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LIANGSHAN Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province is one of China’s poorest regions. This is mainly due to scant natural resources and a pitiless natural environment that isolates it from other places. Harsh conditions having entrapped most of the local people in poverty， relocation now seems to be their only escape route to a better life.
The Muendi Community in the prefecture’s Zhaojue County is one of many relocation sites. Upon entering， ranks of residential buildings bearing distinct Yi features， and separated by vegetable plots， come into view. At its center is a spacious square， close to a supermarket. Old folks bask in the afternoon sun， happily chatting together， while children play nearby.
Relocation is just the first step in Liangshan’s poverty relief efforts. The prefecture’s advances in industrial development have created more jobs for its impoverished residents， thus making improvements in the standard of living more sustainable. Along with improved amenities， the mindset of the local Yi people also shows signs of change.
Relocation Is the Key
The largest relocation site in Zhaojue County， the Muendi Community is home to 6，258 people from 1，428 relocated households.
Last May， 26-year-old online celebrity Mose Labo， along with his wife， three children， and parents， moved into their new apartment in the community. Their former home was in Atulieer Village， known as the “cliffside village” due to its precipitous location. Just decades ago， a long hand-woven vine ladder was the sole access to and from the village. It would take children there two or more hours to get to school after traversing cliffs and climbing the vine ladder. Labo was four-years-old when he first started climbing the vine ladder alone. His TikTok account， titled “cliff scaler Labo，” and his vine-ladder climbing exploits have drawn tens of thousands of followers. When， not so long ago， Autulieer villagers lived on a corn and potato plantation， and each household would struggle to subsist on an annual income of a few thousand yuan.
People cannot help wondering why their ancestors chose to live in a place like this. “During the war years， different Yi tribes contended with each other. The village’s distinct geographic location made it easy to defend and hard to assail. So it became a haven for people trying to escape from the turmoil beyond it，”deputy chief of Zhaojue County Jise Fangsen told the reporter. However， during times of peace， the cliffside village’s isolated location thwarted it from jumping on the country’s development express. To ensure human safety and facilitate access to and from the village， the vine ladder has been replaced by a steel one. To help villagers improve their standard of living， the local government has relocated impoverished households to more hospitable locations. Meanwhile， it also helped the villagers that remained to develop tourism and plantations.
Last May， 84 poor households， including Mose Labo’s， moved from the cliffside village to the Muendi Community. “Our old home was gloomy， but we’ve now been allocated a well-furnished， bright and spacious apartment that cost only RMB 10，000. In earlier times， we could never even imagine owning such a great home，” Labo said.
Fundamental amenities are all within Muendi Community residents’ easy reach. They include stores， an old folks’ activity center， a children’s reading room， an employment service center， and a maternal and child health-care center. Other facilities are under construction， and schools are nearby.
“Compared with our village， the cost of living here is high. That’s why many villagers refused to move，”Labo said. However， for this young man， the more convenient life， transportation， better medical care， and schools here make it worthwhile. “The schools here are both better and closer， so for the sake of our children， we had to move here，” he said. Working as a tour guide Labo can earn RMB 3，000-4，000 a month. As for the future， he plans to promote tourism in his village. He is also considering helping his fellow villagers sell local agricultural produce via live-streaming e-business platforms.
The cliffside village epitomizes many areas of Liangshan， which sits in the Hengduan Mountains， crisscrossed with rivers and seismic fault belts. Villages are interspersed between steep cliffs and deep valleys in the area. “Complicated and rugged geographical conditions make it hard to pave roads to many of the villages in the area，” said Liangshan prefecture’s chief of transportation Gong Ping. For villagers so isolated， relocation is the most feasible path to a better life. As of now， with the help of the poverty alleviation campaign， 353，200 people in 74，400 poor households have been relocated.
Industrial Development Provides the Means to Better Living
Living in a better place is just the beginning of local people’s rise from poverty. It is only by developing industries that the means to a better life can be assured.
Setting up a blueberry plantation is one such opportunity for local residents of Tuojue Town， Butuo County. Seventy-year-old Qumo Laza works at the town’s blueberry plantation base. “I’m satisfied with my job here that earns me RMB 80 a day， and more than RMB 2，000 a month，” she said. Despite her advanced years and the monthly allowance for people on low incomes that she receives from the local government， Qumo still wants to work here to generate more income for her family. Butuo County is still classed as impoverished now. For millennia， the people there mainly planted tartary buckwheat and potatoes. However， the planting of these two crops was scarcely enough to live on.“After some investigation， we found that the climate here is suitable for planting blueberries. But there’s a considerable discrepancy between the supply of blueberries and China’s increasing demand for the fruit. So we decided to cooperate with some leading agricultural companies and establish a blueberry plantation base，” said Shang Zhaoyang， deputy chief of Butuo’s commerce bureau， and also a poverty relief official sent from Mianyang City 600 kilometers away.
