Jihao Yeqiu’s family in front of their relocated new house. Photos by Dong Ning

In fact, in order to finish the task as early as possible, the family traveled back to their former home in mountainous Sanhe Village in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in southwest China’s Sichuan Province the night before. To them, the trek is worthwhile. “We Yi people have deep affection for the earth. Buckwheat planting is our most important tradition that should be carried forward,” said Relie Youcong, whose family now has risen above poverty after they resettled in a residential community.

Living in a New Home

Sanhe Village, located in the Daliang Mountains, is made up of nine settlements scattered along the ridges 2,500 meters above sea level. It is a typical ethnic Yi village. Many people never got out of the mountains throughout their entire lifetime due to inconvenient transportation. Remoteness, backwardness, and poverty used to be the hashtag of the place.

On February 11, 2018, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the village, and reviewed local poverty alleviation work. “Grandma said she felt like she was dreaming when President Xi walked into our house and held her hands. He is a busy man, but made time to visit us. It really warmed our hearts,” Relie Youcong recalled.

To harvest the black tartary buckwheat, Relie Youcong’s grandparents return to their old house.

Life changed tremendously after Xi’s visit. Under government support, all 29 poor households in the village moved into new homes outside the mountains. “The new home is big, with an area of more than 100 square meters. And we have access to clean tap water and modern facilities,” Relie Youcong said. His grandmother, who is in good shape, was offered a job of public services, which brings the family a monthly income of RMB 500. With incomes from cows and pigs they raised, the family had a per capita income of RMB 20,000 last year.

Relie Yongcong, together with another 49 ethnic Yi students, got a chance to attend an urban junior school in Mianyang, a city more economically developed in Sichuan Province. He had a plan for the future. “I want to be a teacher at my hometown and help more children pursue their dreams.”

Since moving into their new home last year, Relie Youcong’s grandmother has been cherishing a wish. “She hopes that President Xi will return to Sanhe Village when he has time. She wants to say ‘Thank you’ to him for our new life,” said Relie Youcong.

A Bright Future

Jihao Yeqiu, a fellow villager of Relie Youcong, used to squeeze in two dark adobe rooms with his wife and five children. Now his new home at the resettled community measures more than 100 square meters, and it is equipped with a kitchen and a bathroom.

The 41-year-old man once tried many ways to fight poverty, but unfortunately failed. On February 11, 2018, President Xi walked into his home, learned about his family’s situation, and encouraged them to fight for a better life. Before leaving, Xi invited the family to take a group photo with him. Xi’s encouragement boosted the family’s confidence in tackling poverty.

After moving into the new village, Jihao Yeqiu and his wife went to learn Mandarin and skills at a farmers’ evening school. According to Li Kai, a poverty reduction official in Sanhe Village, the family now runs a small grocery store, and Jihao Yeqiu works at a local outlet of People’s Bank of China. With the skills he learned at the evening school, he does a gig job at a construction site and makes RMB 150 to 250 a day. “Last year, his family’s per capita income reached RMB 12,800, and they will get rid of poverty at the end of this year,” Li said.

The couple hope that their life could get better, and their children work hard at school and have a bright future.

Living a Good Life

To eradicate extreme poverty, China has been mustering strength from various sectors of society and mobilizing economically developed places in the east to help poor areas in the west.

For Sanhe Village, the help came from Guangdong Province. The coastal province in southeast China has funded the building of nine residential communities with RMB 14 million, enabling 147 poor households from inhospitable places to resettle in safe places with modern facilities. Foshan in Guangdong Province helped the village develop agricultural businesses. It provided RMB 6 million to support local residents in growing Chinese medicinal herbs covering an area of 66.67 hectares and keeping 4,000 boxes of bees. The village also established cooperatives for cash crop planting and cow breeding.

The Foshan-based private real estate giant Country Garden extends a helping hand, focusing on enabling resettled residents to have sustainable sources of income. This year, it will invest RMB 9.8 million in building an education base that integrates catering and cultural tourism. The base, when completed, will provide 38 jobs of public services.

“We hope to bring more visitors and cash to Sanhe Village. In that case, local residents will be able to have jobs that bring them stable incomes at their doorstep,” said Jiang Jizhou, who came from Foshan to help local people fight poverty.