earthy smell in the air. I participated in an interview on the Xinjiang section of the traveling research report "National Road Journey from Snowy Mountains to the Sea". I came to the Yecheng County Martyrs Cemetery and listened to the gravekeeper Anivar Amer telling his story.
This small martyrs cemetery houses more than 200 heroes and martyrs, under the relay protection of Anivar and his father for decades.
53-year-old Anivar always starts cleaning the Martyrs Cemetery before dawn, where his father and his father’s comrades are buried. Before his death, my father promised to take good care of these martyrs.
Not long after Anivar was born, he lived with his parents in the Martyrs Cemetery. I guessed that such perseverance must be boring, hard, and poor, but Anivar disagreed: "This is not suffering, they are the ones who really suffered, all for the country, the party, and the people. They sacrificed You were so young, as old as my child, and I feel heartbroken too!" Anivar's lips trembled, and he choked and couldn't speak any more. He grabbed the rag and continued to wipe the dust on the tombstone. He didn't want to speak for a long time. I saw Tears flashed in his vicissitudes of life.
↑On April 16, 2023, Anivar Amer wiped the tombstone at the Martyrs Cemetery in Yecheng, Xinjiang.
Maybe some people cannot understand the "obsession" of the two generations of father and son, and cannot empathize with it. Anivar told me: "My father fought side by side with his comrades, and went through life and death. My father's comrades died, and he had to stay with them all his life to feel at ease. Even if my father is gone, he will be buried next to them, and he also asked me to continue to accompany them. Good to his comrades. I understand my father." Anivar said that he would continue to work until he could no longer walk, and would let his son take over his duties in the future.
At that moment, I seemed to understand the meaning of their persistence. The silent tombstone witnessed a heavy commitment and also recorded a magnificent heroic hymn. The tears flashing in Anivar's eyes are the deep memory and admiration for the heroes and the belief in loyalty to the motherland. This sentiment has also turned into an invisible family tradition, consciously carried on from generation to generation in this small family.
↑On April 16, 2023, at the Yecheng Martyrs Cemetery, Anivar Amer (fourth from right) told the children about heroic deeds.
During the interview with Anivar, I was moved to tears again and again by his sincere feelings for his family and country. He doesn't speak much but is very simple. Sometimes he just repeats the same sentence - "They are all for the country, the party, and the people. It doesn't matter what I do." I always stand a little further away. position, using a telephoto lens to quietly record his every move, trying not to disturb his silent protection of the heroes. When the
interview report came to an end, several colleagues in our reporting team unanimously wanted to do something for Anivar and the heroes he protected, so we went to the nursery with Anivar and bought a few cypress saplings, asking him to Planting it in the cemetery can be regarded as our respect for him and the heroes.
↑On April 16, 2023, Anivar Amer was checking the growth of saplings next to his father's tomb.
When he came to the tombstone of his father Aimaier Yiti, Anivar murmured to himself: "Don't worry, Dad, I will take good care of your comrades!"
The pines and cypresses are evergreen, and the hero's soul will live on forever. At that moment, the tears in Anivar's eyes were respect for the martyrs and love for the motherland. The word "motherland" resides warmly in Anivar's heart.
Heroes return and burst into tears
From July 29 to August 2, 2023, affected by Typhoon "Dusuri", Beijing suffered a severe heavy rain disaster that was rare in history. Mentougou District, Fangshan District and other places were severely affected. This heavy rainfall caused serious flooding on the Fengtai to Shacheng Railway (Fengsha Line), and three trains, K396, Z180, and K1178, were trapped in the Mentougou Mountains. Train
z180 departed from Urumqi Station for Beijing West Railway Station at 19:15 on July 28. It was supposed to arrive on time at 9:55 on July 30, but due to heavy rain, it was canceled at noon on July 30. It was forced to stop at Anjiazhuang Station in the Mentougou area.
In order to ensure the safety of passengers, the train crew transferred the passengers to Anjiazhuang Village in Mentougou. Among the passengers were an 80-year-old man, a pregnant woman in Liujia, and more than 40 children from the study group... During the next few days of stay, all the passengers The flight attendants stuck to their posts, fearless of wind and rain, and took on the responsibility to ensure the safe return of all 913 stranded passengers.
Although I could not be there to record those difficult days and nights, from the constantly updated reports, I tried to understand the four days and three nights they suffered together. Heavy rain, hunger, and loss of contact...were always attacking these trapped people. people.
Finally, rescue workers opened the life rescue channel on the afternoon of August 1 and delivered food, medicine and other urgent supplies to the passengers. In the early morning of August 3, the last batch of stranded passengers arrived at Beijing Fengtai Station smoothly by transfer bus. They are safe!
↑On August 7, 2023, at Urumqi Station, the families of the crew members of train z180 welcomed the return of their relatives.
html On August 7, the heroic crew will return to Urumqi. Their families, colleagues, etc. will go to Urumqi Station to greet the "hero crew". After receiving the interview information, I brought two camera bodies equipped with two lenses, 24-70mm and 70-200mm, so that I could quickly switch to the appropriate focal length on site. On the way to the train station, I tried to understand the longing and affection between the flight attendants and their families, thinking about what kind of scenes should be recorded, and predicting in my mind what kind of scenes I might encounter.However, all imagined empathy is pale.
