Tsering Dekyi (R) and her daughter Tsering Sangmo are showing a Tibetan carpet weaved by themselves. [China Tibet News/Wang Chun]

75-year-old Tsering Dekyi, female, born in March 1944, is a villager of Rejog Village in Ngari Prefecture's Rutog County. She has eight children, enjoys various state subsidies and happiness in her late life.

Tsering Dekyi's parents were originally serfs of the Seguo Tribe in Gerze County. In 1948, being unable to bear the heavy taxes and usurious exploitation, her parents fled to Rutog with 4-year-old Tsering Dekyi and other two children, begging and slinkingly hunting for a living. In 1958, in order to survive, Tsering Dekyi was sold to an official and became a serf again.

After the democratic reform, Tsering Dekyi was liberated and distributed land, cattle, sheep and other means of production. In the mid-1960s, she was elected as the village women's director, leading more than 30 women to reclaim land and develop production. In July 1976, she joined the Communist Party of China. "How could it be possible to imagine such a good life at old days?" With the fragrance of buttered tea, Tsering Dekyi's mind wandered back to the dark days.

"Today's children are carefree, well-fed, and no tuition is required from kindergarten to high school, and there are rewards and grants for college." Tsering Dekyi introduced her eight children, as well as her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, "Before the democratic reform, ordinary family could not afford raising so many children; we could not even solve the problem of food. For as long as I could remember, I spent my childhood begging and being reviled and spat at.”

"We used to go two or three days without food. There were many times when I felt I was going to starve to death, and I will never forget that feeling of hunger. When I was a serf, I was treated as a talking 'beast'. We serfs were only given food tomaintain the strength for heavy physical labor; the food we ate was exactly the same as what the animals ate." The wrinkled eyes of Tsering Dekyi were moist; her trembling body also leaned on the cushion of the Tibetan bed.

"When the Communist Party and the People's Liberation Army arrived at my home town, they were really good to us poor people. Every family was given fields, cattle and sheep. The army also sent us firewood, water and sometimes vegetables from time to time," she said.

"What I suffered is over, and there will be no more of it. But I want to tell everyone what I have suffered and the kindness of the Communist Party. Only by knowing the bitterness of the old Tibet can children who grow up in the new society cherish the sweetness of the new Tibet more," Tsering Dekyi said.

When we took a stroll at Rejog Village, aged Tsering Dekyi walked toward a brand new two-story Tibetan house and told us, "this is the new house of my youngest son, he can move into in the latter half of this year.”

"Some young people today simply cannot imagine the hardships of old Tibet, and even do not believe that there has been such a dark age. The more we have worked in the old society, the less hope we have seen; the more we work in the new society, the more energy we have!" Tsering Dekyi said. Up to now, she still weaves traditional Tibetan handicrafts at home.