Combination photo shows the construction site for the Shenhai wetland park in Dongshentou Village of Shuocheng District, Shuozhou, north China's Shanxi Province (top, undated file photo); and an aerial view of the wetland park after its construction (bottom, photo taken on July 7, 2020 by Cao Yang). Dongshentou Village used to rely solely on agriculture to support its economy. The Shenhai wetland park is one of the local efforts to develop tourism and relieve poverty. The recent poverty relief efforts by Shanxi Province include: make road networks access to rural villages, relocate rural residents to better housing, afforest barren lands with green trees, and stimulate employment by developing tourism. Without these, the province's many plateau and mountain villages would have remained impoverished due to lack of decent roads and arable lands, plus the ensuing loss of labour force and industrial diversity. By February 2020, a total of 7,993 villages in all of the 58 impoverished counties in Shanxi have shaken off poverty, with the incidence of poverty dropping to less than 0.1 percent. (Xinhua)