When I came to the platform, family members were already standing there waiting. People were chatting in low voices, with anxious hope in their eyes. As the whistle sounded, the train slowly entered the platform. After the train stopped, all the crew members got off the train one after another, and the welcoming crowd burst into warm applause.
↑On August 7, 2023, at Urumqi Station, Zhang Wei, the captain of train z180, shed tears of excitement.
The train conductor burst into tears when he hugged his daughter tightly and kissed her, and the police officer burst into tears when he reunited with his fiancee... The touching scenes made me unable to stop the shutter in my hand. I used a telephoto lens to record these moments from a distance. Behind the camera I have already burst into tears.
In fact, I simply cannot imagine whether the "hero team" felt scared and panicked during the few days when they were trapped and lost contact, and whether they thought that they might never be able to reunite with their families. They are also the fathers, sons, mothers, and daughters of the family... But in such critical moments, they risked their lives to stand up and fight for everyone's hope.
I think that the strength and belief that allows the "hero team" to stick to must come from the confidence given by the country. After the disaster occurred, China's various rescue forces quickly gathered and launched rescue operations to protect people's lives and property. They rushed into the flood to rescue people, relocated the victims, and repaired damaged facilities... They heard the "flood" and took action to rescue people with all their strength.
Disasters are merciless, but there is love in the world. At that moment, the tears when relatives reunited were gratitude to the rescue force and love for the motherland. The word "motherland" warmly protects every Chinese son and daughter.
The hero is gone and it is shocking and sad
In early autumn, the Pamir Plateau, the "roof of the world", welcomes enthusiastic tourists. The home of 71-year-old Bayika Kelidibek is also visited by tourists from all over the world. The old man is the father of Razini Bayika, the "model of the times". This quiet courtyard was Razini's home during his lifetime.
On January 4, 2021, 41-year-old Razini died heroically in order to rescue a child who fell into an ice cave. After his death, Razini was recognized as a martyr by the country.
After the heroic death, the 70-year-old father and his family still live in this small courtyard, and the family still keeps the place clean and clean, just like it was back then. Now this is also the memorial hall of Razini. People come to visit and study every day. The old man Bayika will personally tell everyone about the experience of three generations of his family guarding the border. He will also hold everyone's hands tightly and thank everyone from the society. Concerns from all walks of life.
During the days when the reporting team and I went to the old man Bayika’s home for interviews, we could see the old man Bayika introducing the visitors every day. His eyes were full of determination, pride and pride.
↑On September 4, 2023, the old man Bayika took off his glasses and wiped his tears after sorting out the photos of his son Razini during his lifetime.
However, that evening, the old man shed tears.
When the crowd of visitors gradually left, and Bayika was rearranging his son's belongings, he suddenly couldn't help but shed tears, but the old man just turned his back, took off his glasses, and quietly wiped the tears with the back of his hand. I didn't even dare to take another look at this back figure. When the old man turned around, I hurriedly pressed the shutter a few times and put away the camera.
This Tajik veteran is sad because he lost his beloved son; but he is also proud because his son is a hero who died gloriously to save others! On the day of Lazini's accident, Bayika once said: "Actually, I was not surprised that Lazini saved people. I just felt extremely sad that my son left like this. But what he did to save the child who fell into the water was A good thing. Lazini has liked to help others since he was a child and hates to see others in trouble."
↑On September 4, 2023, the old man Bayika was displaying photos of his son Lazini before he was alive.
Today, although the hero Razini, known as the "Pamir Eagle", has passed away, the patriotic dedication of three generations of his family is still resident on the plateau, and generations of "eagles" guarding the border will continue to take over. The baton of our ancestors guards the mountains and rivers of our motherland.
The hero has passed away, but his spirit lives on. At that moment, the tears flashing in the corners of the eyes of the old man Bayika were thoughts for his relatives and love for his motherland. The word "motherland" warmly holds up thousands of "eagles" flying high.
Looking back over the years, I always encounter moments when I burst into tears during interviews, which makes me moved. Tears are the ultimate expression of people's emotions. They are sometimes silent but extremely powerful, conveying strong emotions and profound thoughts. In these tears, I saw the selfless and noble spirit of dedication, and understood the sincere and profound feelings of family and country.
In the context of the new era, as the country's strength continues to improve and its international status gradually improves, people's sense of belonging and pride in the motherland is also constantly increasing.I am lucky to be able to capture these tearful moments in the form of photos, but I hope people can understand the emotions and feel the love of every ordinary person for the motherland.
2023 comes to an end amidst the heavy snow. In the quiet snowy night, I know that there are still people guarding the warmth in the severe cold, and there are still people who are still on the front line of earthquake relief. Late at night, when I wrote these words, I was moved by the tears in my memory again and again, and burst into tears. Behind the fleeting tears are small waves of rushing waves, which will eventually converge into the great river of the times and the majestic force of social progress.
Scan the QR code in the picture below to watch the detailed reports on Faye Wong in 2023:
Planner: Lan Hongguang
Coordinator: Yu Lan, Fei Maohua, Zhou Daqing, Liu Jinhai
Reporter: Faye Wong
Editors: Zhang Shanchen, Yin Dongxun , Xu Jiayi
