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BEIJING, Jan. 19-- Chinese President Xi Jinping began his pre-Chinese New Year domestic inspection tour Sunday, visiting southwest China's Yunnan Province. He headed for a village of the Wa ethnic group to learn about poverty alleviation efforts and extend his festival greetings to the villagers. The Chinese New Year, which falls on Jan. 25 this year, is the most important festival for Chinese people, who beat all odds to return home to be with their families and friends. Before previous Chinese New Year festivals, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, would always visit the homes of ordinary people. Many of the families Xi visited were the disadvantaged and poor who live in tough environments and in remote areas. It is these people Xi cares deeply about, with the battle against poverty being his top priority. During the visits, he would sit down with them, listen to their concerns and join them for festival preparations ranging from making sticky rice cakes to frying dough and pasting red paper cuttings. In 2019, he walked into traditional courtyard homes in Beijing. In 2018, he trekked mountains to visit ethnic minority villages in Sichuan Province. In 2017, he went to the snowy countryside in Hebei Province. In 2016, he traveled to the "cradle of the Chinese revolution" in Jiangxi Province. | 
