About island life

Xisha Islands has always been shrouded in a mysterious veil for inland readers. Due to the difficulty of landing on the island, there are few media reports. In people's imagination, Xisha may be a "paradise" with blue sea and blue sky, flowers and birds, but in fact, "the scorching sun is in the sky, typhoons are always disturbing, vegetables are scarce in four seasons, and daily newspapers become monthly reports" is the true portrayal of Xisha. A few days ago, the reporter of Workers Daily, together with the condolence group of Hainan Provincial Federation of Trade Unions, conducted a few-day interview on Yongxing Island, the largest island in Xisha Islands. Yongxing Island, with an area of only 2. 1 km2, is the largest island among the South China Sea Islands, the transportation hub of the South China Sea Islands, the administrative, military, economic and cultural center of the west, south and zhongsha islands, and the residence of the zhongsha islands Working Committee in southwest China and the zhongsha islands Office in southwest Hainan Province.

Vegetables:

The rarest thing in Xisha

At 7 o'clock in the morning, the "Qiongsha No.3" supply ship that the reporter and his party took arrived at Yongxing Island in Xisha Islands.

Affected by the typhoon, the arrival time of "Qiongsha III" has been delayed for 40 days. At this time, the officers and men on the island are on the verge of "breaking food and water", especially vegetables. As early as a month ago, the officers and men never saw the shadow of fresh vegetables again.

This is the first day to supply fresh water, food, vegetables and various daily necessities, and it is also the happiest day for the officers and men on the island.

Duan Yinhuo, commander of an army stationed on the island, invited us to the Xisha Hotel, the best hotel in Xisha.

After ribs, beef, fish, meatballs, etc. After serving one after another, a plate of green oil, crisp and smooth oily wheat and a plate of water spinach "appeared".

At this time, the officers and men who have always been heroic suddenly became gentlemen: "You eat first. The ulcer in your mouth is getting worse. You should eat more. " "No, you should eat first. Your gums are bleeding badly. " "Oh, let's eat together ..."

The officers and men raised their chopsticks with some trembling, gently picked up the oily wheat vegetables like fragile things, put them under their noses for a few times, then put them in their mouths with a smile and chewed them carefully.

"Whenever a typhoon strikes, our vegetable supply here will light up with a' red light'." Zhou Yongsheng, director of the political department of the troops stationed on the island, said helplessly.

At this time, the life of the officers and men stationed on the island is even more bitter. They can't eat fresh vegetables for a month or two, so they can only eat canned vegetables, pickles and vitamin tablets.

Many officers and men can't eat fresh vegetables all the year round, which leads to bleeding gums, oral ulcers, crotch ulcers and yellow faces. ...

Celery, lettuce, water spinach, oily wheat ... these are the most common vegetables for ordinary people, and in Xisha, officers and men eat fresh vegetables every day is their most extravagant diet.

Zhou Yongsheng said that the officers and men on the island, no matter who goes out to visit relatives or perform tasks, will bring back a special gift-soil and put it next to the camp. Over time, it will pile up into vegetable fields, which is a "mixture" of soil in more than 20 provinces and cities across the country.

A soldier named Zhan Jianlin planted several green broccoli in this vegetable field. Every day, the soldiers take care of these broccoli like children.

"But it's much better now." Zhou Yongsheng told us that in February this year, the Ministry of Science and Technology invested 40 million yuan in advance to establish a 2,000-square-meter "demonstration base of island vegetable production technology of the Ministry of Science and Technology" in Yongxing Island.

Typhoon:

Islander's "Most Fear"

Yongxing Island is located in the tropics, with a tropical maritime monsoon climate and hot and humid all the year round. According to statistics, the annual average temperature is 25.6 degrees Celsius, the annual rainfall is 148 1.3mm, and the normal wind direction is northeast. The direction of strong wind is southwest wind. September-February is the northeast monsoon period, and the maximum wind force is 6-7. March-April is the transitional period between northeast wind and southwest wind, and May-September is the typhoon season.

Typhoon is the most feared by the soldiers and civilians stationed in Xisha Islands. As long as there is a typhoon, the supply ship can't get on the island, and there will be water and food shortage on the island.

