With hectares of maize plants growing neatly in rows, ridges of jade-green vegetables, and thousands of robust chickens scrambling for feedstuff, the landscape looked amazing. That was what the Xinhua correspondents saw at the Chinese Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center in the Republic of Congo.

The facility, located in Gombe, a suburban area of capital Brazzaville, was opened in 2011 to help the Congolese to become self-sufficient in food supply.

With two years of hard work by the Chinese, the once barren land of wilderness has been transformed. This was no easy feat for the center's Chinese experts, who came to work in this African country since April 2011.

They have encountered all kinds of difficulties, such as lack of supplies, frequent outbreak of plant diseases and tough road conditions, said You Wen, an interpreter for the Chinese side from the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agriculture.

"We made tables and beds out of door planks...There was a time when I have not had a bath for more than 96 hours, since there is no water, so I can only clean my face and hands with wet paper towels," You told Xinhua.

But that was not the worst, she said, explaining that scarcity of fertilizer in local market forced them burn off weeds and use the ash as home-made fertilizer.

Power shortage also haunted the Chinese experts. "we can't use the pumping machine to irrigate the fields, so we dug up a reservoir and made by hand some irrigating tools out of plastic bottles," You said.

OPTIMISTIC, PRAGMATIC

Despite poor supplies, the Chinese remained optimistic and pragmatic.

Dang Xuanmin, an expert in tropical vegetables, often got up at midnight to water the field when the electricity resumed.

Another "crazy" thing for Dang is to get up at 4:00 a.m. to fertilize the flowers of the fruit and vegetables, what in his word is "to race with the bees."

The expert specially developed watermelons, cucumbers, and eggplants, larger in size and better in taste, have once impressed the Congolese Agriculture Minister Rigobert Maboundou.

Dang is not the only workaholic among his Chinese colleagues.

Xue Maofu, a cassava planting expert, usually works as long as four to five hours a day in the field under the scotching sun.

In order to talk to the locals more smoothly, livestock expert Sun Weiping often studies French into late nights with a flashlight when there's no power, and recites vocabulary in early morning.

You Wen, the only interpreter in the team, appears whenever she is needed, and even does field work sometimes. Her dedication has won her the nickname "Miss Gombe" among local residents.

CHINA HAND

Ouguala Paul, project manager of the Congolese side, is good at both Chinese language and agriculture, thus playing an important role at the center.

Paul has studied in China for almost 10 years, and has always given generous hands when the Chinese are met with trouble. He often lent the Chinese experts his private motorcycle for travel, while he himself went to work by walking or taking a bus instead.

"To me, it's no big issue whether going to the office by motorcycle or on foot, but to the experts, the motorcycle can help them a lot in their work," said Paul.

In the eyes of You Wen, Paul is a communication genius capable of articulating an idea and figuring out troubles every time, and thus serving as a bridge between the Chinese team and the Congolese.

"Paul is also a person of great patience and carefulness, especially when he revises the study materials that I have translated," You said.

Paul said he was happy to see the center has so far been well operated and lifted the hope for his country to be self-sufficient in food supply.

"People here used to think that only those who have studied in France and the United States are truly well-educated, but now I have showed them that those who have studied in China are equally good, and even more useful to the country," Paul added.

SUSANTIAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Data pointed to substantial achievements of the center. Since February 2012, the Chinese experts have sorted out 53 vegetable breeds that are suitable to grow in Brazzaville, including three disease-resistant cassava species.

The center also held experiments and training courses about maize and cassava planting, as well as chicken farming.

"Everybody thumbs up after the training," Maboundou, the Congolese agriculture minister, told Xinhua, praising the project an excellent "example" of the South-South cooperation.

"The sincerity, efficiency and the pragmatic manner of Chinese have impressed me most," he said.

After his visit to the center in 2012, Luc Guyau, independent chairperson of the FAO Council, hailed the project as a "good idea" to effectively help African farmers know the advanced technology and expertise

"Facts have proved that the cooperation between China and Congo is not something in talks or paper documents, but true actions... No one can stop the deepening of relations between the two countries, as well as the development of China," Guyau said.