Shangri-La City in Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture is among the four Yunnan localities that were recommended as candidates for having good roads in rural areas across the country, the other three being Luliang, Heqing and Chuxiong, according to information released by Yunnan transport authority on August 19.

At present, Shangri-La has already been taken as a provincial example for its performance in building up sound rural roads. The county-level roads in Shangri-La are 100% asphalt ones, and all the roads linking up villages are easily accessible. As a result, the sense of well-being among villagers has been further enhanced, facilitating rural revitalization and poverty alleviation in Shangri-La.

The final winners for rural roads that are well-constructed, well-managed, well-maintained and well-operated will each be granted a subsidy of 10 million yuan from the Ministry of Transport, with another 10 million given by the provincial transport authority.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012, Xi Jinping has called on government at all levels to ensure good rural roads. In January 2014, Xi praised efforts to improve conditions for the Derung and enhance their lifestyle. He congratulated the Derung on the yet-to-be-completed highway to Dulongjiang and sent his wishes for a better life to the ethnic group in northwest Yunnan.

Source: Shangri-La News App, with input from chinadaily.com.cn; trans-editing by Wang Shixue