Singers perform songs of ethnic minority groups in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region at the press conference of the musical drama. Photo: Courtesy of the production crew of On the Way to Poverty Relief

On the Way to Poverty Relief, a musical drama about a Party chief of a village in South China who gave her life to combating poverty in China's rural areas, will be released nationwide in China in March.

The musical drama tells the story of 30-year-old Huang Wenxiu, first secretary of a village's branch of the Communist Party of China (CPC) as she works to lift the villageout of poverty. 

A graduate of Beijing Normal University, Huang could have easily found a job in a first-tier city, but she chose instead to return to her hometown, Baise in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, to contribute to the city's development.

She first went to an impoverished village in Leye county of Baise, becoming first secretary of the Party branch in March 2018. Her most urgent task was to lift the village out of poverty.

However, the fight against poverty was difficult. The first problem was that Huang had not yet earned the villagers' trust. Not deterred, Huang continued working and communicating with the people in the village, gradually establishing trust by them.

Huang's hard work eventually paid off. Before she arrived at the village, the poverty index was around 22.88 percent, but this figure dropped to 2.71 percent by the end of 2018, several months after Huang's arrival.

Huang helped lift 88 households  of the 103 in the village out of poverty during her tenure there.

Unfortunately, before Huang had the chance to show what she was really capable of,she died at the age of 30 from a sudden flood while traveling through Leye county in June 2019.

Tian Qinxin, chief director of the musical drama, said at a press conference on Thursday that the production crew has visited Baise several times to learn more about the life of officials in rural areas overseeing poverty relief.

They also collected original music of the ethnic minority groups in Guangxi for the show.

On the Way of Poverty Relief will premiere in March in Baise and in October in Beijing, according to the press conference.