Herdswoman made honorary citizen of Shanghai
Shanghai Party Secretary Li Qiang poses with Duguimaa.
A woman in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region who raised 28 orphans from Shanghai in the early 1960s was made an honorary citizen of the city on Wednesday.
Duguimaa, now 79, who raised the children when she was an unmarried 19-year-old herdswoman on the grasslands until adoptive parents were found, received the honor from Shanghai Party Secretary Li Qiang.
Li led a Shanghai delegation who drove some 100 kilometers from Hohhot to the Siziwang Banner in Ulanqab to present Duguimaa with a certificate and medal.
In the early 1960s, China was suffering from natural disasters and food shortages. Many parents from the eastern provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangsu left children they couldn't feed at the gates of orphanages in Shanghai, hoping they would be cared for.
It was a heavy burden for a city also suffering from food shortages. Premier Zhou Enlai sought assistance from Ulanhu, chairman of Inner Mongolia, to get more milk powder for the orphans. Instead, Ulanhu offered to take the children. By 1963, some 3,000 orphans had been sent to Inner Mongolia.
Duguimaa offered medical aid and care for 28 orphans, including newborn babies and kindergarten-age children. She looked after them, teaching them to speak Mongolian and even traveling long distances on horseback to take them to hospital if they were sick.
During the National People's Congress this year, President Xi Jinping told the touching story of the steppe herders' generous help decades ago.
Duguimaa was awarded with China's top national titles as a "People's Role Model" in 2019.
The standing committee of the Shanghai People's Congress recently decided to make her a "Shanghai Honorary Citizen" to mark her contributions.
During the visit, Li talked with Duguimaa and listened to the stories of how she raised the orphans over half a century ago. Li said Shanghai people would remember her help and invited her to visit the city.
Duguimaa said her greatest happiness was seeing the 28 orphans growing up, getting married and making achievements in their careers.
