China's poorest province: Guizhou is on the rapid rise

[terranMarine]

mesmerizing, the expressway and bridge infrastructure built on the roof of the world man what a view.

 

[AndrewJin]

mesmerizing, the expressway and bridge infrastructure built on the roof of the world man what a view.

These developments are the underpinnings of Guizhou's urbanisation....
Guizhou still has one of the lowest urbanisation rate in China.

 

[AndrewJin]

Shuanglong village in Longli County
(double dragon)

@Götterdämmerung pretty much against the idea of building parks within communities

 

[beijingwalker]

Tremendous Changes Occur in Ragged Guizhou in 5 Years

 

[AndrewJin]

Tremendous Changes Occur in Ragged Guizhou in 5 Years

Development and progress in China's poorest province is the best gift for the motherland.

 

[terranMarine]

being the poorest province and yet have infra like this

I rather live here than you know where

 

[AndrewJin]

being the poorest province and yet have infra like this

View attachment 428865

View attachment 428866

I rather live here than you know where

China's poorest province has high-speed railways 800km. Will be 1500km at the end of 13th 5-year-plan

 

[TaiShang]

Relocating to a Better Life

Guizhou resettles its impoverished people in areas with better conditions

By WANG HAIRONG | NO. 40-41 OCTOBER 5, 2017

The Qianhuyizhai resettlement area in Liupanshui (DONG FANG)

For decades, 48-year-old Ye Peng resided in a remote and poverty-stricken village in Caiguan Town in Guizhou Province.

Deep in the mountains, in Guankou village, he led a simple life, supported by corn planting. Life, already hard enough, took a downward turn about a decade ago when his wife fell seriously ill. With medical bills to foot and two school-aged children to support, the family plunged into dire poverty.

Nonetheless, a turnaround in his fortune took place this year. In April, he and his family moved into a newly furnished apartment in Caiguan Town, at no cost, under a poverty alleviation relocation program, Ye told Beijing Review. In addition to a new home, Ye was also offered a job as a security guard in the town, earning 1,500 yuan ($227.9) per month.

Speaking of his new life, Ye said "Life is convenient. Shops and a drug store are right across the street." The neighborhood for resettled residents boasts a number of modern amenities. A recreation area for children, with colorful images of the Monkey King and dragons, is located at the end of the street. A spacious and well-furnished afterschool care center offers children free services, and seniors can entertain themselves at a seniors' activity center next door to the afterschool care center.

Settled down

Guizhou is a mountainous province whose hills account for more than 92 percent of its total area. Many impoverished people in the province live in areas with inhospitable natural conditions.

During the period of the country's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20), Guizhou plans to relocate more than 1.6 million people, or nearly one third of all impoverished people in the province, out of areas where the environment can no longer support them. In 2016, 458,000 people were already relocated, according to the Poverty Alleviation and Development Office of Guizhou Province.

The relocation is voluntary, said Xu Min, an official with the Guizhou Provincial Government. Leaflets have been distributed to farmers to inform them of relevant supportive government policies.

The government's subsidies vary according to the conditions of individual cases. Each person in a relocated impoverished household with income below the poverty line can receive a relocation subsidy of 20,000 yuan ($3,040), while each person in households above the poverty line can receive 12,000 yuan ($1,823). In addition, those who have signed a relocation and housing demolition agreement, under which their land will be reclaimed for farming, will receive a reward of 15,000 yuan ($2,280). Relocated residents can lease their farmland out. The government will provide free housing for extremely poor households, while the property rights of such homes are retained by the government.

Xu Caicai, a 20-year-old woman and her younger brother, Xu Yajun, have been offered free housing in the resettlement neighborhood in Caiguan Town. Xu just graduated from a vocational school and is looking for a job. Her younger brother is still in school. Xu's father is disabled, and her mother works in an aluminum factory in Shanghai. Financial commitments such as school tuition costs strained the family's finances.

They moved into the new apartment this March, and their mother plans to join them later this year and take a job at a factory on the ground floor of their apartment building. Previously, the family could only get together once a year.

Workers make gloves in a factory in the resettlement area in Caiguan Town, Guizhou Province, on September 8 (WANG HAIRONG)

Working close to home

The ground floors of the resettlement buildings in Xu's neighborhood house a police station, a drug store, shops and factories. Some resettled residents work right under their apartments.

Forty-four-year-old Xu Daijun is employed at a glove-making factory just a stone's-throw from her home, making 2,000 yuan ($394) per month. Her husband, disabled by an injury he sustained while working in a coal mine, stays at home. Her young children attend a primary school and kindergarten nearby. She used to live in the vicinity of a coal mine, but as the mine was hollowed out, the ground fractured and was unsafe to live on, so they moved to Caiguan Town half a year ago.

"The resettlement areas are reasonably chosen so that relocated impoverished people can find jobs and get out of poverty," Xu Min said. Relevant organizations learned of the employment needs of residents and the education needs of their children before the relocation so as to plan the resettlement areas accordingly.

