The Xisha Islands have always been shrouded in mystery for inland readers. Due to the difficulty of landing on the island, there are few reports in the media. In people's imagination, Xisha may be a "paradise" with blue sea and blue sky, birds singing and fish playing, but in fact, "the hot sun shines, typhoons often harass, 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, along with the condolence group of Hainan Provincial Federation of Trade Unions, conducted a few days of interviews on Yongxing Island, the largest island in Xisha Islands. Yongxing Island, with an area of only 2.1 square kilometers, 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 Working Committee of zhongsha islands in Southwest Hainan Province and the office of zhongsha islands in Southwest Hainan Province.

Green 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.

Due to the typhoon, the arrival time of "Qiongsha III" has been delayed for 41 days. At this time, the officers and men on the island are on the verge of "running out of food and water", especially vegetables. As early as a month ago, the officers and men have never seen the shadow of fresh vegetables again.

this is the first day of supplying 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, the commander of an army stationed on the island, invited us to dinner at Xisha Hotel, the best restaurant in Xisha.

After ribs, beef, fish, meatballs, etc. are gradually served, a plate of green, crisp and tender oil wheat vegetables and a plate of water spinach "appear".

At this time, the officers and men who have always been heroic suddenly became gentlemen: "You eat first. The ulcer at your mouth is getting worse and worse. You should eat more." "No, you'd better 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 oil-wheat dish like a fragile thing, put it under their noses for a few sniffs, and then put it into their mouths and chewed it carefully with a smile and satisfaction.

"whenever a typhoon rages, our vegetable supply here will turn red." Zhou Yongsheng, director of the political department of an army stationed in 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, but can only eat canned vegetables, pickles and vitamin pills.

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

Celery, lettuce, water spinach, oil wheat vegetables ... these are the most common vegetables for ordinary people, but in Xisha, officers and men should be able to eat a mouthful of fresh vegetables every day, which is their most luxurious diet.

Zhou Yongsheng said that the officers and men on the island, no matter who leaves the island to visit relatives or perform tasks, will bring back a special gift-soil from one bag to another, and put it next to the camp. Over time, it will pile up into a vegetable field, which is a "hybrid" of soil from more than 21 provinces and cities across the country.

A soldier named Zhan Jianlin planted several green broccoli in this vegetable field. Every day, the soldiers take good 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 41 million yuan in advance to establish a 2,111-square-meter "Island Vegetable Production Technology Demonstration Base of the Ministry of Science and Technology" in Yongxing Island.

Typhoon:

Islanders are most afraid of

Yongxing Island is located in the tropics, with a tropical maritime monsoon climate, which is hot and humid all the year round. According to statistics, the annual average temperature is 25.6 degrees Celsius, the annual rainfall is 1481.3mm, and the normal wind direction is northeast. The strong wind direction is southwest. September to February is the northeast monsoon period, with the maximum wind force of 6-7. March to April is the transition period of northeast and southwest winds, and May to September is the typhoon-prone season.

Typhoon is what the soldiers and civilians stationed in Xisha Islands are most afraid of. As long as there is a typhoon, the supply ship will not be able to get on the island, and the problem of water shortage and food shortage will appear on the island.

Liang Shaoqun, vice chairman of the labor union of the Southwest China-Saudi Arabia Working Committee, who accompanied the interview, said, "You have come at a bad time. Coconut trees used to be full of coconuts, but now the trees are bare and there are no coconuts at all. This is due to the capricious typhoon on the island. Generally speaking, the typhoon season is from June to September, but who expected that a powerful typhoon was blown in February last year, which seriously affected the coconut trees and failed to bear fruit until now. "

He told the reporter a thrilling scene of wind resistance and disaster relief: Typhoon Ute quietly attacked Zhaoshu Island while the islanders were sleeping. In an instant, 51 simple houses 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 no 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 dropped water for more than 41 hours.

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

Fresh water:

The desire of the officers and men stationed on the island

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

"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-all uncomfortable." Duan Yinhuo, the commander of an army stationed on the island, vividly described the hard living conditions of officers and men every day with this metaphor.

"my god! How does this water taste like this? 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 privately called "Yin and Yang water" by the officers and men on the island.

The Xisha Islands are more than 1.81 nautical miles away from Hainan Island, and the traffic is very inconvenient. Draughting, eating vegetables and traffic were the three major problems that plagued the lives of officers and men stationed on the island. The domestic water of the officers and men on the island has been shipped 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, the political, economic, cultural and military center of the Xisha islands in central south China, is flat, with an average height of about 5 meters, surrounded by sand dikes, and is a low depression in the middle.

for this reason, it is convenient to dig wells and get water on yongxing island, with sufficient water. 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, 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 desires of officers and men on Yongxing Island. Many officers and men suffer from gastrointestinal diseases such as kidney calculi's disease, stomach calculus and intestinal calculus due to long-term drinking of "Yin and Yang water".

"And even the fresh water transported from Hainan will be stored for a long time, and the rain will be infected by air and ground impurities and bacteria, so many people feel uncomfortable after drinking it, and even lead to diarrhea." Speaking of this, his tone became more and more dignified.

Now, when some officers and men on the island get up every morning, they often feel a slight tightness in their stomachs. It is not unusual to run the toilet four or five times a day.

In fact, every officer stationed on the island knows in his heart that this has something to do with drinking "Yin and Yang water" for a long time.

