Four advanced collectives of retired cadres in Shanghai honored for embodying their belief in the “red” of sunset
They are the “Old Willow Tree Propagation Meeting” team in Shanghai’s Yangpu District, who are still active in spreading their faith despite their grey hair. With a solid foundation in theory, they are dedicated to propagating the red gene and carrying forward the spirit of the times. Since the team was founded in 2020, a group of retired cadres with solid theoretical knowledge, good at propaganda, and willing to make contributions have gathered under this banner. Their mission is to inherit the red gene and promote the spirit of the times. Over the past five years, they have conducted more than 2,500 volunteer lectures, becoming an important force in theoretical propaganda in Yangpu District. The “Old Willow Tree Propagation Meeting” has been named “Shanghai Excellent Volunteer Service Project” and “Shanghai Grassroots Theory Propagation Advanced Collective”.
On December 31, 2024, the National Advanced Collective and Individual表彰大会 for Retired Cadres was held in Beijing, where four advanced collectives and 13 advanced individuals from Shanghai were recognized. The “Old Willow Tree Propagation Meeting” team was one of the advanced collectives recognized on this day.
Ni Lai’di is the leader of the “Old Willow Tree Propagation Meeting” team and one of the two representatives from Shanghai who went to Beijing on the 31st to attend the conference. As a “younger” member of the team, Ni Lai’di led the propaganda group to use the most “fashionable” methods to provide digital wings for red propaganda. Over the past five years, the team has relied on online platforms to achieve a leap from “tens of thousands of offline audiences” to “millions of online views”. The “Old Willow Tree Propagation Meeting” has gradually become the most popular destination for Yangpu theoretical propaganda, attracting more and more people to participate in red education and shine brightly. Many retired cadres have come forward and actively applied to join the team. Currently, there are more than 300 members in the team, and a three-level propaganda network has been developed at the district, street, and residential community levels. The team has also explored and formed a new互助team of “propaganda mentors + propagandists” to continuously expand the talent pool of “silver-haired” talents and inject vitality into propaganda activities.
On November 2019, General Secretary Xi Jinping visited Yangpu along the Yangtze River滨江 and emphasized the importance of speaking to young people about their confidence in socialism with Chinese characteristics in terms of road, theory, system, and culture. The “Old Willow Tree” teams always bear in mind the general secretary’s earnest instructions. In order to better spread the red stories, red spirit, and red gene in a better, broader, and deeper way, they closely connect with young people’s learning circle and actively go out to open new situations for red propaganda on Bilibili station. A silver-haired winner of the “70 Medals of Honor”, Huang Baomei, as a “live streamer,” shared her story of striving to realize the dream of “making everyone in China wear good clothes” and spinning yarn for the people for a lifetime. Since then, a group of old comrades such as Liu Songshan have also entered live broadcast rooms one after another to share their experiences in Party history and national history, becoming popular “UP-masters” among young people. Over the past five years, online broadcasts have reached nearly 250,000 listeners.
In addition to this, Ni Laidi and other leaders took advantage of the centenary year as an opportunity to guide and assist Internet company “Fluent English”, creating an English speaking channel for oral English learning with a focus on Party history courses for young people with topics such as the story of crossing the great distance under the English name of Half-blanket based on real events from history that have been adapted into courses such as speaking about crossing half a blanket in English which have attracted over 36 million young learners who are interested in studying history through real events. Furthermore they are encouraged to tell positive stories about what they see around them which are widely shared and liked on social media platforms such as WeChat Official Accounts by people who share similar values with them which is part of their efforts to pass on positive energy and share stories about faith through these platforms such as an online version of “The Old Kids Blog” where they have published over 1000 original articles expressing their love for their country as well as love for their people with readers reaching nearly one million which provides more platforms for sharing positive stories about faith among more people in society at large.
Retired cadres who are participants in collective activities are not just witnesses but also participants and contributors to national development. They are living materials for carrying out red education in their retirement years other than those just focusing on red propaganda on Bilibili station like what they did before retirement but also actively engaging in various activities such as