• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • ABOUT CHINA
    • NEWS
    • TESTIMONIES
    • OP-EDS
    • FEATURED
    • GLOSSARY
    • CHINA PERSECUTION MAP
  • FROM THE WORLD
    • NEWS GLOBAL
    • TESTIMONIES GLOBAL
    • OP-EDS GLOBAL
    • FEATURED GLOBAL
  • INTERVIEWS
  • DOCUMENTS AND TRANSLATIONS
    • DOCUMENTS
    • THE TAI JI MEN CASE
    • TRANSLATIONS
    • EVENTS
  • ABOUT
  • EDITORIAL BOARD
  • TOPICS

Bitter Winter

A magazine on religious liberty and human rights

three friends of winter
Home / China / Testimonies China

Qianjia Village, Longmenfan Township: Inside the Orwellian World of a “Model Village” in China

01/12/2023Liu Wangmin |

The Jiangxi village won several national awards for having perfectly implemented the total-surveillance grid system—and eradicated “illegal” religion.

by Liu Wangmin

Tourists are invited to participate in the Grape Picking Festival and see for themselves the “model” Qianjia Village. From Weibo.
Tourists are invited to participate in the Grape Picking Festival and see for themselves the “model” Qianjia Village. From Weibo.

Not many foreigners, and not even many Chinese, had heard until recently of Longmenfan Township. It is under the jurisdiction of Hengfeng county, Shangrao city, Jiangxi province. It consists of thirteen villages, with a total population of 25,000. Although some industries have been implanted in the villages, their traditional activity is fruit growing, particularly grapes.

It would look like just one among thousands of similar areas in China. Except that one of the thirteen villages, Qianjia Village, has won three national awards in 2022: as a national women’s organization construction demonstration village, a national democracy and the rule of law demonstration village, and a national anti-xie-jiao demonstration village. Readers of Bitter Winter know that “xie jiao,” normally but incorrectly translated as “evil cults,” indicates religious movements perceived as hostile to the government and banned as “heterodox teachings.”

In addition, Qianjia Village has won other awards at the provincial level of Jiangxi: as an Agricultural Science and Technology Demonstration Base, a Provincial Rural Forest Park, and a Demonstration Community of “Green Community and Beautiful Homes.” The village branch of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been proclaimed Provincial Model Party Organization for Rural Revitalization, and a Municipal “Five-Star” Party General Branch, and the local CCP secretary, Zhou Zhaoping, has himself won the “2022 Rural Revitalization Good Party Secretary” provincial award.

It is thus worth your while to visit Qianjia Village—which is trying to capitalize on its awards and fame to attract tourists with a Grape Picking Festival and other events—and try to understand why the CCP regards it as special.

Qianjia Village is home to slightly more than 3,000 villagers and is indeed renowned for fruit growing: not only grapes but peaches, kumquats, and oranges. You can buy them at a farmers’ market, although most of the production leaves the village to different parts of China.

Farmers’ market in the village. From Weibo.
Farmers’ market in the village. From Weibo.

What you will quickly notice in the village is the ubiquitous presence of CCP propagandists, young men and women handing leaflets and promoting different Party activities. In fact, for the villagers these activities are mandatory. There are almost daily lessons on Xi Jinping thought, and “Party Theme Days.” Even simple household activities are supervised by the Party. For example, there is a monthly “Home Cleaning Day,” on the 10th of each month, where a CCP cadre controls that each home has been properly cleaned. There is even a “Good mother-in-law, Good daughter-in-law Day,” when the CCP comes through its cadres and check that these traditionally difficult relations are going on smoothly.

Qianjia Village is a model village because it has fully implemented the grid system. The territory is divided into grids. The system is organized through one village-level large grid, six small grids, and twenty micro grids. Each micro grid includes some fifteen households. There is a CCP grid officer who visits all the households and makes sure everybody is loyal to the Party, Xi Jinping thought is regularly studied, and nobody entertains any form of dissent. Micro grid officers are surveilled by small grid leaders, who are in turn surveilled by the large grid chief, who is the village Party secretary. There is also a specialized anti-xie-jiao village team, whose members are skilled in detecting even small signs of sympathy for the xie jiao or “illegal” religion.

