Out of Poverty

By WANG JUN

Out of Poverty

By WANG JUN

TRAIN COMES TO MOUNTAIN: Hubei Province has increased spending on infrastructure. Yichang-Wanzhou Railways now go through mountainous areas of the Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture

Hubei Province is developing a new pattern to alleviate poverty in areas inhabited by ethnic minorities

Dazhuanguai is a village in Longfeng Town of Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, central China’s Hubei Province. Soil in the village cannot absorb water therefore none can be drawn from wells. Over the years, villagers here used water from pools, roofs or natural puddles. The quality of water cannot be ensured, and moreover, in the drought season, villagers had no water at all.

In July 2008 the village received funds of 1.5 million yuan ($220,588) from local government to build 1.5 km of water pipelines, diverting water from a neighboring village. It also built 42 water cellars. Among the 2,304 villagers in 635 families, 1,555 people in 401 families now have clean and stable water, said Li Zaiyin, Secretary of the Longfeng Town Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Helping themselves

Among all the 60 million people of Hubei, 2.83 million, or 4.68 percent, are of ethnic minorities. Most of these people, mainly from Tujia, Miao and Dong, live in Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture (which consists of eight counties and county-level cities), as well as Changyang Tujia Autonomous County and Wufeng Tujia Autonomous County of Yichang City.

In recent years, Hubei has achieved rapid economic growth. Figures released by the Hubei Statistics Bureau showed GDP of the province totaled 923.07 billion yuan ($136.35 billion) in 2007, growing 14.5 percent from the year before.

However, because the areas inhabited by ethnic minorities are in regions of Wuling Mountain, infrastructure has been historically underdeveloped, restricting economic progress. In 2004-07, the average annual GDP growth of these areas was just 6.7 percent, much lower than the national and provincial levels.

Instead of asking the Central Government for aid to accelerate development of the areas inhabited by ethnic minorities, Hubei has explored a new way of offering aid through local governments. In August 2007 Hubei decided to launch a campaign to help people of these areas raise living standards. For each county or city, six departments of the provincial government, universities or big state-owned enterprises are designated to offer aid and a provincial leader is designated to coordinate the work.

Statistics released by the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee of Hubei Province (HERAC) say, since the campaign was launched, aid providers have implemented 619 projects, offering a total of 3.16 billion yuan ($466.77 million), which has driven up investment of 10.6 billion yuan ($1.57 billion). Of the total, 202 projects are on infrastructure, with an investment of 1.68 billion yuan ($248.15 million); 142 projects are on industrial development, with an investment of 934 million yuan ($137.96 million); 169 projects are on social development, with an investment of 303 million yuan ($44.76 million); 106 projects are on other purposes, with an investment of 241 million yuan ($35.6 million).

All these efforts have helped improve economies of the areas inhabited by ethnic minorities in Hubei. HERAC figures, in 2008, show the GDP in these areas increased 19.4 percent and the fscal revenue increased 30 percent. In 2009, though infu-enced by the global fnancial crisis, the GDP in these areas still increased 16.7 percent to 37.2 billion yuan ($5.49 billion) and the fscal revenue increased 16.5 percent to 5.28 billion yuan ($779.91 million).

“Where the sun shines, there are still places that fail to absorb sunshine,” said Yang Tianran, head of Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture. “The aid campaign launched by the provincial government is to enable these places to see sunshine.”

Tapping potential

Feng Xingchao, 32, has operated a hotel and restaurant out of his home in Fengxiangpo, Dong Village Tourism Area of Bajiao Dong Town, Enshi for three years. During his childhood, his family was very poor. Transportation in the village was terrible, with only dirt roads connecting the villages.

In 1997, Feng went to southeast China’s Fujian Province and worked on a food factory production line. He earned just 800-900 yuan ($118-133) a month and almost no money was left after paying for living expenses.

After the provincial aid campaign was launched in 2007, the government invested 14 million yuan ($2.07 million) to improve infrastructure and develop local industries such as tourism and tea, said Yang Hongan, head of Bajiao Town.

