2019年CRI Young girl dedicated herself to promoting Korean ethnic culture

 

In a small village named Hongqi in northeast China, few young people choose to stay in their hometown because bigger, more developed cities provide better job opportunities.

But this ethnic¹-Korean village is lucky enough to still have a young woman who is devoted² to introducing the local culture to visitors.

CRI's Huang Yue has been staying in this village for the past few weeks and spent some time with the woman.

Hongqi village is home to around 100 members of China's Korean ethnic minority. The village is billed as China's top Korean ethnic village thanks to its booming³ tourism industry.

However, many of the young people who call the village home leave, choosing not to return to Hongqi at the foot of the Changbai Mountains after they finish college. Instead, they seek work and other opportunities in more developed cities across the country.

Some even go to South Korea to seek job opportunities since they are also Korean speakers and it's easier for them to apply for work visas.

But 26-year-old Kim Miryeong is an exception⁴.

"After I graduated from middle school, I went to several places for jobs. But in 2013, I decided⁵ to come back to my hometown."

Working as a guide and dancer in Hongqi Village, Kim is now the only ethnic Korean among all other Han staff on the team.

As Hongqi Village is becoming a more and more popular stopping point when people travel to the Changbai Mountains, Kim says sometimes she is even too busy to eat on time.

"During the busiest times, I can probably be the guide to more than 20 tour groups per day. And I remember once I took part in 11 performances in one day. In peak tourist season, sometimes I barely⁶ have time for lunch or dinner, so I might just take a quick bite during performance breaks on the stage."

Li Lanhong, another dancer on the performance team, says despite Kim's young age, she is a senior employee on their team who takes care of newcomers.

"I've performed with Kim since last year. She is optimistic and vivacious⁷. She cares about people. Sometimes when I feel uncomfortable, she comes and says 'Lanhong, let us work it out, you should take some rest.' She has been working here for many years, and we are newcomers. So she takes care of us."

There are now eight members on the performance team. Kim Miryeong and the other girls start their work at 8:20 a.m. and go home at 9 p.m.

They can only take two days off each month, earning a monthly⁸ salary of around 3,000 yuan, or 447 U.S. dollars.

Duan Zhigang manages the canteen where Kim Miryeong and other dancers perform. He is also the head of the guides and dancers in the village. He says most young people choose not to stay in the village, and that's why it's hard for him to employ more staff.

"(Kim) is a very kind-hearted and unsophisticated girl. She takes the tasks I assign⁹ her very seriously and reports to me regularly. Now, there are five people on our team who have to be both a guide and a performer. We considered employing more people, but we have limited human resources. People prefer leaving rather than staying in the village. They want to see the outside world."

Nevertheless, when being asked if she wants to go outside of the village for better job opportunities, Kim says she would like to stay home with her family. And more importantly, she wants more people to understand the culture of the Korean ethnic minority group.

"My parents, my kids, and my husband are all here. I'm used to the life here. Although it looks like I'm just repeating the same thing day by day, the tourists are from different places. They can give me different experience."

Kim adds that she has deep feelings about the village because it's home.

"This is the place where I grow up. The seniors in the village watched me growing from childhood. During all these years I've been working here, I've witnessed more and more tourists coming, and the better and better development of the village. I feel happy with all my heart. Although it's tiring, I think it's worthwhile. I hope more people will know about the culture of our Korean ethnic group."

Hongqi Village is located on a roadside and people must pass by when they visit the Changbai Mountains.

It welcomed 450,000 visitors last year with an annual tourism income of 400,000 yuan, or 59,600 U.S. dollars.

The village is the first of its kind in Yanbian Korean Autonomous¹⁰ Prefecture that has been lifted out of poverty by developing ethnic tourism.

For CRI, I'm Huang Yue.

1 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

2 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

3 booming   

adj.急速发展的v.激增( boom的现在分词 )；猛涨；发出隆隆声；以低沉有力的声音说话

参考例句：

• The opera singer has a deep, booming, masculine voice. 这位歌剧演唱家有一副深沉而又浑厚有力的嗓音。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He is booming as a teacher. 作为一位教师，他日趋成功。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 exception   

n.例外,除外

参考例句：

• Everyone should keep discipline and you are no exception. 每个人都应该遵守纪律,你也毫无例外。
• There's an exception to every rule. 每项规则均有例外。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 barely   

adv.仅仅，几乎没有，几乎不

参考例句：

• The male bird is barely distinguishable from the female.雄鸟和雌鸟几乎无法辨别。
• He took barely enough money to keep the children in bread.他赚很少的钱仅够孩子们勉强糊口。

7 vivacious   

adj.活泼的，快活的

参考例句：

• She is an artless,vivacious girl.她是一个天真活泼的女孩。
• The picture has a vivacious artistic conception.这幅画气韵生动。

8 monthly   

adj.每月的，持续一个月的，每月发生的；adv.每月，按月； n.月刊；(复数）monthlies:月经

参考例句：

• The rent on his apartment was his biggest monthly expense.他的房租是每个月最大的开支。
• The monthly rent is $15,inclusive of light and water.每月租金15美元，包括水电费在内。

9 assign   

vt.派，指派；分配，分派；指定或选定

参考例句：

• It is possible to assign an exact date to this building.这座建筑物的确切年代是可以确定的。
• It's difficult to assign any reason for the failure.失败的原因很难确定。

10 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。