Formerly deeply impoverished village in Guizhou province transforms itself

A paved road to a section of Lashu village, Shuiwei Sui Autonomous Township, Rongjiang county, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture, Guizhou province (Xinhua/Yang Ying)

Located in Moon Mountain Conservation Area, Lashu village, Shuiwei Sui Autonomous Township, Rongjiang county, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture, Guizhou province is located more than 50 km from the county seat. The village has a 93.6 percent forest coverage rate and is home to 652 residents in 142 households. Formerly deeply impoverished, Lashu had a high poverty rate and limited industry prior to 2014.

In recent years, concerted efforts have been made to eradicate poverty in Lashu in a manner that is in alignment with local conditions. Public service positions involving forestry, road maintenance, water protection, and other areas have been created; residents have been encouraged to grow Uncaria rhynchophylla , oil-tea camellia, Gastrodia elata and Isatis root; wasp keeping and forestry have been pursued in the buffer zone of the Moon Mountain Conservation Area; Lashu’s collective economy has become more developed; and arrangements have been made for 260 people to work outside the village. Paved roads, electric power facilities, broadband internet, and other infrastructure has also been constructed, and all of the households in the village that were once impoverished have emerged from poverty.