Liang Shaoqun, vice chairman of the China-Saudi Arabia Southwest Working Committee, who accompanied the interview, said, "You have come at a bad time. Coconut trees used to be covered with coconuts, but now the trees are bare and there are no coconuts at all. This is because of the capricious typhoon on the island. Generally speaking, the typhoon season is from June to September, but who expected that a powerful typhoon blew up in June+February last year in 5438, which seriously affected the coconut trees, and it has not been fruitful until now. "

He told reporters about the thrilling scene of wind resistance and disaster relief: Typhoon Ute quietly attacked Zhaoshu Island while the islanders were sleeping. In an instant, 50 simple houses built by 98 fishermen were swallowed up by the typhoon, and all the rice and food in reserve were soaked in seawater. At this time, the fishermen on the island have nowhere to shelter from the wind and rain, and the necessities of life such as food and fresh water are also in a hurry. Most fishermen have not fallen into the water for more than 40 hours.

"The soldiers and civilians on the island are like coconut trees. They didn't exist on the island, but they can stubbornly stick to it, no matter how big the typhoon is and how bad the conditions are! " Liang Shaoqun seems to be talking to himself and telling reporters.

Fresh water:

The wishes of officers and men stationed on the island

"What I want to do most now is to take a good bath." After a day of intense interviews, the hot, humid and salty weather on the island made the reporters and their party feel sticky all over.

"What are you doing? After a day's training, the officers and men on the island are like hawthorn in a sugar pot and turned into candied haws-they are uncomfortable all over. " Duan Yinhuo, commander of a group army stationed in the island, vividly described the hard life of officers and men every day with this metaphor.

"Oh, my God! What's the smell of this water? Washing is equal to not washing, and the whole body is still sticky ... "Intern Xiao Wu shouted.

It turns out that the bath water we use is the well water that the officers and men on the island privately call "Yin and Yang water".

The Xisha Islands are more than 0/80 nautical miles away from Hainan Island/KLOC-and the traffic is very inconvenient. Draught water, eating vegetables and transportation are three major problems that plague the lives of officers and men stationed on the island. The domestic water for officers and men on the island is transported from the mainland for a long time, and sometimes it is affected by cold waves and typhoons. The officers and men stationed on the island often face the severe test of water shortage and water cut-off.

Yongxing Island is the political, economic, cultural and military center of Xisha Islands in central and southern China, with a flat terrain and an average height of about 5 meters. Surrounded by sand dikes, the middle is low and it is a depression.

To this end, it is convenient to drill wells and get water on Yongxing Island, and the water quantity is sufficient. However, due to the pollution of bird droppings on the island and the infiltration of seawater, the drilled well water is between seawater and fresh water, sweet or not, salty or not, and accompanied by a strong fishy smell, hence the name "Yin and Yang Water". After bathing with this well water, many people will have itchy skin.

Water-healthy fresh water is still one of the most urgent wishes of officers and men on Yongxing Island. Many officers and men suffer from gastrointestinal diseases such as kidney calculi's disease, gastrolithiasis and enterolithiasis due to drinking Yin and Yang water for a long time.

"And even if the fresh water shipped from Hainan is stored for too long, the rainwater will be infected by impurities and bacteria in the air and on the ground. Many people feel uncomfortable after drinking, and even lead to diarrhea. " At this point, his tone became more and more dignified.

Now, some officers and men on the island often feel slightly tight when they get up every morning. It is normal to run the toilet four or five times a day.

In fact, every officer stationed on the island knows clearly that this has something to do with drinking "yin and yang water" for a long time.

Even so, the officers and men still stick to the island without regrets.

The beautiful and mysterious Xisha consists of 34 islands, shoals and reefs. It is an inseparable part of our territory and has always been a fortress position of our army. On the East Island and Zhong Jian Island of Xisha Islands, naval guards are stationed.

Being far from the mainland, the island lacks fresh water and vegetables. The young Tianya sentinel overcame unimaginable hardships in the South China Sea, which is called "the end of the sea and the edge of the sky". They keep and build islands on isolated islands, take the island as their home and take pleasure in keeping the world. Their life is bitter and bitter, and coconut oil is happy.

What I look forward to most is a letter from home.

"When the island is closed in February and March, a letter from home is worth a ton of gold". Xisha Islands is located in the South China Sea outpost, with extremely inconvenient traffic and irregular supply ships due to meteorological reasons. Sometimes once a month or two. When typhoons are frequent, it is common not to come to the ship for three months. The Xisha Islands are dotted on the vast blue waves of the South China Sea, almost "isolated" from the outside world, and the letters that officers and men are most looking forward to in their lives come from afar.