The cooperating company sends technicians to teach local farmers plantation know-how. It also guarantees a minimum blueberry purchase price of RMB 10 per kilogram， as well as ensuring an output of at least 1，000 kilograms per mu （about 0.067 hectare）. All this has greatly reduced the risks of blueberry plantation. Farmers can earn their income from land transfers， from working at the plantation base， and from its dividends. “Our more than 1.2 hectares of land has been transferred to the plantation base. Apart from the RMB 9，000 per hectare for the transfer， in the future， we also stand to gain dividends from the pooling of land as shares. So our income is considerably higher than in the past，” Ciqumo Laza said.
“In the future， we plan to build a refrigeration facility， extend the industrial chain， and bring more benefits to farmers，” Shang Zhaoyang said.
Modern agricultural development is also apparent in Jiuru Ecological Strawberry Plantation. Established in 2019， the plantation， designated mainly for summer strawberries， is a poverty alleviation cooperation program supported by Foshan City of Guangdong Province. Having amassed 120 hectares of land， the plantation plans to expand its area to 200 hectares.
“Cultivating winter strawberries is quite common in our county， as the fruit is not easy to store. But in metropolises like Beijing and Shanghai there is a huge demand for fresh strawberries during the summer which has yet to be met，” said Zhang Dexian， general manager of Jiuru Ecological Agriculture Technology Development Co.， Ltd. He is optimistic about the plantation’s prospects. From August to December， 2019， the strawberry plantation provided 20，000 employment opportunities.
Meanwhile， to encourage farmers’ participation in strawberry cultivation， the plantation also takes pains to train leaders in the plantation business.“We’ll lease our greenhouses to such proactive farmers for free， and also provide them with water， fertilizer， electricity， and technology， to enable them to manage their own strawberry plantation. When the strawberries are ripe， we’ll purchase them，”Zhang told the reporter. Here， the summer strawberry growth season can last for 10 months. Collection and field management demands large numbers of laborers. “We’re considering expanding our employment scale in order to bring more benefits to farmers while ensuring the plantation’s profits，” Zhang said. Changing the Outmoded Mindset
Although the tangible obstacles to a better life are being removed， the invisible factor of persistent local poverty remains. It is evident in the mindset of sticking to conventions and refusing to change， such as the tendency to hold extravagant weddings and funerals. Changing outmoded customs and traditions has been a hard nut to crack amid efforts to improve the lives of the rural poor.
Not long ago， traditional funerary conventions were still observed in Liangshan， whereby when a Yi person passes away， his or her family customarily sets off fireworks and eats tuotuorou （boiled cubes of pork）. The slaughtering of cattle to show respect for visitors who come to give their condolences is also expected. “The more cattle you kill， and the more fireworks you set off， the more glorious the funeral will be. Some people in our neighboring county sold their house and land to finance a grand funeral， and slaughtered 50 or more cattle，” said Bajiu Ertie， Party secretary of Xiaoshan Village in Liangshan’s Xide County.
Influenced by local deep-rooted traditional concepts， people in Liangshan’s rural areas vied to outshine others’ opulent wedding celebrations and funerary rituals， which placed a huge burden on the related households. When his father passed away， Ertie decided to be the first one to spurn these outmoded conventions. He decided that fireworks， slaughtering cattle， and tuotuorou would not be featured in his father’s funeral.
As expected， Ertie’s siblings opposed his decision. Relatives and fellow villagers also criticized him for refusing to slaughter cattle， and hence for his lack of respect for visitors. After repeated arguments and wrangling with his siblings and relatives， Ertie eventually had his way over the funerary rituals， which cost RMB 40，000 and the slaughter of three cattle. This was frugal in light of the usual expenditure of more than RMB 100，000 and slaughter of a dozen cattle. “After witnessing this more economic style of funeral， it seemed reasonable to the other villagers， and many followed suit. Since then， there have been no more funerary extravaganzas in the village，” Ertie said.
The straitened circumstances of many Yi families render the holding of grand funeral and wedding ceremonies a huge financial burden. But the obligation to spend recklessly rather than be sneered at for parsimoniously lackluster weddings or funerals compelled them to spend lavishly and then get even deeper in debt. To change this quandary， many of Liangshan’s counties and towns laid down village rules and codes of conduct guiding villagers to forego the old mentality of ostentation and extravagance， and selected local venerable personages to lead the new frugal trend. Those refusing to follow such rules and codes will see their local public benefit packages forfeited.