Political indoctrination for villagers in Longmenfan Township. From Weibo.
Political indoctrination for villagers in Longmenfan Township. From Weibo.

Propaganda is hailing the stability and harmony of Qianjia Village. The price it pays for it is an Orwellian surveillance that extends into private homes, and prevents any possible dissent, less-than-enthusiastic study of Xi Jinping and CCP documents, or interest for “illegal” religion.

Tagged With: Surveillance

bw-profile
Liu Wangmin

Uses a pseudonym for security reasons.

Related articles

  • China: Online Performances Cannot Refer to Illegal Religion or Criticize the Party

    China: Online Performances Cannot Refer to Illegal Religion or Criticize the Party

  • @Pro-CCP: False Pro-China Accounts Invade Twitter in the UK

    @Pro-CCP: False Pro-China Accounts Invade Twitter in the UK

  • The Health Code Scandal: How China Falsifies COVID Records to Hit Dissidents

    The Health Code Scandal: How China Falsifies COVID Records to Hit Dissidents

  • Alibaba Software Selectively Monitors Trips To and From Xinjiang 

    Alibaba Software Selectively Monitors Trips To and From Xinjiang 

Keep Reading

  • The CCP’s New Secret Agent: Count Dracula
    The CCP’s New Secret Agent: Count Dracula

    Undeadly serious: Bram Stoker’s vampire novel, and scantily clad women, were used to spread Chinese propaganda on Twitter.

  • QingLang Regulations, More of Them—and More Control on Chinese Social Media
    QingLang Regulations, More of Them—and More Control on Chinese Social Media

    The plan to “cleanse” the Internet and eliminate independent opinions and postings continues at full speed.

  • Chinese LGBT Social Media App Ban Users from Posting Religious Content
    Chinese LGBT Social Media App Ban Users from Posting Religious Content

    Chinese can use social networking apps intended for the LGBT community—unless they mention or discuss religion there.

  • Grid System Used to Target “Illegal” Religion
    Grid System Used to Target “Illegal” Religion

    The Orwellian system of dividing China into 100x100 meter grids for surveillance now includes grid officers in charge of hunting members of banned religious groups.

Primary Sidebar

Support Bitter Winter

Learn More

Follow us

Newsletter

Most Read

  • There Are Christian Uyghurs, Too: New Organization Launched in London by Ruth Ingram
  • The Last Words of a Uyghur Father: A Son’s Memory by Abdurehim Gheni Uyghur
  • Xi Jinping: Beijing’ National Art Museum Is Not Socialist Enough by Hu Zimo
  • Occupied Ukraine: Anti-Cult “Experts” Target Moscow Patriarchate Dissident Priest by Massimo Introvigne
  • Chinese Agents Tried to Bribe U.S. Tax Officer in Anti-Falun-Gong Plot by Massimo Introvigne
  • Russia: Lunatic Theory that Yellowstone Volcano Caused the War in Ukraine Gains Momentum by Massimo Introvigne
  • Vandalism Against Catholic Churches on the Rise in Bavaria by PierLuigi Zoccatelli

CHINA PERSECUTION MAP -SEARCH NEWS BY REGION

clickable geographical map of china, with regions

Footer

EDITORIAL BOARD

Editor-in-Chief

MASSIMO INTROVIGNE

Director-in-Charge

MARCO RESPINTI

ADDRESS

CESNUR

Via Confienza 19,

10121 Turin, Italy,

Phone: 39-011-541950

E-MAIL

We welcome submission of unpublished contributions, news, and photographs. Each submission implies the authorization for us to edit and publish texts and photographs. We reserve the right to decide which submissions are suitable for publication. Please, write to INFO@BITTERWINTER.ORG Thank you.

Newsletter

LINKS

orlir-logo hrwf-logo cesnur-logo

Copyright © 2023 · Bitter Winter · PRIVACY POLICY· COOKIE POLICY