A New Lease on Life by Relocation and Resettlement

By staff reporter ZHOU LIN

THE Wumeng Mountains are one of the major mountain ranges of the Yungui Plateau in southwest China. Having a typical karst landform， it features bumpy roads that are hard to travel on.

The mountainous area which covers 38 counties， cities， and districts in Guizhou， Yunnan， and Sichuan provinces is home to various ethnic groups， of which the Yi minority is the largest one. It is known to be one of Chinas contiguous destitute areas as many dwellers there are trapped in poverty because of complex reasons. Consequently， lifting them up and out of their extreme poverty is quite “a hard nut to crack.”

Struggle to Make a Living

Dafang County of Bijie City in Guizhou Province is one of the 38 zones of the Wumeng contiguous destitute areas. From Dafang， one can look into the far off distance and see the overhanging precipices and steep white cliffs stretch across the horizon， with narrow roads winding along. Yuanbao Village is enclosed in the boulder barriers.

In October 2017， 29-year-old Luo Xuefeng and his family of five were among the first batch of families to move out from Yuanbao Village to refurbished homes in Shexiang Ancient Town in Dafang. Walking into the familys new apartment， one can immediately spot a couple of old blackand-white photographs hanging on the wall， in which the sights of shabby stone-built houses with eroded outer walls are witnesses to the owners once hard life.

Trapped in the remote mountainous area， surrounded by a barren landscape and inconvenient transportation， being unskilled in any field， Luo could only do some odd manual work to support his family livelihood. Soon， the elder daughter was seven and ready to go to primary school. However， sending her to school became a big challenge for the whole family.

“When we lived in Yuanbao Village， it took us one and a half hours every day to send my daughter to school， which meant more than three hours for a round trip. Traveling on the muddy mountain roads could be very dangerous， especially during rainy and snowy days.” Luo recalled how the young couple took turns sending their elder daughter to school， while one was away， the other one stayed at home to take care of the two younger children. Since there was no time for them to work outside， life was really hard. In the end， dire straits forced them to move out of the remote mountains and live in a relatives house in Dafang.

A Prosperous New Life

Shexiang Ancient Town， four kilometers north of Dafang， is located next to a national highway， where there are commercial streets， relocated buildings， and a terraced park. The ancient town has been home to the Yi minority for hundreds of years. With their unique culture combined with the tranquil landscape of the Wumeng Mountains， a valuable tourism asset is forming. Nowadays， cultural tourism has become a pillar industry for the town， bringing in sizable earnings for the new inhabitants that have moved there from the mountains.

In 2017， according to the local policy， families like Luos whose annual per capita net income was lower than RMB 3，335 could move into a 100-square-meter apartment with three bedrooms and a living room.“Beds， wardrobes， a sofa and TV stand， curtains， and domestic appliances such as television， induction cooker， and an electric cooker are all in place，” Luos wife chuckled. “It really was a fully furnished home in the fullest sense of the word.”

Walking into the daughters bedroom， the wall was decorated with certificates of merit student awarded to the elder daughter. The younger daughter has already enrolled in a kindergarten sponsored by Evergrande Real Estate Group， and the youngest son is also preparing to enter kindergarten. Luos wife is now working on the business street of Shexiang Ancient Town， earning a salary of around RMB 2，000 per month.

Wang Changyu is a post-90s volunteer of the Evergrande Real Estate Group who is giving a helping hand to the poverty alleviation in Dafang. According to Wang， all the changes we saw in Luos family are the achievements of the cooperation between the local government and private enterprises like Evergrande Real Estate Group. They have made a full plan for the relocation and resettlement of poor families， including a combination of new residence with supporting industries and secure job opportunities. Meanwhile， medical service organizations， kindergartens， and schools have also been set up for the convenience of new residents. The local government guarantees that at least one person in a zeroemployment family has a steady job.

Every morning， after sending their two daughters to school， Luo works on the building site in the county， earning money to support their family.

“Before moving away from our village， we had no choice but go to bed whenever the night came； but now， we can watch TV with children or go out onto the square to participate in the exhilarating activities of the Torch Festival of the Yi minority，” Luo enthused about their colorful life at present.

A Multi-Faceted and Systematic Relocation Project

Despite the advantages of relocation， moving from the remote mountainous areas where their ancestors had lived for generations was not that easy for some ethnic minorities， for example， the Miao minority.

About one hour drive from Dafang is Qianxi Coun-ty， one of the contiguous destitute areas in the Wumeng Mountain range. As of 2017， there were 16，852 new residents who resettled in the Jinxiuhuadu Community in Qianxi County， among whom over 700 were of the Miao minority.

To help free local people from their old-fashioned mindset of relying on assistance， in June 2018， the bureau of human resource and social security of Qianxi joined hands with the Dazheng Family Vocational School to offer technical training courses for new residents. Twenty plus specialized curricula were designed focusing on home services， involving laws and regulations， social etiquette， how to use domestic appliances， maternal-newborn nursing， housekeeping， and geriatric care. Ninety-one new residents took part in the free courses which also provided a daily subsistence allowance for each student. After completing the training， employment was soon arranged for each trainee.

Customs and habits of ethnic minorities are fully respected during the process of relocation. “It is a custom for the Miao minority to kill a cow for a funeral or memorial ceremony. However， in the town， local conditions prevent them from observing such a custom. To show our respects to their culture and customs， we built an open space near the community to meet their special needs，” said Tian Peng， secretary of the Party branch of the Jinxiuhuadu Community.

Poverty alleviation by relocation and resettlement is not just a project that is based on community reconstruction， but is a systematic project that involves population distribution， resource allocation and environmental protection， economic & social rebalance and improvement. It not only demands the construction of houses， infrastructure， and public service facilities， but involves many aspects including training and employment， community management， and the protection of cultural heritage.

In June 1988， the State Council approved the establishment of the Bijie Experimental Zone， which has since become an exemplary model for poverty alleviation work in poor areas. Both the relocation and resettlement in Dafang and Qianxi counties are the epitomes of local efforts in poverty alleviation over the past years.

In April 2018， the National Development and Reform Commission released the “Policy of Chinas Poverty Alleviation by Relocation and Resettlement.”According to the unveiled statistics， 22 provinces， autonomous regions， and municipalities with relocation tasks have obtained fruitful achievements in various aspects including targeted object recognition， location of resettlement， housing construction， fund management， and sustainable development. In 2016 and 2017 alone， approximately 5.89 million impoverished people were moved to new sites， while in 2018， another 2.8 million people were relocated. It is planned that during the 13th Five-Year Plan period （2016-2020）， tasks of lifting poor people out of poverty by relocation and resettlement will be implemented more fully.