“People in my village now no longer compete for the most extravagant ceremonies， but rather for their children’s commendable study performances， and growing incomes. This also motivates us to create a better life for ourselves.”
The Muendi Community in the prefecture’s Zhaojue County is one of many relocation sites. Upon entering， ranks of residential buildings bearing distinct Yi features， and separated by vegetable plots， come into view. At its center is a spacious square， close to a supermarket. Old folks bask in the afternoon sun， happily chatting together， while children play nearby.
Relocation is just the first step in Liangshan’s poverty relief efforts. The prefecture’s advances in industrial development have created more jobs for its impoverished residents， thus making improvements in the standard of living more sustainable. Along with improved amenities， the mindset of the local Yi people also shows signs of change.
Relocation Is the Key
The largest relocation site in Zhaojue County， the Muendi Community is home to 6，258 people from 1，428 relocated households.
Last May， 26-year-old online celebrity Mose Labo， along with his wife， three children， and parents， moved into their new apartment in the community. Their former home was in Atulieer Village， known as the “cliffside village” due to its precipitous location. Just decades ago， a long hand-woven vine ladder was the sole access to and from the village. It would take children there two or more hours to get to school after traversing cliffs and climbing the vine ladder. Labo was four-years-old when he first started climbing the vine ladder alone. His TikTok account， titled “cliff scaler Labo，” and his vine-ladder climbing exploits have drawn tens of thousands of followers. When， not so long ago， Autulieer villagers lived on a corn and potato plantation， and each household would struggle to subsist on an annual income of a few thousand yuan.
People cannot help wondering why their ancestors chose to live in a place like this. “During the war years， different Yi tribes contended with each other. The village’s distinct geographic location made it easy to defend and hard to assail. So it became a haven for people trying to escape from the turmoil beyond it，”deputy chief of Zhaojue County Jise Fangsen told the reporter. However， during times of peace， the cliffside village’s isolated location thwarted it from jumping on the country’s development express. To ensure human safety and facilitate access to and from the village， the vine ladder has been replaced by a steel one. To help villagers improve their standard of living， the local government has relocated impoverished households to more hospitable locations. Meanwhile， it also helped the villagers that remained to develop tourism and plantations.
Last May， 84 poor households， including Mose Labo’s， moved from the cliffside village to the Muendi Community. “Our old home was gloomy， but we’ve now been allocated a well-furnished， bright and spacious apartment that cost only RMB 10，000. In earlier times， we could never even imagine owning such a great home，” Labo said.
Fundamental amenities are all within Muendi Community residents’ easy reach. They include stores， an old folks’ activity center， a children’s reading room， an employment service center， and a maternal and child health-care center. Other facilities are under construction， and schools are nearby.
“Compared with our village， the cost of living here is high. That’s why many villagers refused to move，”Labo said. However， for this young man， the more convenient life， transportation， better medical care， and schools here make it worthwhile. “The schools here are both better and closer， so for the sake of our children， we had to move here，” he said. Working as a tour guide Labo can earn RMB 3，000-4，000 a month. As for the future， he plans to promote tourism in his village. He is also considering helping his fellow villagers sell local agricultural produce via live-streaming e-business platforms.
The cliffside village epitomizes many areas of Liangshan， which sits in the Hengduan Mountains， crisscrossed with rivers and seismic fault belts. Villages are interspersed between steep cliffs and deep valleys in the area. “Complicated and rugged geographical conditions make it hard to pave roads to many of the villages in the area，” said Liangshan prefecture’s chief of transportation Gong Ping. For villagers so isolated， relocation is the most feasible path to a better life. As of now， with the help of the poverty alleviation campaign， 353，200 people in 74，400 poor households have been relocated.
Industrial Development Provides the Means to Better Living
Living in a better place is just the beginning of local people’s rise from poverty. It is only by developing industries that the means to a better life can be assured.
Setting up a blueberry plantation is one such opportunity for local residents of Tuojue Town， Butuo County. Seventy-year-old Qumo Laza works at the town’s blueberry plantation base. “I’m satisfied with my job here that earns me RMB 80 a day， and more than RMB 2，000 a month，” she said. Despite her advanced years and the monthly allowance for people on low incomes that she receives from the local government， Qumo still wants to work here to generate more income for her family. Butuo County is still classed as impoverished now. For millennia， the people there mainly planted tartary buckwheat and potatoes. However， the planting of these two crops was scarcely enough to live on.“After some investigation， we found that the climate here is suitable for planting blueberries. But there’s a considerable discrepancy between the supply of blueberries and China’s increasing demand for the fruit. So we decided to cooperate with some leading agricultural companies and establish a blueberry plantation base，” said Shang Zhaoyang， deputy chief of Butuo’s commerce bureau， and also a poverty relief official sent from Mianyang City 600 kilometers away.
