Ethnic Culture Empowers Local Livelihood as Life Moves beyond Poverty into Prosperity

BEIJING, April 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report from China.org.cn on Ethnic culture development:

In Gaohua Village, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Guizhou Province, the mysterious Yao medicated bath enjoys wide fame. Zhao Caixian and Zhao Zhenghua, a couple born in the 1980s, keep themselves busy amid these remote mountains every day.

Early in the morning, Zhao Caixian brings back several rice-field fish from the fields and begins preparing the day's meals in the kitchen. Meanwhile, Zhao Zhenghua tidies up the guest rooms while looking after their children. This place is both their home and an inn run by the couple. In Gaohua Village, visitors can enjoy delicious local food without stepping out, and experience a soothing wellness journey.

During busy farming seasons, Zhao Zhenghua also works in the fields, and the family always has surplus grain throughout the year. Not far away at a herbal processing site, Zhao Caixian turns over drying Chinese medicinal herbs, which are made into bath packs and sold across the country -- an extra income stream from the village cooperative.

The deafening sound of blunderbusses echoes through the mountains… This is Basha Miao Village in Guizhou, home to many authentic Miao cultural customs. The men of Basha have always carried powder shotguns and knives. With special permission to own firearms, Basha is also known as China's last gunmen's tribe.

Gun Lawang, the village head, leads a villagers' performance group every day. On this day, a tourist from China's Hong Kong was invited to play the role of a "groom," reenacting the traditional Miao wedding customs.

The village has changed dramatically since embracing the cultural tourism boom. Recalling a fire that hit the village years ago, Gun Lawang is filled with mixed feelings.

Gun Lawang (Village chief of Basha Miao Village): When the fire broke out that year, transportation was cut off, there was no electricity, and we had to use torches for lighting at night. It was a difficult and impoverished time. But now, thanks to supportive policies, our living conditions have been greatly improved. Our houses are spacious and comfortable, and we have enough food, clothing, and shelter. We are living a very happy life.

In a blacksmith's shop in southwestern Yunnan Province, Li Chengqiang, a member of the Achang ethnic group, forges custom craft knives. Born into a blacksmith family in Husa Township, Li is part of the legacy that produces the famous Achang Husa knife.

Xiang Laosai is a national‑level intangible cultural heritage inheritor of the Achang Husa knife-making technique. Thirty-eight years of hammering have left him with hands much larger than those of ordinary people. He has taught apprentices in villages across the region -- those who forge blades, make sheaths, or carve characters on knives.

Xiang Laosai (A national inheritor of the Achang Husa knife making technique): Each knife we produce supports multiple households' livelihoods. Selling just one knife can improve the quality of life for many families. This drives us to continually innovate and invent.

Men sweat by the forges, while women move among tea bushes. Less than 100 kilometers from Husa, Santaishan Township is the hometown of De'ang sour tea, an intangible cultural heritage item. The De'ang people are known as "descendants of tea" and "time-honored tea farmers".

Yang Chunlan is the daughter of Yang Lasan, a national-level inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of De'ang sour tea production techniques. As a national lawmaker, she brought the sour tea and local woven fabric to Beijing during the annual "two sessions." Yang recognizes that this traditional craft is not only an ethnic cultural treasure but also a "golden key" for increasing income and prosperity among her fellow villagers.

Yang Chunlan (Prefecture-level representative inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of De'ang sour tea production techniques): Every year during the tea-picking season, I invite tea cooperative members to take the tea to me, and I settle the money for them daily. After several years of collaboration, many of the members who have worked with me have built new houses.

Modern industries have replaced slash-and-burn farming, and e-commerce has reached villages deep in the mountains. Today, the Achang and De'ang, both of which are ethnic groups that directly transitioned from the late primitive society to socialist society and have a relatively small population, have lifted their entire communities out of poverty.

Yanbian beef, pickled fish... As evening came, the long street banquet officially began. People of all ethnic groups sat together, toasting and chatting joyfully, as one big family.

Cai Hua, busy all day, finally joins the crowd to watch performances in Yongxing Town, Yanbian County, where the Lisu Kuoshi Festival -- the Lisu New Year -- is being celebrated.

This year marked the 12th year of holding the Kuoshi Festival celebrations, and the first time it was being held in the town instead of the village. From preparation to the final show, everyone worked together to let visitors experience the traditional Lisu New Year.

Gu Yan (President of the Lisu Ethnic Studies Association, Yanbian County, Panzhihua City,Sichuan Province): The outfit my niece is wearing is a more traditional vintage style, while mine is a modern take. Legend has it that our traditional clothes are made with flowers picked from seventy-seven mountains -- these flowers are the heart and soul of our garments. The red and white stripes represent the mountains and rivers the Lisu people have traveled through.

In recent years, Yanbian County has built a Lisu ethnic costume intangible cultural heritage inheritance center and workshops, developed cultural and creative products, and sent ethnic clothing onto international fashion runways, showing true cultural confidence.

No grand rhetoric -- only diligent hands seizing new development opportunities. In the past, "no one should be left behind" was a promise that no one would be abandoned on the road to poverty alleviation. Today, "striving forward together" is the shared journey of all ethnic groups toward common prosperity. Together, they are walking this road wider and farther.

Ethnic Culture Empowers Local Livelihood as Life Moves beyond Poverty into Prosperity

http://v.china.com.cn/feelofchina/2026-04/30/content_118469668.htm

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SOURCE China.org.cn