Goodbye Hardship ($900), an Increase of 23.5 Percent from 2017

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the Publicity Department of Gongshan. “In are selling their agricultural products on online addition, we have developed planting of paridis, business platforms.” another medical herb, and beekeeping, along Tang Jiajia, who also runs a restaurant in the with cow and chicken breeding, which have all township, is from Lijiang, a city in Yunnan. She greatly expanded locals’ income sources.” followed relatives to Dulongjiang 11 years ago, Zhang said that in 2018, the average seeking business opportunities. income of local people was 6,122 yuan She started as a food vendor with her Goodbye Hardship ($900), an increase of 23.5 percent from 2017. mother, and although the business was not that Amomum tsao-ko alone brought in 7.43 million profitable back then, Tang Jiajia chose to stay An ethnic minority in southwest China’s mountainous area yuan ($1.09 million). because the locals were all very nice people. Furthermore, the forestry department in Shops in Dulongjiang enjoy a tax-free policy steps out of poverty By Yuan Yuan Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, to which and rent is inexpensive. Thus, she decided to Dulongjiang is subordinated, has made all the settle down in the township. Her business has people from 195 impoverished Derung house- since developed into a restaurant. “Now we can holds ecological rangers, providing them with easily earn 100,000 yuan ($14,700) a year,” Tang an income for protecting the forests in their Jiajia said. “With more tourists visiting in the native land. future, we believe the business will get better.” In the process, various levels of government support has offered a boost. In 2010, the pro- vincial government implemented entire village Rainbow weavers Blanket weaving, a traditional handicraft of the advancement projects as well as pilot projects Derung ethnic group, has also helped local for the improvement of entire townships, with people find a way out of poverty. Dulongjiang included. Financial aid and related The original material for the blankets, fea- programs from the government put the town’s tured with stripes of bright colors, was made development on a fast track. from wild hemp. When people in the township were still living in primitive society before the Promising future founding of the PRC, these blankets are every- As a result, Dulongjiang now has a brand new thing that they had—as clothes to cover their look. Many new houses have been erected bodies during the day and as quilts at night to along the road, as residents living in uninhab- keep warm. Weaving blankets was what Derung itable conditions have been relocated to new women did in the evening after returning from houses. The 4G network covers the entire farm work all day. A Derung woman shows the blanket she weaves at township and is accessible to quite a few deliv- Jin Chunhua, a 34-year-old Derung weaver, home in Dulongjiang Township in Gongshan Dulong-Nu ery service providers. learnt the weaving skill when she was 15 years Autonomous County, southwest China’s Yunnan In the early 2000s, a school covering six old from her mother. She didn’t expect the Province, in December 2017 (COURTESY PHOTO) years of elementary and three years of sec- blankets she weaves can expose her to a much ondary education was set up in the township. bigger world. Children don’t have to slide along a wire to Sponsored by a project launched by the The products hit stores in Shanghai and online attend schools further away anymore. Beijing Contemporary Art Foundation to pro- shops and sold out in five months. An aerial view of Dulongjiang Township in Gongshan Dulong-Nu Autonomous County, southwest China’s Yunnan Province, on April 18 (XINHUA) Moreover, the improvement in transpor- mote Derung blankets, Jin and another Derung During the second year of the project, the tation has brought tourists to the township, woman have visited Shanghai and spent a team of weavers expanded to 24 and the order leading some local people to renovate their month there every year since 2016, working from the company increased to 120 pieces. lanked by snow-capped mountains border- 7,000 people, the Derung ethnic group shook Under such harsh conditions, Gao started houses into restaurants and inns to increase with fashion designers from a domestic cloth- Each piece earned the weaver 400 yuan ($59). ing Myanmar in southwest China’s Yunnan off poverty in 2018. to explore methods to increase local income. their income. ing company to create new blanket patterns The average annual income for the Derung F Province, Dulongjiang Township, named He made ecological protection a top prior- Tang Xiaocong, a 28-year-old local, runs a and receive training on different weaving skills. people was only 4,378 yuan ($644) at the time. after the Dulong