The cooperating company sends technicians to teach local farmers plantation know-how. It also guarantees a minimum blueberry purchase price of RMB 10 per kilogram， as well as ensuring an output of at least 1，000 kilograms per mu （about 0.067 hectare）. All this has greatly reduced the risks of blueberry plantation. Farmers can earn their income from land transfers， from working at the plantation base， and from its dividends. “Our more than 1.2 hectares of land has been transferred to the plantation base. Apart from the RMB 9，000 per hectare for the transfer， in the future， we also stand to gain dividends from the pooling of land as shares. So our income is considerably higher than in the past，” Ciqumo Laza said.
“In the future， we plan to build a refrigeration facility， extend the industrial chain， and bring more benefits to farmers，” Shang Zhaoyang said.
Modern agricultural development is also apparent in Jiuru Ecological Strawberry Plantation. Established in 2019， the plantation， designated mainly for summer strawberries， is a poverty alleviation cooperation program supported by Foshan City of Guangdong Province. Having amassed 120 hectares of land， the plantation plans to expand its area to 200 hectares.
“Cultivating winter strawberries is quite common in our county， as the fruit is not easy to store. But in metropolises like Beijing and Shanghai there is a huge demand for fresh strawberries during the summer which has yet to be met，” said Zhang Dexian， general manager of Jiuru Ecological Agriculture Technology Development Co.， Ltd. He is optimistic about the plantation’s prospects. From August to December， 2019， the strawberry plantation provided 20，000 employment opportunities.
Meanwhile， to encourage farmers’ participation in strawberry cultivation， the plantation also takes pains to train leaders in the plantation business.“We’ll lease our greenhouses to such proactive farmers for free， and also provide them with water， fertilizer， electricity， and technology， to enable them to manage their own strawberry plantation. When the strawberries are ripe， we’ll purchase them，”Zhang told the reporter. Here， the summer strawberry growth season can last for 10 months. Collection and field management demands large numbers of laborers. “We’re considering expanding our employment scale in order to bring more benefits to farmers while ensuring the plantation’s profits，” Zhang said. Changing the Outmoded Mindset
Although the tangible obstacles to a better life are being removed， the invisible factor of persistent local poverty remains. It is evident in the mindset of sticking to conventions and refusing to change， such as the tendency to hold extravagant weddings and funerals. Changing outmoded customs and traditions has been a hard nut to crack amid efforts to improve the lives of the rural poor.
Not long ago， traditional funerary conventions were still observed in Liangshan， whereby when a Yi person passes away， his or her family customarily sets off fireworks and eats tuotuorou （boiled cubes of pork）. The slaughtering of cattle to show respect for visitors who come to give their condolences is also expected. “The more cattle you kill， and the more fireworks you set off， the more glorious the funeral will be. Some people in our neighboring county sold their house and land to finance a grand funeral， and slaughtered 50 or more cattle，” said Bajiu Ertie， Party secretary of Xiaoshan Village in Liangshan’s Xide County.
Influenced by local deep-rooted traditional concepts， people in Liangshan’s rural areas vied to outshine others’ opulent wedding celebrations and funerary rituals， which placed a huge burden on the related households. When his father passed away， Ertie decided to be the first one to spurn these outmoded conventions. He decided that fireworks， slaughtering cattle， and tuotuorou would not be featured in his father’s funeral.
As expected， Ertie’s siblings opposed his decision. Relatives and fellow villagers also criticized him for refusing to slaughter cattle， and hence for his lack of respect for visitors. After repeated arguments and wrangling with his siblings and relatives， Ertie eventually had his way over the funerary rituals， which cost RMB 40，000 and the slaughter of three cattle. This was frugal in light of the usual expenditure of more than RMB 100，000 and slaughter of a dozen cattle. “After witnessing this more economic style of funeral， it seemed reasonable to the other villagers， and many followed suit. Since then， there have been no more funerary extravaganzas in the village，” Ertie said.
The straitened circumstances of many Yi families render the holding of grand funeral and wedding ceremonies a huge financial burden. But the obligation to spend recklessly rather than be sneered at for parsimoniously lackluster weddings or funerals compelled them to spend lavishly and then get even deeper in debt. To change this quandary， many of Liangshan’s counties and towns laid down village rules and codes of conduct guiding villagers to forego the old mentality of ostentation and extravagance， and selected local venerable personages to lead the new frugal trend. Those refusing to follow such rules and codes will see their local public benefit packages forfeited.
“People in my village now no longer compete for the most extravagant ceremonies， but rather for their children’s commendable study performances， and growing incomes. This also motivates us to create a better life for ourselves.”