Before the aid campaign was carried out, houses of the village had been similar to the houses of Han people in architectural style. The HERAC frst helped restore the Dong style of the homes, and then sent some villagers to Guizhou Province with communities of Dong people to learn songs and dances.

Fengxiangpo Dong Village Tourism Area was opened in April. There, tourists can enjoy local songs and dances, experience Dong lifestyle and eat Dong food. Since then, the village has received more than 220,000 tourists and the revenues generated from the tourism industry have totaled 10 million yuan ($1.48 million). The per-capita income of farmers in the village increased from less than 2,000 yuan ($295) in 2006 to 5,000 yuan ($739) in 2009.

Feng returned to his hometown and opened his hotel and restaurant in 2007. Just after it was opened, the monthly sales were 10,000 yuan ($1,477) and he could just break even. But, as the number of tourists grew, the revenue of Feng’s restaurant did too. “Now the sales can be 30,000-40,000 yuan ($4,431-5,908) and the net profits can reach 10,000 yuan,” Feng told Beijing Review.

Besides abundant tourism resources, the areas inhabited by ethnic minorities are also rich in tea, tobacco and medicinal materials. The participating departments of the aid campaign have put great effort into establishing famous tea brands, such as Enshi Yulu tea. According to the HERAC fgures, in 2008, the output value of the tea industry in Enshi totaled 600 million yuan ($88.63 million). In Wufeng Tujia Autonomous County, the output value of the tea industry amounted to 346 million yuan ($51.11 million) in 2009, and the tea planters earned 151 million yuan ($22.3 million).

DANCING FOR A LIVING: People in the Dong Village Tourism Area of Bajiao Dong Town, the Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, present Dong songs and dance for the tourists

Lichuan Tujia Livestocks Co. Ltd. in Enshi is a company involved in pig rearing and processing. Information released by the company shows that, as part of the aid campaign, the company received funds of 8 million yuan ($1.18 million) and loans of 15 million yuan ($2.22 million), and built a production line. The production line was completed in May 2010 and is expected to generate sales of 75 million yuan ($11.08 million) this year and offer nearly 200 job opportunities.

Improved infrastructure

Tenglong Cave Scenic Area in Lichuan County, Enshi is an area of limestone caves. In the beautiful caves, visitors can enjoy a song-and-dance drama that tells a legend of the Tujia ethnic group. As part of the provincial aiding campaign, the cave area received funds of 150 million yuan ($22.16 million), building 5.5 km of footpaths and installing various illumination facilities in the caves.

Meanwhile, the tourist highway to Enshi Grand Canyon, with a total investment of 150 million yuan, is under construction to facilitate tourism. Moreover, a 30-km tourist highway connecting Tenglong Cave and Enshi Grand Canyon, with an estimated investment of 300 million yuan ($44.31 million) will also be built, when a feasibility report is completed.

To solve the water shortage, in 2003 the county began to build the No.2 Water Factory and Yemaohe Reservoir. The total investment for the project is 65 million yuan ($9.6 million), but the county faced a 34-million-yuan ($5.02 million) budget shortfall. After the provincial aid campaign was launched, the county completed the project in July 2009. The daily water supply increased to about 2,000 tons, effectively solving the water shortage.

There are other accomplishments in efforts in improving infrastructure. In Enshi Prefecture, electricity is installed in all the villages and 96 percent have road access. As well, broadcasting and television services now cover 98 percent of villages. The Yichang-Enshi section of Shanghai-Chongqing Expressway is open, the Yichang-Wanzhou Railways begin operation this year and the expansion project of Enshi Airport has been completed.

“All these have fundamentally improved the transportation facilities of our prefecture. The dreams of expressways and railways that Tujia and Miao people have expected for generations are coming true and this will facilitate our economic takeoff,” said Qu Hezhi, a senior official of Enshi Prefecture.