The Postman of the Hongze Lake

By staff reporter DU CHAO

THE swan goose is a large water- fowl of the Anatidae bird family. This bird lives mainly in and around lakes， ponds， rivers， and swamps. It has been circulated in China that the swan goose can carry letters for humans， hence the laudatory title of postman has been given to this bird.

Tang Zhenya is a national model worker， a national moral model， and a delegate to the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. For more than 20 years， he has traveled more than 20 kilometers across the Hongze Lake every day on a small row boat to distribute more than a million letters and newspapers. Tang provides services for an area of more than 300 square kilometers. Due to the nature and responsibilities of his work， local fishermen call him the “Swan Goose of the Hongze Lake.”

Timely and Accurate Delivery

Tang was born in May 1964 and has been working as a postman at the Laozishan Branch of Hongze District Post Office， Huai’an City， Jiangsu Province. The town of Laozishan has about 16，000 inhabitants， but half of them live scattered on more than 50 large and small sites in the lake area. The most remote village is Liuju， located more than 40 kilometers from the town seat. Before Tang started working at the Laozishan Branch in 1999， 11 different postmen had filled the same position there but only for a short period of time. Until now， he has kept a continuous record free of delivery errors.

Fishermen live their lives floating on the lake and move from time to time in various directions， greatly increasing the difficulties of a postman’s work.“There are more cases of unknown addresses among those who live in boats than among those who live on land， making it very difficult for us to find them，” said Tang， then added， “Even if the conditions for returning a letter are fully met， I still try my best to find the person it was sent to.”

In addition to the difficulty of finding unknown addresses， letter delivering to people living on the lake also presents certain risks as well.

During one summer， Tang was supposed to deliver a college admission letter to Du Zhongxiang， a student from Changshan Village， which is made up of six groups， each separated by a 15-kilometer waterway. Tang rowed around from one group of boats to another in search of the young man， but finally learned that Du’s family boat was moored at a place called Jiancaogou， near Xuyi County.

On the morning he set out to deliver the admission letter， the weather was sunny. However， when he was approaching Jiancaogou， a strong wind began to blow across the lake and his small boat began to sway back and forth in the waves. Eventually the boat capsized and Tang fell into the water. Tang was good at swimming， so it would be easy for him to swim to a nearby beach. However， Tang knew that he still had to deliver the letter to the student， and as he struggled to stay afloat， the document was endangered of getting wet. Therefore， Tang grasped one side of the boat with his hand and held the admissions notice with the other. This water ordeal continued for two long hours until a fishing boat finally rescued him.

Later Tang finally found Du’s boat and delivered the precious document to the family. Upon learning about what had happened， the young student’s father looked at the drenched postman.“You risked your life to deliver the notice to us. How can I thank you？ The notice is important， but your life is more valuable，” said the father with appreciation.“I have been a teacher before and I know how young people feel while they are waiting for this announcement. Also， timely and accurate delivery is part of my job，” Tang replied with a smile.

Regrets for Being Away from Family

Due to the geographical location of Laozishan Town， letters can only be sent to local residents by land or river. The entire post office only has one post- man. The large number of deliveries and long distances to travel mean that Tang has very limited time to spend with his family. Once， his wife suffered an ovarian cyst and needed urgent surgery. However， it was a period of many deliveries， Tang could not leave his job. So he asked his mother and sister to accompany his wife to the county hospital to do the surgery. Later that night， after he had finished his delivery work， Tang rushed to the hospital， almost 30 kilometers away， to relieve his mother who had been taking care of his wife for the whole day. Early the next morning at five o’clock， he returned to the post office to deliver the next day’s mail. In this way， Tang never delayed his work. His wife was hospitalized for more than 10 days and he repeated the long trip back and forth from the hospital every day. Knowing that Tang was extremely busy and having just undergone an operation herself， his wife whispered to him， “Let’s quit this job. The monthly salary is only a few hundred yuan， and you could help someone else to run fish ponds and earn money. Why couldn’t we do that？

Tang knew who his wife was referring to by saying “someone else.” She was talking about a student Tang had taught before when he was a substitute teacher. One year， that student failed to pass his college entrance exam and， out of frustration， chose to lock himself up at home. After learning about the situation， Tang persuaded him to start an aquaculture business. With the help of Tang， that student now earns an annual income of more than RMB 100，000.

“I have not given you a good life and made you worry for me every day. I am sorry for you and I am sorry for the family，” Tang apologized to his wife， holding her hands. “I want to do my job well. Furthermore， the fishermen need me， and I cannot leave them or disappoint them.” In the end， the wife understood and supported his decision. After hearing this， Tang’s mother who was standing outside the room turned and said to his grandson who was sitting beside her， “In your father’s heart， work always takes first priority. It seems that nothing can change this...”

Helping Fellow Villagers

While making deliveries， Tang often helps illiterate fishermen by reading their letters to them and then writing their responses. In addition， he brings them the daily necessities and fishing materials that they need， and invites technicians when needed to help them fix some technical problems.

On top of all this， Tang has volunteered for 20 years doing fire safety services. He has provided information to all the fishermen， taught them about fire prevention and fire extinguishing methods while out on the water， as well as safety rules for using fire and electricity. Over these last two decades， he has traveled more than 200，000 kilometers over land and on river routes， distributed more than 100，000 manuals on fire safety， inspected and eliminated more than 5，000 fire threats， and carried out more than 2，000 informational activities on fire prevention.

In 2010， Tang along with some other locals founded the Laozishan Volunteer Fire Prevention Group， which has fishing boats equipped with firefighting and rescue equipment （including squirt guns， hoses， portable pumps， rescue ropes， and so on）， and carries out regular inspections and publicity work to prevent ship fires. They have evacuated and rescued more than 700 people during fires and floods， and have managed to protect a total of RMB 10 million in property. In order to help fishermen get rid of poverty and increase their income， Tang collects information online about markets for aquatic products. Thanks to his hard work in this area， the fishermen， who used to stay at home waiting for buyers to come find them， now sell their products to cities such as Nanjing and Shanghai. As a result， their annual income has generally increased by more than 30 percent.

In addition to the income from aquatic products， through Tang’s connections， Xintan Village， with the planning and help of the County Tourism Bureau， has turned itself into a tourist resort unique for its fishing culture and lifestyle in the Hongze Lake area. There tourists can sail in fishing boats， taste the lake food， enjoy the scenery of the lake area， and experience the productions and life of local residents.

In 2016， the village’s tourism service center was completed， and more than 40 fishing boats started to receive tourists. “Thanks to Tang’s mobilization of us to join the center， this year I have received more than 2，000 visitors and earned more than RMB 100，000，” said Yan Chengchun， a local fisherman.

Twenty years of selfless work have won Tang a number of honors. “Now that you’re famous， why don’t you ask your leader for a less laborious position？” Someone asked Tang. “My responsibility is to serve the fishermen. I’m nobody if I quit my delivery job. As long as the fishermen need me， I will feel that my work is very valuable，” he replied.