“Do you know what’s new in the poverty alleviation efforts in Weixi County?” 

“It’s the awards of steeds and snails.”
“Right! Thanks to theses awards, Weixi is on the right track towards targeted poverty alleviation.”

It was sunny day in early November when villagers were having a lively talk with visiting Yunnan Daily reporters at a little courtyard of Deng Xuesheng, a native folk in Juxiang village of Weixi Lisu Autonomous County, northwest Yunnan’s Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. 

Weixi holds the key in Diqing's battle against poverty. In recent years, the county has focused on resettlement, industrial cultivation, ecological conservation, health care, educational empowerment, renovation of dilapidated homes, and implementing major projects. Also, the county management tried new and encouraging ways to fight against poverty. 

Since 2018, the steed awards have been annually granted to the superior towns, villages, families and figures in targeted poverty alleviation, while the snail awards have been given to the inferior ones who made snow progress in the drive. 

Deng Xuesheng is one of the steed-award winners because all his three daughters have been admitted to universities in succession in the past years. With the eldest daughter studying in Sichuan University, Deng is seen as a model to overcome poverty through education. 

Cared by local authorities, Deng now works as a security guard in a local ethnic primary school, while his wife serves as a forest ranger in the village. The couple also plant corns and medical herbs. With three would-be white collar worker in the future, the Deng’s are well on their way towards prosperity.

"I want to have the steed award kept longer at my home for,” said another winner Li Xueqiang, a villager from the Juxiang village, Yongchun Township. Li recalled the proud expressions of the steed-award winners last year, as well as the embarrassed faces of the snail-award winners.

With a new road reaching his home, Li Xueqiang also bought a motorbike with 7,380 yuan this year. The family was once impoverished. In the targeted poverty-alleviation drive, Li and his wife were inspired and they worked hard as migrant workers in the past years. Now they have bettered off greatly, with their extra money given to daughters-in-law.

In a poverty-alleviation workshop on October 14, the attendees were impressed by a Weixi family surnamed He: Three of the four siblings in the family have difficulty in speaking, but they worked hard on their farm. Now the family has a deposit of over 200,000 yuan. Their story of success encouraged the steed-award winners and the snail-award winners alike.

Expecting more leading steeds in poverty relief, the Weixi authorities are trying the measures below. The first is to increase care to those in need, the ones seriously ill and the disabled. The second is to improve the living environment in rural areas. The third is to provide villagers with affordable home appliances such as TVs cupboards and shoe cases. Job-training for locals will be strengthened.

Reporting by Xiong Yan, Chu Donghua, Li Hengqiang and Li Wenjun; trans-editing by Wang Shixue