Despite the rapid economic transformation that has taken place within 30 years, China have about seventy (70) million people that are still living under the poverty level across the country.
This development had placed China as the world’s largest economy replacing Japan after the United States of America, which is still regarded as number one.
The Central together with the various local governments in China since the reform and open-up process have made tremendous efforts in trying to eliminate poverty from the lives of hundreds of millions of people from the rural communities and have left with only 70 million.
During the just concluded 13th five years plan conference of the country, various plans were discussed and adopted for the total elimination of poverty in China before the year 2020 as proposed by President Xi Jinxing.
The Chinese government in its strive to transform the lives of the people living under poverty have been constructing community houses, schools, roads, railway, and establishing industries which leads to job employment in the various rural communities.
On a visit to Zhaxigang village in Lulang Mountain forest, Nyingchi City, Tibet Province, it was revealed that almost all the residents in the village have converted their dwelling houses into small hotels, some with sixteen, eighteen and twenty decent rooms with one or two beds.
Tibet Autonomous region is one of China’s ethnic autonomous regions at the provincial level with a population of about 3.23 million people who are mainly Tibetan ethnic group located at the Qinghai Tibet Plateau in the southwest border areas of China with its capital at Lhasa city with an altitude of about 4,000 (four thousand) metres.
Traveling from the Capital city of Tibet, Lhasa to the other city of Nyingchi is about ten (10) hours drive through mountain villages and about two hours drive from the City of Nyingchi to Lulang Mountain where Zhaxigang village is located at the middle of one of the most attractive mountains with a very beautiful valley in China.
The altitude of Nyingchi City is about 3,100 metres higher which makes it far better in terms of availability of oxygen to that of Lhasa as the environment is purely green and climbing Lulang Mountain is a memorable s in the village, Baima, there are sixty three households in the village with 311 people who mainly depend on Tourism for their survival, disclosing that he built his house with his little savings together with support from the Chinese government.
He maintained that they are running their local hotels on a tax free basis which enables them to save up to seven hundred thousand RMB (700,000) yuan per year, disclosing that they host more than thirty thousand (30,000) guests each year.
Baima explained that as a way of ensuring the continuation of their business and attracting more tourists to visit their village, they always ensure to protect the native inhabitants in the environment and maintain the natural features of the village.
Upon a visit inside one of the local hotels, it was discovered that the inside of the buildings are being designed with local hand work furniture’s which make the place very attractive as the natural beauty of the timbers used are being displayed.
Bait said that they usually receive stipends from the central government which also adds to their savings and in turn transform their lives for a better and meaningful one, adding that despite tourism most of them also rely on agriculture and other forms of businesses.
Almost all the houses in the mountain village of Lulang are being run as local hotels by their respective owners together with their family members who serve as workers and attend to guests so that they resources will just be rotated within the same family.
It was further disclosed that from their savings they can now afford to pay for their children’s university education after completing their free high school education.
By Alhaji M.Kamara in Beijing
Friday July 15, 2016
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