A 59-kilometer highway connects 26 villages in the Yimeng mountainous area of Shandong province with the outside world. The road has become an artery for rural development, and has been instrumental in transporting villagers out of poverty. (Photos provided to China Daily)

Visitors pick cherries while touring a mountainous village in Linyi.

A 59-kilometer highway connects 26 villages in the Yimeng mountainous area of Shandong province with the outside world. The road has become an artery for rural development, and has been instrumental in transporting villagers out of poverty.

Tourists watch an artisan making dough figurines at a revolutionary museum in Yinan county in Linyi during the recent Dragon Boat Festival.

A 59-kilometer highway connects 26 villages in the Yimeng mountainous area of Shandong province with the outside world. The road has become an artery for rural development, and has been instrumental in transporting villagers out of poverty.