Tang Rongbin (left) and his wife are hopeful their lives will improve after Party chief Xi Jinping's surprising visit to their house in Fuping county, Hebei province, on Dec 30. The poverty-stricken county will receive 300 million yuan ($47.77 million) per year on average, which is 1.5 times the total it has been offered in the past 20 years combined. Hou Shaoqing / for China Daily