Flooding damages houses in Xiapingfeng village in 1989. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Yang recalled that Xi told his father that the two sons he raised were brave as they sacrificed their lives to protect villagers' lives and property.

"It felt like timely help in the middle of a harsh winter," Yang said. "It helped us stand back up."

That visit came just seven days after Xi had first traveled to the area to see firsthand the hardships faced by local residents.

A day after his first visit, Xi convened local officials in Shouning and made an immediate decision to tackle Xiadang's pressing needs, particularly road construction and power supply.

In 1996, Xi returned for the third time as deputy secretary of the Fujian Provincial Committee of the CPC.

It was in places like this — remote and deeply impoverished — that Xi conducted extensive field research during his years working in Ningde, traveling across the region's nine counties. His reflections were later documented in the book Up and Out of Poverty.

Xi wrote that for economically underdeveloped regions, development is constrained by historical conditions, natural environments and geographical factors, and there are no shortcuts. Profound change, he noted, cannot happen overnight, but only through gradual progress — like water dripping through stone.