Chinese village on a cliff descends out of poverty

ECO-VILLAGE RESORT

For those living in poverty in mountainous areas in Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan provinces and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, improving their situation is complicated. It means building roads and bridges, raising poultry and livestock, planting fruit and herbs, or relocating.

Since 2004, local government has relocated 72 families from the cliff in Daduhe Canyon, often considered China's most beautiful. Wang Anyou was one of the first. "My children wanted to leave the cliff," said Wang, who was given 4,000 yuan (around 600 U.S. dollars) resettlement fees.

In Shengli's case, relocation is the only viable choice but no easy job. Once relocated, people still need to find jobs.

Wang Yong left Shengli Village for Guilin, a top tourist destination in Guangxi, more than ten years ago. He became a jade wholesaler and married a woman there.

But his cousin, then Party secretary of Shengli Village, invited him to return and help expand tourism in the village.

The scenery offers a wide choice to tourists, not just Daduhe Canyon, but primeval forest and panda habitat.

"Sightseeing attracts visitors. The longer they stay in our village, the more they consume here," said Wang.

Wang purchased peach tree saplings from Sichuan's provincial capital Chengdu and encouraged villagers to plant them on the steep slopes. He also plans to build a glass skywalk on a mountain top.

MORE THAN TOURISM

In addition to tourism, Shengli Village is working on green agriculture.

Villagers have planted 200 hectares of Laoying or eagle tea and more than 13 hectares of Sichuan pepper, which was royal tribute in the past. Last year, the output value of Laoying tea reached 270,000 yuan.

Wang Anyou raises bamboo rats, a popular local delicacy. His family earned 60,000 yuan from the animal last year.

In 2016, the average Shengli villager's annual income rose to 8,650 yuan, far above the country's poverty line of 2,300 yuan per capita.

By the end of 2017, the remaining 16 poor households in the village will be free from poverty.

Official statistics show that mountainous Sichuan, with many ethnic groups, had 7.5 million people living in poverty in 2012. The figure was reduced to 2.72 million last year.

Wang Yong wants to expand the cultivated area of tea and pepper on the "abandoned" old cliff village.

"But we need a better road," said Wang. "Currently everything is still carried down the mountain in baskets."