Deng Daoli: The wonderful "local reporter" career of a college entrance exam failure

Deng Daoli was originally a young man from Wulingyuan District who failed the college entrance examination, and now works for Huanglong Cave Investment Co., Ltd. In 1989, after entering society, although fate was full of setbacks, he never bowed his head to hardship. He persisted in striving for self-improvement amid adversity, studied tenaciously, worked hard, and never stopped writing. Relying on his yearning for the news cause and his deep love for his hometown Zhangjiajie, he year after year took joy in it, tirelessly and sparing no effort to passionately speak up for Zhangjiajie tourism,

　　Deng Daoli was originally a young man from Wulingyuan District who failed the college entrance examination, and now works for Huanglong Cave Investment Co., Ltd. In 1989, after Deng Daoli entered society, although his fate was full of hardships, he never bowed his head to suffering, persisted in striving for self-improvement in adversity, studied tenaciously, worked hard, and never stopped writing. With his yearning for the news cause and his deep love for his hometown Zhangjiajie, he tirelessly and selflessly raised his voice for Zhangjiajie tourism year after year, and achieved outstanding results.

　　Over the past 16 years, through his own hardworking hands, Deng Daoli not only created a wonderful life as a “local reporter,” but also made outstanding contributions to Zhangjiajie tourism publicity: since 1992, he has published nearly 4,000 news and literary works on Zhangjiajie tourism scenery, development, construction, and management in various media across the country, including Xinhua News Agency, the overseas edition of People's Daily, China Tourism News, Hunan Daily, Zhangjiajie Daily, Hunan Rednet, and Sina.com, and published a collection of news works, Witnessing Zhangjiajie, further enhancing Zhangjiajie's visibility and reputation at home and abroad.

Although Deng Daoli is not a formal journalist, as an ordinary practitioner in Zhangjiajie's tourism industry, the high output, fast speed, and great influence of his news works are obvious to all in the industry. Since 1998, he has published more than 200 news articles each year, and many of his news works have won provincial and municipal awards. He has won the “Wulingyuan Tourism Publicity Contribution Award” for eleven consecutive years and has been hired as a key correspondent by many media outlets inside and outside the province. In June 2008, he was elected one of Zhangjiajie's Fifth “Top Ten Outstanding Youths,” and he was rated one of the “Top Ten Correspondents” three times by Zhangjiajie Daily and Hunan Rednet. For this reason, media such as China Tourism News, Tourism World, Zhangjiajie Daily, and Zhangjiajie TV have reported on his advanced deeds.

　　Because of his remarkable achievements in tourism publicity, Deng Daoli was successively admitted as a member of the Wulingyuan District CPPCC, a member of the Zhangjiajie Writers Association, and a member of the China Folk Photography Association.

At the press conferences held in the four East China cities of Shanghai, Wuxi, Changzhou, and Nanjing for the Hunan Tourism Golden Corridor, Deng Daoli and his companions were responsible for the copywriting planning and news reporting for the entire event.

The situation at the time was tight deadlines, high requirements, and heavy tasks. Every day, amid exhausting travel and rushing about, several planning documents had to be produced. Deng Daoli's work group could only burn the midnight oil. From meeting plans, order books, host scripts, speech drafts, press releases, and news background materials to venue arrangements……everything kept the group on edge! However, in a group with Deng Daoli, any difficulties and obstacles were readily solved. Using his not-so-fast pinyin input method, he typed painstakingly on the keyboard, yet not slowly. Under his handling, an article was finished in no time! Although he did not type fast, he created quickly, and this was his greatest characteristic. His perseverance ensured that no link was left out in the Hunan Tourism Golden Corridor. The reports were reprinted and covered by more than 50 media outlets nationwide, including Xinhua News Agency, China News Service, Sina.com, Sohu.com, Wen Wei Po, and Hunan Daily, making him one of the greatest contributors to the successful first shot of Hunan's concentrated tourism promotion!

Despite being so busy every day, Deng Daoli still did not forget to add something new to his personal website each day, and still did not forget to post his new works of the day on his personal blog. From something as small as a punctuation mark to something as large as text layout, he was meticulous and attentive in every detail!

In the core scenic area of Wulingyuan, there is such a local figure active for many years, sparing no effort to publicize Zhangjiajie and praise Zhangjiajie. He is not a journalist, yet he does a journalist's work, and does it methodically and brilliantly. He is Deng Daoli, a well-known “local reporter” in Zhangjiajie City.

Deng Daoli, now 38 years old, still often fondly recalls the days when he worked as a road maintenance worker in his hometown of Baizhang Gorge. This is not only because road maintenance was the first job he found after failing the college entrance exam and entering society, but more importantly, his first news piece was published just three months after he started as a road maintenance worker. It was June 28, 1992, when the 21-year-old Deng Daoli, while on road maintenance duty, heard that a child in the village had unfortunately fallen into a river and was bravely rescued by a stranger, and he felt the stranger's spirit deserved praise. Deng Daoli, who had some literary talent during his student days, was determined to use his pen to promote the true, the good, and the beautiful in real life. As a result, his first news story, "Child Accidentally Falls into Water, Passerby Bravely Rescues," was published on July 4, 1992, in the Dayong Daily (now renamed Zhangjiajie Daily). The ink-scented sample newspaper and the approving gazes of his neighbors sparked Deng Daoli's strong interest in news writing, and from then on, he stepped onto the path of amateur news creation.