Family letter is the emotional bond between officers and soldiers and their relatives and friends, and it is also one of the main ways for them to obtain external information. So officers and men have special feelings for it.

A specific environment can create a special character. On the small island of Xisha, the officers and men who guard the island seem to have no personal privacy. No matter who wrote it, whether it is a letter from home or a love letter, the content will be made public, and everyone will share the joy and pain of their comrades.

After a typhoon, a veteran of Zhongjian Island received three telegrams at the same time, which were sent from his hometown one and a half months apart.

The first letter: Mother is seriously ill.

The second letter: Mother is in critical condition.

The third letter: Mother passed away.

After reading the first letter, everyone's face grew long; After reading the second letter, everyone didn't say a word; After reading the third letter, everyone bowed their heads and cried. ......

Due to traffic reasons, it is very inconvenient to send and receive letters on Xisha Island. One year before the Spring Festival, a ship went to Zhong Jian Island to deliver new year's goods to officers and men, including fresh rice, flour, meat, fruit and firecrackers. When unloading the ship, the officers and men on the island asked the captain, "Where is this letter and newspaper?" This question puzzled the captain. It turned out that before we set sail, the officers and men on board were busy loading the island's new year's goods and forgot to go to the post office to get the letter. After hearing what the captain said, the excitement of the officers and men on the island who had just unloaded the ship was gone, and their faces immediately turned from sunny to cloudy. At noon that day, no one had a good meal. Yes, how can it not make people anxious? I was on the boat only once a year ago. When will you receive the letter from home next year? !

At the beginning of the new year, I went to the supply ship for the first time and brought all the letters from the families of officers and men since last year 10. They were all ecstatic. A veteran who joined the army for six years suddenly received 18 letters from home. However, instead of reading all the letters at once, he reads one every day. He said: "The officers and men on the island read the letter like this. This is called spiritual' continuous dinner'. How boring it would be if you read all the letters in one day and have to wait a few months to receive so many letters! "

The saddest lovelorn

The living conditions of Xisha officers and soldiers are influenced by the geographical environment, and their love and marriage are also ruthlessly restricted by time and space. Many newly sprouted seedlings of love died prematurely in the vast sea. Yin, the former vice captain of Zhongjian Island Garrison, is an outspoken young man with some pioneering ideas. My uncle is the head of a county, and my father and brother are also in the leadership positions of the relevant departments of the county. After graduating from college, despite the opposition of relatives and friends, she insisted on being assigned to the troops stationed in the island with difficult conditions, so she broke up with her girlfriend. Soon, Vice Captain Yin returned home to visit relatives and made friends with a female classmate in middle school. During the holidays, they climbed mountains, watched movies, talked about ideals and talked about life together, which was very speculative. Soon, he happily returned to the army, put down his ideological baggage and devoted himself to his work. I often fall asleep with a photo of "Xiangmeizi" at night.

After waiting for a long time, the supply ship finally came, and a group of geese flew with it. Vice captain Yin saw her letter at a glance. The girl's son wrote four pieces of paper, and then she looked at the signature, which was written more than two months ago. He was in a hurry, and his reply was both an explanation and a confession. However, he never heard from the girl again.

Lieutenant Yin understands this girl very well. "It takes more than three months from sending a letter to receiving it. Who can stand this loneliness now? "

The success rate of love between officers and men on the island is very low. Up to now, there are still many older officers and non-commissioned officers who have not found a partner. Some were blown "light" four or five times, and some barely "managed" a pair. In this way, their future family life has added new troubles. Whenever they receive a letter blowing a lamp, their hands holding the letter devoutly will tremble and hold the letter tightly, and tears of pain will flow from their eyes. These men, seemingly men who can live by eating grass alone, can't bear loneliness, and the wind and waves can't make them bow their heads. However, this thin page of writing paper can hurt their affectionate hearts.

On the small island of Xisha, no matter who is lovelorn, they just say "Break up!" to their comrades. They are afraid that their bad comrades will be emotionally infected. What a great depression these three words mask! In the face of lovelorn, officers and men will not feel inferior. They have a famous saying: people who don't love Xisha are not worthy of my love!

