A Picturesque Mountain Village

Longzhou County, in Chongzuo City, Guangxi, lies on the southwestern frontier of China, bordering Vietnam. Because of its unique geographic location, Longzhou County has suffered through several wars over the course of history. Its economy was left with a weak foundation, and poverty was widespread and severe, making it a key county in the national poverty alleviation and development program. In 2015, the CPC Central Committee called for a decisive victory in the battle against poverty, sounding the charge for the campaign. Longzhou County responded enthusiastically, as officials and residents united to overcome the challenges ahead! With assistance from Heshan, Jiangmen, Guangdong, the county began developing rural industries to fight poverty, while also relocating residents to new homes so they could escape poverty without abandoning the borderlands they guarded. In just three years, the poverty-stricken border region was transformed. Longzhou fired the opening shot in Guangxi’s campaign to lift nationally designated poor counties out of poverty! Families left their miserable homes behind, broke free from the roots of poverty, and moved into happy new communities. This portrait of a mountain region transformed tells the stories of countless borderland residents striving to prosper, the exemplary deeds of poverty alleviation officials such as Yang Tao, and the remarkable stories of young locals such as Liang Jianshu and Li Yuexiu, who went from being poor villagers to “chairmen” and business owners.