Cleanup project revives rundown village in Yuanyang

Gao Meihua was nerve-wracked as she stared at hundreds of audience members from more than 20 countries during the Xianghu Dialogue, an event held by the World Tourism Alliance in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, in November.

It was the first time the 39-year-old had left her hometown in Yuanyang county, Honghe prefecture, in Yunnan province. She had been selected to represent Azheke, her home village, to share the story of how her life had changed after the Azheke project was introduced in 2018, with the aim of alleviating poverty, conserving the culture of the Hani ethnic group and protecting the environment.

Gao got carsick during her first interprovincial journey, and had to adapt to the different food and climate.

Standing on the stage, she stammered when the microphone was passed to her, but she still managed to deliver a speech she had spent a long time preparing.

"I was born and raised as a member of the Hani people. Before the Azheke project, my husband and I had to work outside the village and couldn't take care of our home. Now, I work near my house, so I am able to provide for my children and elderly family members. Our living conditions are much better. My job is where my home is, and my home is where I have a job. I am proud to be able to do something for my village," she said in her speech.

Azheke lies deep in the mountains on the outskirts of Yuanyang, where it sits amid the millennium-old Hani rice terraces, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Hani architecture is characterized by thatched, mushroom-shaped houses, while the foggy, humid climate gives the village the appearance of emerging from a bank of rolling clouds, surrounded by vast swathes of watery terraced fields that cascade down steep slopes.

Azheke is a tourism hot spot. The beautiful scenery attracts numerous visitors who want to experience traditional Hani culture, and photographers who are keen to capture shots of the terraced rice fields as they shimmer at sunrise and sunset.

However, according to locals and researchers from Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, who started the Azheke project, the village has not always been neat and pretty.

Gao recalled that when she was a girl, rubbish was scattered across the roads, and people built their houses in a disorderly fashion without any unified standards.

"No one really knew about hygiene," she said.

Ma Yuerou, a postgraduate student involved with the project, said that when members of the research team first visited the village in 2018, they discovered that most of the young people had left to seek jobs elsewhere. That meant very few people remained in the village, and this caused several problems.

The most obvious issue was that no one was tending the terraced fields, which affected the entire mountain landscape. If the fields were left uncultivated for a year or two, the dry soil would crack, and when it rained, the good soil would be washed down the hillside, causing serious losses.

Meanwhile, as more and more people left Azheke, the festival culture, traditional customs and architecture could not be preserved.

"Most of the migrant workers turned their ancient thatched chambers into concrete houses when they had earned enough money. There were no traditional houses to be seen," Ma said.

On important days, the Hani would butcher cows or pigs, which was an important way of maintaining social connections in the village. However, as more people left Azheke to work, this "ritual" of socializing disappeared, she added.

After learning about the situation, Bao Jigang, the team leader and a geography professor at the university, tailored a nonprofit plan for the village. A tourism company was established and managed by the research team, the villagers and young cadres from the local government. The company mobilized villagers to renovate Azheke and operate tourist services. All the income generated was paid to the villagers in the form of an annual dividend.

In order to earn the dividend, the villagers have to follow rules. For example, they cannot rent, sell or demolish traditional buildings, accept external funding or abandon their traditions.

"The protection of traditional villages is the primary prerequisite," Ma said. She added that the requirements to claim the dividend are aimed at protecting the village to the greatest extent. Seventy percent of the company's annual revenue is given to the village, and residents can earn differing amounts for cultivating the terraced fields and never leaving them fallow; maintaining the traditional thatched houses instead of rebuilding them with concrete and steel; using the village as their primary residence; and for being residents in the village via hukou, or household registration.

Gao returned to Azheke in 2018, and when she learned about the project at a village meeting, she decided to quit her job in town and apply for a position with the tourism company. Having completed junior high school－a relatively high level of education for the village－her ability to speak good Mandarin quickly made her one of the most popular tour guides.

She said the project has helped improve environmental and sanitary awareness, and the rice fields are now much better protected.

"We know our terraced fields and traditional villages are precious. They are also the reason why so many people want to come and visit. We will continue to grow crops in the fields and maintain our traditional mushroom-shaped houses," Gao said.

She added that the project had given her the opportunity to leave her home province for the first time. Although the journey was rough, it was the most unforgettable experience of her life so far.

"I was very nervous, so the speech was not good. But I still felt honored and proud. If I were a student and assigned the essay 'My most unforgettable experience', I would definitely write about it," she said.

Photos by Yunnan Daily reporters