River that winds through it, ity. “A well-preserved ecological environment restaurant with his wife in Maku Village of the Before traveling to Shanghai, Jin’s longest “A woman can weave nine pieces at most, used to be one of the poorest areas in China. Paving the way is the great treasure passed down to us by our township. Their average income each month is trip had been to the county seat. That was a which can earn her 3,600 yuan ($530),” Jin said. The township is home to people of the Derung “The life of the Derung people in recent years ancestors,” Gao said. “We will spare no efforts about 6,000 yuan ($882). three-hour trip by bus. During their time in The weavers’ creations were on display at ethnic group, one of the ethnic minorities in has changed dramatically,” said Gao, 65, former to protect it.” “We were relocated three times before the megacity, the two Derung women spent the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015. The walls at China that has the smallest population. head of Dulongjiang Township, a key figure in Eventually, he found a way to bring both we settled down in Maku,” Tang said. “The almost every day with the designers, receiving the China Pavilion were decorated with Derung Before the founding of the People’s leading local people out of poverty. economic benefits to the locals and do no houses we lived in before were made of either training and adjusting pattern designs and blankets. Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, the Derung After graduating from a normal school harm to the environment: They started planting bamboo or wood. They were freezing in winter colors to cater to modern tastes. The weaving “This project has helped us to tap the people still lived an insulated and primitive life. in Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, Gao amomum tsao-ko, a spice and medicinal herb, and leaked when it rained. Our house now is material was changed to wool and the colors, market potential in preserving and promot- It was not until 1999 that a road was built linking returned to his hometown. In 1984, he started which is well-suited for the local climate. built of bricks and is steady and firm with three which were too bright according to the design- ing Derung blankets,” Xiao Songjun, a local the area to the outside world, making it the last to serve in the township government with the Gao set up a base offering free training to bedrooms and a spacious kitchen.” ers, were made duller and lighter. official, told Beijing Review. “We are planning township in China to be connected by road. ambition of lifting the local people out of pov- the townspeople and in order to encourage Tang received his education outside They finally nailed down 10 pattern designs to set up an association for Derung blankets Access to the township was still blocked by erty. more of them to learn the process, he also pro- Dulongjiang and served in the army for several and after the two women returned home, they and explore more snow for almost six months a year until a tunnel By then, there were no roads, no regular vided free accommodations and meals. years before returning to his hometown. These set up a cooperative and organized more Derung channels for unique was completed in 2014. schools and no businesses in the township. This created a sharp rise in locals’ income. experiences broadened his horizons. In 2014, women to join the project, with 17 women join- handcrafts of Derung Yunnan, which borders Myanmar, Laos The rolling hills and harsh climate made it dif- So far, there are more than 4,000 hectares of he came back to his village and opened up a ing in the first year. The weavers completed 58 ethnic group.” ■ and Viet Nam, has 25 ethnic minorities. The ficult to even build a road. School-aged children amomum tsao-ko farmland in Dulongjiang. restaurant. Derung blankets from the new materials such as vast mountainous areas in the province have would have to slide along a steel wire above the “The market for amomum tsao-ko has “It has not been just the road and tunnel wool provided by the company, with each piece Scan QR code to visit been identified as a major target for the govern- roaring Dulong River to get to county schools. been growing in recent years, which has led that have connected the township with the 45 cm wide and 8 meters long. Beijing Review’s website ment’s poverty alleviation. One of the smallest Landslides, avalanches, wild animal attacks and to a boom in locals getting involved in the outside world,” Tang said. “The 4G network has The company then made them into cush- Comments to and most isolated minorities, with less than traffic accidents made life extremely harsh. business,” said Zhang Jun, Deputy Director of also linked it up. A growing number of locals ion covers, different size blankets and cloaks. 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