Measures pave the way to bright future for residents

People in Dulongjiang township of Yunnan province celebrate after the breakthrough of a highway tunnel through a 3,000-meter mountain. The tunnel forms part of a highway connecting the township populated by the Derung people, China's smallest ethnic group, to the provincial highway network. Zhou Mingjia for China Daily

Over the past decade, I learned about the changes taking place in Dulongjiang township, Yunnan province, from my friend Gao Zhiying, a professor at Yunnan University.

Since 2001, Gao has stayed in Dulongjiang for at least one month each year to study the Derung ethnic group. She observes and records the growth of members of the second and third generations of families with whom she has developed a close friendship.

Asked what impressed her most during her recent visit, Gao replied, "Derung people are now actively taking part in the township's and the nation's development. They are taking the initiative to change their lives."

Her words inspired me to revisit the township this year.

In October 2012, my colleagues and I interviewed a number of Derung families living in low, dimly lit wooden houses. Potatoes and taros (edible plants) lay in fireplaces ready for lunch, while dirty clothes were hung out to dry.

Few locals could understand Mandarin, so local police officers often helped with interpretation work.

In January 2010, the provincial government announced a three-year plan to improve livelihoods, infrastructure, industry, social affairs and the environment, with investment of 250,000 yuan ($36,000) per person.

However, many residents felt that these measures had nothing to do with their lives. Some even refused to move from their dilapidated wooden houses to new homes.

Gao Derong, a former official in Dulongjiang, said the Communist Party of China devoted many resources to transform the township. "If the township had failed to progress, the Derung ethnic group would have returned to poverty," he said.

Local resident Song Xiulan, who was ill intermittently from 2009 to 2019, said she never thought about letting her three daughters drop out of school to start work. Above the girls' certificates of merit hanging on a wall at the family home, Song wrote, "The golden sun rises from the east and illuminates every corner of Dulongjiang."

She said the family received many offers of help from others, and she hopes that her children offer assistance in return.

The fact that women from the Derung ethnic group share the belief that education changes lives left a deep impression on me.