People of a minority ethnic group in a remote area of southwest China were uplifted from two letters in five years from Chinese President Xi Jinping.

People of the Derung ethnic group read the letter from President Xi on April 11, 2019. (Photo: Xinhua)

In April, Xi encouraged people of the Derung ethnic group in Dulongjiang Township, Gongshan County of Yunnan Province to create a better future, when answering a letter from them, saying they had been lifted out of poverty in 2018. 

“This vividly demonstrates that people's dream to live a happy life will surely come true with the strong leadership of the Party and the concerted efforts of the broad masses of the people,” Xi said.

In 2014, the former head of the Dulongjiang Township, Gao Derong, and four other local officials shared their happiness with Xi in a letter, when a highway tunnel connecting the Dulongjiang township was about to open. Xi soon wrote back to them.

“Two letters in five years from President Xi fully reflect the care from him and the Communist Party of China Central Committee for ethnic minorities, and made us feel the warmth of the great family of the motherland,” said Gao.

Convenient lives

“Among all the overwhelming changes in the Dulongjiang Township, the biggest one is transportation,” Gao said.

With the opening of the highway tunnel on April 10, 2014, the Derung people said goodbye to the obstruction from mountains covered with snows for almost half the time in a year.

Gao Derong talks with villagers in Dulongjiang Township, Gongshan County of Yunnan Province, on April 11, 2019. 

On that day, April 10, a girl who was seriously burned was sent to a hospital in Gongshan County through the tunnel. “If not for the tunnel, the child might have died. But now she is in school, with her scars almost invisible,” said Gao.

The way out to the town now only takes less than three hours, which used to take three to four days by horse in 1964.

Booming industries

“In the first reply, President Xi hoped that the Derung people would follow the laws of nature, scientifically organize and arrange production and life, and accelerate the pace of getting rid of poverty,” Gao said. “In his second letter, Xi hoped the villagers will continue to work hard and build a good homeland and guard the border.”

“Two letters have given us direction,” Gao said.

The Derung people planted buckwheat, potatoes, and millet for a living for generations, but still found it difficult to make ends meet due to lack of farmlands.

Led by Gao, five villages started planting amomum tsao-ko, a spice and medicinal herb, which is well-suited for the local climate. The area of amomum tsao-ko has reached 4,533 hectares.

“Some households can earn about 30,000 yuan ($4,270) per year by planting crop. It has become a money tree,” said Wang Shirong, a director of one of the village’s committees.

Last year, the per capita disposable income of residents was 6,122 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 23.5 percent, said Yu Jincheng, Party secretary of the township. 

Yu Jincheng talks with villagers in Dulongjiang Township, Gongshan County of Yunnan Province, on April 11, 2019. 

(Compiled by Zhan Huilan)