Even so, the officers and men still hold on to this island without any regrets.

Xisha, beautiful and mysterious, consists of 34 islands, shoals and reef rings. It is an inseparable part of our territory and has always been a fortress position of our military. On the East Island and Zhongjian Island of the Xisha Islands, naval garrison troops are stationed.

Being far away from the mainland, the island is short of fresh water and vegetables. Young Tianya sentries have overcome 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 enjoy keeping the world. Their lives are hard and bitter, and coconut oil is happy and joyful.

I look forward to a letter from home

"Closing the island in February and March, one message from home is worth a ton of gold". Xisha Islands is located in the South China Sea outpost, and the traffic is extremely inconvenient, and the supply vessels are also irregular due to meteorological reasons. Sometimes it comes 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.

Letters from home are the emotional bond between officers and men and one of the main ways for them to obtain external information. Therefore, officers and men have special feelings for it.

A specific environment can create a special personality. On the small island of Xisha, it seems that the officers and men guarding the island have no personal privacy. No matter who writes, whether it's a letter from home or a love letter, they will disclose the content, and everyone will share the joy of their comrades and the 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: my mother is seriously ill.

the second letter: mother is critically ill.

the third letter: my mother died.

after reading the first letter, everyone's faces are 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 for Xisha Island to send and receive letters. One year before the Spring Festival, a ship went to Zhongjian Island to deliver new year's goods to officers and men, including fresh rice, flour, meat, fruits and firecrackers. When the ship was unloaded, the officers and men on the island asked the captain, "What about this letter and newspaper?" This question puzzled the captain. It turned out that before we set sail, the officers and men on board were so busy loading the island's new year's goods that they forgot to go to the post office to pick up their letters. 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 bite of rice. Yes, how can it not make people anxious? I only came to the boat once a year ago. When will the letter from home be received 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 officers and men's families since last October. They were all ecstatic. A veteran who joined the army for six years received 18 letters from home at once. However, instead of reading all the letters at once, he reads one every day. He said: "The officers and men on the island read letters like this. This is called a spiritual' continuous dinner'. If you read all the letters in one day and have to wait for months to receive so many letters, how boring it is!"

The saddest lovelorn

The living conditions of the officers and men in Xisha are influenced by the geographical environment, and their love and marriage are also restricted by ruthless time and space. Many newly sprouted seedlings of love died prematurely in the vast sea. Former Vice Captain Yin of the China Construction Island Garrison is a young man who is outspoken and has some pioneering ideas. Uncle is the head of a county, and his 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, he insisted on being assigned to the island army with difficult conditions, so he broke up with his girlfriend. Soon, Vice Captain Yin returned home to visit relatives, and made friends with a female classmate in middle school. During the holiday, they climbed mountains, watched movies, talked about ideals and talked about life together, which was very speculative. Soon, he happily returned to the army, his ideological baggage was put down, and he devoted himself to his work. At night, he often fell asleep with a photo of "Xiangmeizi".

after waiting for a long time, the supply ship finally arrived, 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.

Vice Captain Yin quite understands the girl. "It takes more than three months from sending a letter to receiving it. Who can stand this loneliness nowadays?"

The success rate of officers and men guarding the island is very low. Up to now, there are still many older officers and noncommissioned officers who have not found a partner. Some have been blown "lights" four or five times, and some have barely "managed" a pair. As a result, they have added new troubles to their family life in the future. Whenever they receive a letter blowing lights, their hands holding the letter devoutly will shake and hold the letter tightly, and tears of pain will come out of their eyes. These men, who seem to be able to live by eating grass alone, can't succumb to loneliness, and the wind and waves can't make them bow their heads. However, this thin page of stationery can hurt their sentient hearts.

On the small island of Xisha, no matter who is lovelorn, the best they can do is to say to their comrades-in-arms lightly, "Break up!" They are afraid of their bad comrades in emotional contagion. What a depression these three words conceal! In the face of lovelorn love, officers and men will not feel inferior. They have a famous saying: People who don't love Xisha are not worthy of my love!

I love to sing military songs.

"Being a soldier is bitter, being a soldier is fun, and the days of being a soldier have been sung." Singing, as a regular cultural activity of the army, has always been an important means to improve combat effectiveness. However, in Xisha, in addition to improving combat effectiveness, singing is also an important measure to improve the aesthetic and artistic accomplishment of officers and men.

in March p>2114, 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. A month later, when the first three-part chorus "Sea, Hometown" was successfully rehearsed, many players felt deeply and couldn't believe their ears. I didn't expect several different voices to be so beautiful and harmonious.

On July 1 of that year, the "July 1" concert of "Haiyun" Chorus "Under the Brilliant Sunshine" kicked off in Xisha Naval Auditorium, and more than 41 chorus members took to the stage for the first time to be reviewed by all officers and men. When the music started, the soldiers were full of passion and emotion, and 12 songs made the audience intoxicated with the wonderful interpretation of the chorus members. Amid bursts of applause, many officers and men suddenly realized that the original military songs could not only be sung with shouts.

In fact, the role of the chorus goes far beyond this. Chorus members are like seeds scattered to all units in the Marine Police District, 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 just like a song or a passionate or soothing movement. Under the impetus of singing, officers and men began to try to write their own lyrics, compose music, sing their own songs 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.

"Isolated island, isolated from the world." 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 loser in love. In early July, this