Love to sing military songs

"Being a soldier is bitter, being a soldier is fun, and being a soldier is a song." As a regular cultural activity in the army, singing has always been an important means to improve combat effectiveness. But in Xisha, in addition to improving combat effectiveness, singing is also an important measure to improve the aesthetic and artistic literacy of officers and men.

In March 2004, the "Haiyun" Choir was formally established in Xisha. For a group of officers and men who still don't know what harmony is, Director Yao, who studied in the Chorus Command Department of Huazhong Normal University, bravely shouldered the heavy burden and served as the captain of the chorus team. A month later, when the first three-part chorus "Sea, Hometown" was successfully rehearsed, many contestants were deeply touched and couldn't believe their ears. I didn't expect several different voices to sound so harmonious.

On July 1 day of that year, the "July 1" concert of "Haiyun" chorus "Bright Sunshine" was held in Xisha Naval Auditorium, and more than 40 chorus members took the stage for the first time and were reviewed by all officers and men. When the music started, the soldiers were full of passion and emotion. Under the wonderful interpretation of the choir members, 12 songs fascinated the audience. In the burst of applause, many officers and men suddenly realized that the original military songs could not just shout and sing.

In fact, the role of glee club goes far beyond this. Choir members are like seeds sown to various units in the marine police area, which greatly improves the singing level of each company, and therefore many unique island stars and singing groups have emerged. Since then, every singing competition has changed from being more than people and louder than sound to being slightly better than timbre, intonation and artistic treatment.

Life in Xisha is like a song, a passionate or soothing movement. Driven by singing, officers and men began to try to write their own words, compose music, sing and sing songs with Xisha characteristics. As a result, a large number of songs reflecting the fighting and life in Xisha, such as Song of the Sentinel at the End of the World, Unforgettable Xisha and Xisha Female Soldiers, were sung in Xisha.

I like surfing the internet best.

"The island is dying and isolated." This is the understanding of the Xisha Islands in the vast South China Sea by most people living in metropolises. Nowadays, the old problem of information blocking in Xisha has been greatly improved.

Chen Tianhong, a fourth-class petty officer of a tank company in Xisha, has been guarding Xisha Island since he became a soldier. Although he is handsome, he has always been a failure in love. At the beginning of July, the "Blowing Lamp King" who failed in love for more than ten times finally became the groom and joined hands with a primary school teacher to set foot on the bright red carpet. Chen Tianhong, immersed in the happiness and sweetness of marriage, said: "What makes us excited and happy is that with the opening of Xisha submarine optical cable, officers and men stationed on the island have become the southernmost end users of the political work network of the whole army. Since then, the Xisha Islands, which are isolated overseas, will also enter the online world and embark on the information highway like mainland cities. "

The Xisha Islands are far away from the mainland and the information is blocked. For many years, officers and men can only get information through satellite TV programs and newspapers and magazines that can only be received several times a month. Lack of information and ignorance of the outside world have become the biggest obstacles for officers and men to communicate with the outside world. Older unmarried young people like Chen Tianhong and those who often "blow the lights" in love are also increasing year by year.

In order to speed up the informationization construction of Xisha troops, under the direct care of the naval headquarters, heads and organs, the troops stationed on the island made the "political work network of the whole army" land in Xisha Islands smoothly. Turn on the computer, start the browser, and type the web address. The page of "China Military Network" immediately appeared in front of us: 14 Today News, China Military and other news channels, with fresh content and rich information; More than 20 columns such as military salons, military netizens, military pictures and military culture are dazzling. Officers and soldiers can browse all kinds of information online; You can also read "essays", "novels" and literary works slowly; You can also open the "multimedia" to listen to military songs, watch film and television works and opera sketches. Nowadays, the network has closely linked Xisha officers and soldiers with modern society and comrades-in-arms of the whole army, realized zero-distance contact with big cities, completely changed the history of the island's information blocking and lagging behind, and brought good news to the spiritual life of officers and soldiers guarding the island.

On the basis that the network can reach the island, the island-guarding troops have also invested a lot of money to build an electronic network room for the island and grass-roots companies, so that officers and men can surf the Internet every day and learn, communicate, entertain and roam in the network. The officers and men seem to be released from the island. There is no loneliness of the island, no seclusion of "Xanadu", and only the pace of advancing with the times and firm confidence!

Chen Tianhong said: "If Xisha was connected to the Internet a few years ago, my son, King Blowing Lights, would be able to make soy sauce!"