At first, Deng Daoli found it extremely difficult to submit articles. With a monthly salary of just over 50 yuan from road maintenance, which had to supplement the family income, he couldn't afford writing paper or postage for submissions. In that situation, he overcame numerous difficulties and persisted, wielding a hoe by day and a pen by night. Later, forced by livelihood, Deng Daoli worked successively as a substitute teacher, village cadre, and salesperson, but none of these main jobs lasted long. Only his side job—news writing—flourished increasingly. By 1997, when he became a "contract correspondent" for the Wulingyuan District Party Committee Propaganda Department, he was already a locally well-known "barefoot reporter." Deng Daoli's "neglect of his proper duties" ultimately meant that Zhangjiajie lost an ordinary road maintenance worker but gained an outstanding "barefoot reporter."

After Huanglong Cave was entrusted for operation, the entrusted unit, Huanglong Cave Investment Co., Ltd., established a flexible employment mechanism, which also allowed Deng Daoli to find his foundation for livelihood. On July 1, 1998, Deng Daoli was selected by "Huanglong Cave Master" Ye Wenzhi to engage in full-time news promotion, and the contract was signed for ten years. The relaxed working environment, rich tourism resources, and profound corporate culture allowed Deng Daoli to thrive like a fish in water. The general manager of Huanglong Cave Investment Co., Ltd. and famous tourism planning master Ye Wenzhi's series of grand initiatives, such as "Flying Through Tianmen," "Dragon and Phoenix Union," and "Chess on the Earth," provided Deng Daoli with an supreme platform. Over the past decade, Deng Daoli has been very diligent, very hardworking, and very persistent in promoting Huanglong Cave and Zhangjiajie. His name and Zhangjiajie's often "appeared" in People's Daily, China Tourism News, Hunan Daily, Zhangjiajie Daily, Rednet, and other media at all levels nationwide, so much so that a deputy editor-in-chief of China Tourism News, after coming to Zhangjiajie, said: "There is a Deng Daoli in Zhangjiajie whom I must meet."

Deng Daoli's "barefoot reporter" expertise was fully displayed on the Huanglong Cave stage, and Huanglong Cave's fame continued to rise due to Deng Daoli's years of vigorous "shouting." Mr. Ye Wenzhi, on several public occasions, praised Deng Daoli as a "meritorious official" in Huanglong Cave's publicity and promotion. In April 2003, Deng Daoli, this "barefoot reporter," was awarded the title of model worker by Huanglong Cave Company, receiving a free opportunity to travel to Southeast Asia for sightseeing, and had a real taste of "foreign flair."

Among Zhangjiajie's "barefoot reporters," Deng Daoli can be considered a leading figure. First, he started early, with 15 years of creative "work experience" to date; second, he has a high quantity, having published nearly 4,000 news pieces of various kinds in 15 years, meaning one article every day and a half; third, his quality is high, his news works have never been inaccurate, and many pieces have been published in important positions in national, provincial, and municipal newspapers. Such a quantity, quality, and influence of creative publication—how many "barefoot reporters" in Zhangjiajie, Hunan, or even nationwide can compare with him?

In the preface to Deng Daoli's collection of news works Witnessing Zhangjiajie, published at the end of 2004, Jin Sha, a famous lyricist and vice chairman of the Zhangjiajie Federation of Literary and Art Circles, made a rough estimate of Deng Daoli's contributions according to the market economy: calculating at a minimum price of 3,000 yuan per article, Deng Daoli had already made a “soft advertising” publicity contribution of at least nearly ten million yuan to Zhangjiajie. Therefore, among the “Tourism Publicity Contribution Awards” established by the Publicity Department of the Wulingyuan District Party Committee for ten consecutive years, Deng Daoli was on the list year after year, and the prize money was not insignificant, ranging from a thousand yuan at the least to as much as ten thousand yuan.

“If one day the government no longer sets up publicity awards, will you still be a ‘barefoot reporter’?” someone half-jokingly tested Deng Daoli. “Of course I will! No matter where I go, I will never forget my hometown; no matter where I go, I will publicize my hometown. I am proud to be a person of Zhangjiajie, and I am proud to be able to publicize and promote the beauty of my hometown.” Deng Daoli's answer was very firm and also very poetic.

Someone once said that as a “muddy-legged” man, Deng Daoli had a reason for doing anything, except that there was no reason for him to do journalism. Now it seems that Deng Daoli's success has its own reason.

Deng Daoli, he keeps his word, his integrity is as firm as a mountain, he fears no authority, he is upright and unyielding, and his heart is open and honest! I am deeply impressed by his character and work style! Even more so, all the promotion members of Hunan's golden tourism route admire him!

Few literati are wealthy. Deng Daoli's ordinary suit and attire show no trace of luxury, and an old Fuji camera from several years ago unexpectedly flashed out thousands of exquisite, newsworthy pictures that were cited by major media outlets. Although he is not a photography expert, his photographic composition would surely win praise from professional photographers!

Deng Daoli, the trumpeter of Hunan tourism! I sincerely wish him to go farther on the road of creation, and hope that while his works keep appearing, he will soon replace it with a brand-new professional camera, so that through his viewfinder we can witness an even more beautiful tourism world!

Some of the above images are from the Internet, and their sources are unknown. Authors are requested to contact this website.

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