1,000 ethnic villages will be upgraded in special program

The government has vowed to further protect ethnic cultural diversity and boost the livelihood of ethnic groups, as it outlined plans for 1,000 ethnic villages to be protected in the next three years.

A guideline issued by the State Ethnic Affairs Commission on Monday, said that the government will prioritize the protection and improvement of 1,000 ethnic villages nationwide, in which the infrastructure and livelihood of the people will be improved and the culture of the villages will be protected.

The ethnic villages included in the guideline must have at least 50 households, and more than 30 percent of residents must be from an ethnic background.

In the next three years, the government will ensure the delivery of drinking water, electricity, roads and telecommunications into those villages, and the villagers should see an increase in personal income.

The government will also ensure that more than 95 percent of school-age children will receive an education, and over 60 percent of the labor force will receive skills training.

The ethnic architecture in the villages will be protected and culture will be preserved.

The guideline acknowledged difficulties that may be faced in implementing the plan, such as the fact that most ethnic villages are located in relatively remote and impoverished areas, and ethnic cultures are being threatened by urbanization and industrialization. Some ethnic villages replace traditional architecture with simple and cheap modern buildings.

Oqar Bater, director of the publicity department of the Hoboksar Mongolian autonomous county in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, said the county government has prioritized the preservation and protection of the traditional cultural heritage of the Mongolian ethnic group since 2007.

In the county's Jangar village, where 97 percent of the population is ethnic Mongolian, a form of Mongolian storytelling and dance is still performed by villagers - as it has been for five centuries.

"As the birthplace of Jangar culture, the village gives routine Jangar training to the students in the village's primary schools to popularize the ethnic culture," Bater said.

"Performances, art shows, festivals and symposiums are held in the village throughout the year to help carry on this unique cultural legacy," he said.

Jangar culture dates to the 15th century and is one of China's most important ethnic art forms. An epic dance performed in Jangar depicts a battle between the Mongolian hero Jangar and the evil warlord Mangus.

Dawa, a 31-year-old resident of a Tibetan village in Zoige county, in the Tibetan autonomous prefecture in Sichuan province, said he hoped his village will be one of the 1,000 chosen.

"Most of the households in the village have televisions and children of school age all go to school. The problem is only 80 percent of the roads in the village are paved, and I hope being part of the project will get the roads improved," he said.

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