Rural Development: Tourism helps De'ang people prosper in China's Yunnan Province

As the only township for De'ang people in southwest China's Yunnan province, Santaishan, with its mountainous terrain and limited industry, was once an extremely poor area. Our reporter Zheng Songwu visits the town to understand how the tourism industry has benefited the De'ang people.

The De'ang are a minority ethnic group living in the Yunnan Province. Over 4,600 of them live in Santaishan township, accounting for 60 percent of its population. In 2020, the De'ang people were lifted out of poverty, five years after China released its poverty-alleviation policy.

ZHENG SONGWU Chudonggua Village, Santaishan Township, Yunnan Province "This is Chudonggua village where over 1,000 De'ang people live. The tourism industry has been showcasing the De'ang people's traditions, like unique buildings and sour tea since 2019."

Cooking for tourists is probably the happiest moment for Li Yuzhu, a woman working for a local homestay. She works with her partners to cook De'ang cuisine for tourists visiting the village. That has also increased her family's income.

LI YUZHU Resident, Chudonggua Village, Yunnan Province "I work here for seven or eight months every year and I can earn about two thousand yuan per month. So it's about over twenty thousand yuan a year."

Another resident of Chudonggua Village, Zhao Latui, once worked as a construction worker and ran a restaurant thereafter. But his income was low. He returned to the village in 2007 and converted his house into a homestay, combining sour tea and local cuisine to attract tourists. However, the tourism industry didn't flourish well then until the poverty alleviation policy was released in 2015.

ZHAO LATUI Resident, Chudonggua Village, Yunnan Province "Before the policy was released, my income was about thirty to fifty thousand yuan. But after that, my income increased to one hundred to three hundred thousand yuan. Under the policy, infrastructure like the road and buildings developed a lot. And that attracted more tourists."

Apart from tourism, residents of this village also plant nuts, pineapples, and sugarcane, which add to their income.

KANG YULONG Leader of Chudonggua Village, Yunnan Province "The per capita income of our village in 2014 was about four thousand yuan. In 2020, it was about 14,000. In 2023, that crossed 15,000 yuan."

Residents in Chudonggua say over the next few years, they will continue to showcase their traditional De'ang culture and lure tourists with novelties. That'll only go to make De'ang people's lives better.

Zheng Songwu, CGTN, Dehong, Yunnan Province.