Xi Jinping slightly tilted his head to the left in a group photo released by Xinhua on Sunday, showing his early farming experience in a place where the Communist Party of China (CPC) consolidated its power.

His dauntless, self-assured look, much like it is now, offers hints of his down-to-earth style.

The 16-year-old Xi started to "learn from farmers" in the Liangjiahe production brigade in northwestern Shaanxi Province. During most of his seven rough years there, he wore the plain type of clothes shown in the picture.

Xi was one of many urban youth sent down to remote rural areas in early 1969, the third year into the decade-long Cultural Revolution.

Among Xi's harsh daily tasks were farming, coal carrying and dung collecting. But Xi, who took a case of books with him to the village, was more than a manual laborer. While in the countryside, he managed to build a methane tank, bringing his fellow villagers green energy three decades ago. It might be Xi's earliest attempt to change China's countryside.

"Be united with the people" has remained Xi's motto since he entered politics.

Xi praised the people as "the creators of history and the real heroes" and vowed to "serve the people in a whole-hearted manner" in his inaugural speech after being elected general secretary of the CPC Central Committee on Nov. 15.

In fact, he has been practicing such a pledge throughout his political career.

In a 1983 picture, Xi puts a table out on the street, soliciting opinions from local residents including a grey-haired old woman. Xi's desire to connect with the people came far before the era of the Internet and social networking websites, which have made it easier for the leadership to maintain contact with the populace.

In 1982, Xi chose to resign a stable job in the central government in order to work in a grassroots job as deputy Party chief of Zhengding County, in Hebei Province.

In a picture taken in 1988, Xi merrily carries a hoe with farmers while serving as Party chief of Ningde Prefecture in Fujian Province, a backward area in economically brisk southeastern China.

Xi's rural years helped him nurture the ability to find the weak -- even in prosperous areas -- and take care of them.

In a 2007 picture, Xi, then Party chief of Zhejiang Province, uses a long stir-frying utensil to prepare food for elderly residents of a nursing home in Qingyuan, a less-developed county in Zhejiang.

Now, the CPC led by Xi has put narrowing the income gap and realizing social justice high on its agenda.

In his inaugural speech, Xi reaffirmed his commitment to "share weal and woe with the people" and "deliver a satisfactory answer to history and the people."