Resettlement areas are usually built close to cities, industrial parks and scenic areas, according to the Poverty Alleviation and Development Office of Guizhou Province. The Qianhuyizhai resettlement area in Shuicheng County in Liupanshui has been designed with employment creation in mind. The area is located in the picturesque Yeyuhai scenic area.

"The area is designed to accommodate 4,123 impoverished persons in 1,006 households," said Yi Na, a tour guide dressed in traditional attire of the Yi ethnic group. As Guizhou seeks to ensure that at least one individual in every poor household has employment, 1,150 persons will be provided with jobs in the scenic area with an average monthly salary of more than 2,000 yuan ($304) each, Xu Min said.

The houses are designed and built to serve both as residences and tourist facilities. They feature a blend of modern architecture and traditional Yi ethnic architectural elements such as adobe walls, thatched roofs and totems. Revenue generated from the houses is split between the constructors, property management and households, according to the share of their investment.

Poverty-stricken residents are encouraged to engage in the development of tourism commodities, performance of ethnic songs and dances, catering services, Chinese herbal medicine and other specialty products, Xu Min said.

"The residents were originally from six surrounding townships that are relatively poor, have no access to water, electricity supplies or modern roads, and are vulnerable to natural disasters such as mudslides. After relocation, they live in a better environment. The scenery is very beautiful. They no longer need to toil in fields. By working only eight hours per day, their salary can reach above the poverty line," Yi said.

Luo Liufei moved to the resettlement area from Faer Township in Shuicheng County in Liupanshui. She used to plant corn but could only earn 3,000 yuan ($456) per year. After relocating, she leased all her land out, which generates the same amount of money as when she farmed it herself. In her new neighborhood, she works as a storekeeper, making 2,000 yuan ($304) per month, while her husband makes the same amount by working as a security guard.

Zhao Yinxi, a middle-aged man, is also satisfied with his new life. Currently, he works as a security guard, while his wife is a cleaner. Their total annual income has more than tripled compared to what they previously earned by cultivating corn in the mountains. The couple's home, built at the foot of a hill, overlooks a lake with a large stretch of green meadow on its banks. Black goats graze on the meadow, and children merrily run around.

Poverty alleviation through relocation is being carried out not only in Guizhou, but also across the nation. Premier Li Keqiang stressed the importance of this program at a conference on this topic held on September 16-17 in Dazhou, Sichuan Province. He said that the program is important for promoting supply-side structural reform, shoring up weak links in poverty-stricken areas and winning the battle against poverty.

He affirmed the achievements that various localities have made in this regard. He pointed out that reasonable arrangements should be made for the scale and progress of relocation projects, project quality should be ensured and project fund management should be standardized. He said efforts should be made in expanding production, creating jobs and increasing incomes, so that every relocated household can get out of poverty.

http://www.bjreview.com.cn/Nation/201709/t20170928_800105756.html

 

[JSCh]

The Big Picture: China deals with widening wealth gap
CGTN's Hou Na
2017-10-07 14:49 GMT+8
Updated 2017-10-07 22:36 GMT+8

Her smile is perhaps the most touching and warm smile I’ve ever seen. At eighty-two years old, Zhang Zhengying feels she's never had it so good.

On the day Zhang Zhengying moves from her old house to the new one. /CGTN Photo

For decades, she lived in a shabby stone house less than ten square meters located in the mountainous area of Guizhou Province, southwest China.

There, she brought her children and grandchildren up.

Honestly, I was quite shocked when I visited her old house.

I couldn’t believe that such a humble house could burden Zhang Zhengying’s whole families and the pigs she raised too.

Zhang Zhengying’s old house /CGTN Photo

But now she lives in a two-story house with her own garden and she said planting and cooking are her greatest joys of the day.

Zhang Zhengying sits in front of her new house. /CGTN Photo

Poverty remains a significant problem in Guizhou Province. The lack of water and fertile land in the mountainous area has hindered local development.

So Guizhou has decided to relocate its resources to new residential areas in poor mountain communities.

In 2016, the provincial government set up a goal of transferring 1.3 million people by 2020.

For many beneficiaries of the policy like Zhang Zhengying, the move indicates a dream come true.

Zhang Zhengying picks vegetables at her own garden. /CGTN Photo

There are 50 new villages like this in Dafang County of Bijie city in Guizhou Province, for relocating over ten thousand villagers from 3,500 families who lived in harsh conditions before.

But it's not enough to just build new houses. It's more important to teach people the skills they need to make a living.

Villages newly build for relocating villagers living under the poverty line. /CGTN Photo

Zhang Zhengying's son now works in the greenhouses, to grow vegetables.

It's part of the plan to help the farmers earn a living with their own hands.

Funding from local governments and enterprises has helped locals set up a complete industrial chain to make this possible.

Wang Kun from Evergrande Group which is a major sponsor of the project said his company has invested 3 billion yuan to Dafang County, providing aid to people living in impoverished conditions, ranging from subsidies to support startups.

