Derung people celebrate the Kaquewa Festival, the most important festival for the Derung ethnic group, in Yunnan Nationalities Village in Kunming, capital city of Yunnan Province, on January 1 (CNSPHOTO)

Mu Xiaolong, a 31-year-old from the Derung ethnic group, took part in the shooting of an online Spring Festival gala in January. Unlike the grand gala broadcast live by Central China Television on the Lunar New Year's Eve, which fell on January 24 this year, this online gala was recorded days before.

For the recording, Mu traveled all the way from Dulongjiang Township in southwest China's Yunnan Province to Langfang, a city in Hebei Province neighboring Beijing. The trip took him about three days.

Mu carried local specialties including herbs, honey, mushroom, ethnic clothes and crafts to the gala from his township. Appearing in traditional Derung dress, Mu demonstrated and promoted the specialties in the program. Derung, an ethnic group unknown to many before, has drawn increasing attention since 2018 for creating a miracle in poverty alleviation.

Harsh conditions

Dulongjiang Township, named after the Dulong River winding through it, is nestled in snow-capped mountains bordering Myanmar. Majority of the residents are from the Derung ethnic group, one of the ethnic minorities in China with a small population.

Before the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Derung people in the township still lived in primitive conditions. For a long time after 1949, it remained one of the poorest areas in China. Every year, heavy snow blocked the township to the outside world for about half a year. Even without the snow, it was extremely hard to travel out of the township as there were no roads. Landslides, avalanches and wild animal attacks added to the hardship.

But over the past three decades, things have changed. The story of Mu, a resident of Dulongjiang, is an epitome of this township's development. When Mu was in primary school, the town only had a small school with three grades. For the fourth grade and up, the children there could only attend school at the seat of Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, which the township belongs to. The whole trip, although less than 100 km, took over three days on foot. Another choice was to slide along a steel wire above the roaring Dulong River, which was very dangerous.

In 2000, Mu moved to the county seat of Gongshan for higher grades and had to travel on foot. To do so, he had to be in the company of one or two adults. They carried tents and food to last three days.

Since the township would be blocked by snow for almost half a year, Mu and other students from the township had no choice but to live in the county seat all through the winter and go back to the township during summer vacation.

Things got better when Mu reached high school. With the road connecting the township and the county seat being paved, the trip was shortened to about 10 hours, but it was still a long trip.

After high school, Mu was enrolled in South-Central University for Nationalities in Wuhan, capital city of Hubei Province. After graduation, he chose to return to his hometown. In 2014, he started to work in the township government. Also in that year, a tunnel that connects the township to the outside was put into operation, ending the history of snow blockades in the area.

The tunnel heralded a new era for the township. With the tunnel, the township was accessible throughout the year and it further shortened the trip to the county seat to less than three hours.

The easy access brought new things in as well. Tourists and business people from other places in China started to explore this land of idyllic beauty. The unique history and culture of Derung people became known to more people since then.

A Derung family in Dulongjiang Township, Yunnan Province, dress up for a family photo on January 15 (CNSPHOTO)

Into the new world

In 2018, the Derung ethnic group shook off poverty, a miracle for a township with such unfavorable natural and transportation conditions.

Many factors have contributed to this miracle. The amomum tsao-ko, a spice and medicinal herb that is well-suited for the local climate, is a major one.

In 2007, Gao Derong, former head of the township, started to lead the locals to plant this herb. He offered free training and seeds to villagers, encouraging them to join this project.

"Now, every household in the township plants the herb," Mu told ChinAfrica. "My family plants about one hectare of the herb, which can fetch over 30,000 yuan ($4,285) each year for us."

Mu said as his mother is the only one working on the farm in the family, their income is relatively low compared with many other households in the town.

In 2019, there was more than 4,500 hectares of amomum tsao-ko farmland in Dulongjiang, with the output value of about 11.25 million yuan ($1.6 million), according to Mu.

Other local specialties including honey, ethnic clothing and crafts have also been picked up by the locals to increase their income. For example, Derung blankets with bright colored stripes, are gaining market in big cities.

"The township nowadays is a brandnew world," Mu said. "Many new houses have been erected. Every family has moved into a new house. Each village in the township has been connected with roads. With more tourists swarming in, some local people have renovated their houses into restaurants and inns."

In the early 2000s, a school covering six years of elementary and three years of secondary education was set up in the township. Children don't have to travel to the county seat for further education. With Internet and 4G network, the township's involvement with the outside world has further increased.

Local people now sell their products online. "After the gala program was broadcast, some companies have partnered with us to develop online business," Mu said.

Now, the 4G network covers the entire township, which is accessible to quite a few delivery service providers. "We are ready to bring more products from our township to more places in the country," Mu said.

(Comments to zanjifang@chinafrica.cn)