No ethnic group should be left behind

Lisu Autonomous Prefecture of Nujiang is located in northwestern Yunnan Province. It administers four county-level areas: Lushui city, Fugong county, Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, and Lanping Bai and Pumi Autonomous County.

Home to 22 ethnic groups, including the Lisu, Nu, Dulong and Pumi, Nujiang has more ethnic groups, and more ethnic groups with relatively small populations, than any other autonomous prefecture in China.

More than 98 percent of the prefecture is mountainous, forming a dramatic landscape of deep gorges and high mountains, with "four mountain ranges embracing three rivers." In the past, the saying "The Nujiang River flows on and on, with a single zipline linking its two banks" was a vivid reflection of daily life and work.

In 2007, a photograph captured two Lisu sisters, Yu Chunhua and Yu Caimei of Majimi village in Maji township, Fugong county, crossing the river on a zipline during their arduous journey to school.

From 2011 to 2016, with support from the central government, Nujiang carried out two phases of a project to replace ziplines with bridges along the Nujiang, Lancang and Dulong rivers. Forty-two pairs of ziplines were replaced with 36 cross-river bridges, greatly easing the difficulties faced by residents living on both sides of the three rivers.

On Dec. 30, 2018, the Qiaoma Bridge, built with assistance from the Yunnan Daily Press Group, was completed after more than nine months of construction. It solved the long-standing difficulty of crossing the river for residents of the Qiaomaga village group in Majimi village.

"With the bridge, we no longer have to cross the river by zipline," Yu Chunhua said. "Our lives have changed dramatically over the years."

To date, 16 cross-river bridges have been built in Maji township, and roads now reach villages and households. Yu Chunhua has become a rural health worker, while Yu Caimei returned to her hometown to grow caoguo, a ginger-like spice, earning her family about 20,000 yuan ($3,000) in additional income each year.

Dulongjiang township in Gongshan county is the main settlement of the Dulong ethnic group, one of China's ethnic groups with a relatively small population. Due to harsh natural conditions and other constraints, the area was once among the poorest and least developed places in Yunnan and even in China.

In early 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, gave important instructions as the Gaoligong Mountain tunnel on the Dulongjiang Highway was nearing completion. He encouraged the Dulong people to "work harder to reduce poverty" and said, "I hope you will live a 'moderately prosperous' life together with other ethnic groups as early as possible."

In April that year, the tunnel opened, ending the days when heavy snow cut the Dulong people off from the outside world for nearly half the year.

On Jan. 20, 2015, during a meeting with officials and local residents from Gongshan county in Kunming, Yunnan Province, Xi said, "No single ethnic minority group should be left behind in the country's building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects."

By the end of 2018, the Dulong ethnic group as a whole had been lifted out of poverty, achieving a historic transformation from poverty and backwardness to moderate prosperity.

In May 2022, a 35-kilovolt power grid interconnection project in Dulongjiang township, operated by China Southern Power Grid, was officially put into service, ending the township's history of unstable electricity supply. Today, homestays and guesthouses are flourishing. Rising electricity demand year after year is a clear reflection of the increasing convenience of local life and the continued upgrading of production methods.

Dulong blankets are among the most distinctive handicrafts of the Dulong ethnic group. Li Yuhua, a resident of Dizhengdang village, established a cooperative for weaving and processing Dulong blankets. She has led women in the village in preserving the traditional craft while developing cultural and creative products such as scarves and shoulder bags, which have proved popular with tourists.

In 2025, per capita net income in Dulongjiang township reached 20,425 yuan, up 1.02 percent year on year, as people's well-being continued to improve steadily.

In April 2019, Xi wrote back to residents of Dulongjiang township in Gongshan county, congratulating the Dulong ethnic group on being lifted out of poverty as a whole and encouraging them to continue working together for a happier and better life. "Poverty eradication is only the first step; better days are yet to come," he wrote.

He Shancong, deputy general manager of the Gongshan Power Supply Bureau of China Southern Power Grid's Yunnan Nujiang branch, said that, inspired by the spirit of Xi's reply, "we will work together to build our hometown well and safeguard the border areas, and create an even better tomorrow with our own hardworking hands."