Agriculture greenhouse built by Evergrande Group /CGTN Photo

Zhang Zhengying's family was among many living under the poverty line and struggling to get by.

A Pew Center survey released last year found that the majority of respondents in the 44 nations polled described the gap between the rich and the poor as a big problem for their countries.

A study by Peking University last year showed that the top 1 percent of families owned one-third of the nation's wealth in 2012, while the bottom 25 percent had only about 1 percent.

CGTN’s Hou Na interviews Zhang Zhengying and her son. /CGTN Photo

In China, income inequality has become a key issue, while the country enjoyed rapid economic growth for more than three decades to become the world's second largest economy. China still has 70 million rural people living below the poverty line.

The top leadership has urged governments at all levels to beef up what it calls "precision" relief measures as the country has set a target to eradicate poverty by 2020.

 

[AndrewJin]

Development and new transport projects are reshaping Guizhou's tourist industry

 

[AndrewJin]

Are you kidding me?
Guiyang City in 2017

Yesteryear
Guiyang's urban slums

the new commercial area
Ghost town according to western MSM
built on former slums

Good morning!
5am in Guiyang's old city centre

The old city downtown：people's square

This is a great example of Singapore's housing model.....
Thankfully those disgusting slums have been turned into affordable housing for all

Big centre precinct

Recreation park in Huaxi district

Technology precinct

Lakes in the suburbs and Shanghai-Kunming Expressway

Expressway in the countryside of Guiyang Prefecture

City in the park of park in the city?
Huaxi district

@war&peace @Götterdämmerung @Godman @Kaptaan @AViet @BDforever @TaiShang @terranMarine @anant_s @Piotr @Götterdämmerung et al

 

[Indus Pakistan]

@AndrewJin Thanks for these threads. They really are inspiring. To my mind the greatest religious venture on the earth is the drive to provide economic security to people. The lifting of millions in China from poverty and underdevelopment to what looks to me first world - although frankly China looks more cleaner and tidy then anything we have in UK. I love parks and the highlight of my day is the jog in my local park. Those parks in Chinese cities are so attractive. Like little havens of peace.

 

[AndrewJin]

continued
Guiyang in 2017

Those Chinese who once laughed at Southwest China's backwater crappy slum city can eat grass now!
No joke, this is still in Guiyang City
Longli Grassland on the mountains

Guiyang conference centre

Confucius school in Guiyang

Farming in the suburbs
and a high-speed railway in the background

Xifeng County is under administration of Guiyang City
and.....Guiyang- Chongqing high-speed railway under construction!!!

Another county Xiuwen in the countryside of Guiyang
Massive redevelopment everywhere

@AndrewJin Thanks for these threads. They really are inspiring. To my mind the greatest religious venture on the earth is the drive to provide economic security to people. The lifting of millions in China from poverty and underdevelopment to what looks to me first world - although frankly China looks more cleaner and tidy then anything we have in UK. I love parks and the highlight of my day is the jog in my local park. Those parks in Chinese cities are so attractive. Like little havens of peace.

Thank you, China's global vision is always about mutual development no matter what shits western MSM are preaching. If slums in Guiyang could be turned upside down, then anywhere in the world can make a total difference! My purpose of creating this thread tracking the development of China's poorest province is to prove alleviation of poverty can be done even in one of China's most backward places where karst landform and continuous mountains make it really difficult to develop!

I love parks and the highlight of my day is the jog in my local park. Those parks in Chinese cities are so attractive. Like little havens of peace.

Parks are the soul of cities, Chinese love to exercise in the morning and after dinner, grandmas and aunties will do square dance at night, lol
Even in big cities like Shanghai and Beijing, gigantic parks are everywhere.
@Götterdämmerung is alway against such design in Chinese cities though....
I disagree!

 

[Indus Pakistan]

places where karst landform and continuous mountains make it really difficult to develop!

I can tell from the pictures that it's karst landscape - which although difficult makes for dramatic scenery. I cannot think of a greater quest and nobler thing than raising entire populations from poverty to development. I gives me hope for my country of orgin. It hurts me deeply when I see my people living in poverty and chaos. I don't give a rats a*ss about religion, ism, this ism, other ism. The greatest service you can do to human being is to address his wants. And China has done this spectacularly. I don't we have seen so much done in such less time than any other time in history. In this sense CCP has presided over the greatest human good done in human history.

Now I only can hope that this can be brought to Pakistan via CPEC. Seeing the change in China makes me believe anything is possible.

 

[AndrewJin]

Continued
Guiyang in 2017

Against all odds
This is not the countryside, but flyover in the city centre

Construction site on the right along the Guiyang-Guangzhou High-speed Railway

Nanming River, Guiyang City's soul
Just half a decade ago,
it was about filth, dirt, rubbish, industrial pollution and the shame of an ancient city

Southwest China trade centre

Suburb of Guangshan Lake

Wind and rain bridges at the site of former slums
Modernity can be cultural

Guiyang's symbolic pavilion

JUST a public park in downtown Guiyang

Preserved ancient town in Guiyang's southern suburb

Southern suburbs