Anti-poverty efforts have turned Abuluoha Village in SW China from an isolated leprosarium into a promising rural community. In this set of images, photographer Jiang Hongjing captures the changes happening to and around local individuals and families over a 15-year time span. Meet them to visualize this great rural metamorphosis.
BUTUO, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Abuluoha, a village encompassed by mountains and cliffs, is located in a river valley about 60 kilometers from Butuo County in southwest China's Sichuan Province.
As its name in the native Yi language denotes, the village was once "a place off the beaten path," serving as an isolated treatment center for local leprosy patients in the 1960s. Years after the disease was eliminated in the area, Abuluoha became an administrative village in 2007.
With a population of merely 253 people, most of whom are of the Yi ethnic group, Abuluoha had long suffered from poverty and poor transport infrastructure due to the rugged mountainous terrain.
Driven by nationwide anti-poverty efforts, great changes have taken place in Abuluoha within years. Kids started to receive primary education when the village's very first school was established in 2005. The villagers gained access to safe drinking water and electricity supply in 2007 and 2010, respectively. By 2019, the village had been provided with full 4G network coverage.
On June 29, 2020, villagers moved out of thatch houses into concrete ones at a poverty-relief relocation site. The next day, the operation of a 3.8-kilometer road along cliffs and ravines put an end to the village's history without paved roads.
TOP: Naibao Merizuo, then 14, reads in front of her old residence in Abuluoha Village, Butuo County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 21, 2006.
BOTTOM: Naibao Merizuo (1st R), 28, poses for a group photo with her husband Qiesha Secong (1st L) and four children at their new home in Abuluoha Village on Dec. 25, 2020. (Xinhua/Jiang Hongjing)
TOP: Ada Meyouzha and her family members sit on the ground while having lunch in Abuluoha Village, Butuo County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Dec. 1, 2016.
BOTTOM: Ada Meyouzha (L), 23, has dinner at her new home in Abuluoha Village on Dec. 25, 2020. (Xinhua/Jiang Hongjing)
TOP: Ada Niuri (1st L) poses with his family members at their old residence in Abuluoha Village, Butuo County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, April 12, 2006.
BOTTOM: Ada Niuri (1st L), 38, poses for a group photo with his family members on Dec. 25, 2020. (Xinhua/Jiang Hongjing)
TOP: Ada Niuse poses for a photo on the wall of his old residence in Abuluoha Village, Butuo County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, April 12, 2006.
BOTTOM: Ada Niuse, 20, poses for a photo where he stood in the photo above, June 30, 2020. (Xinhua/Jiang Hongjing)
TOP: Jier Ziri poses for a photo in front of his old residence in Abuluoha Village, Butuo County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 13, 2005.
BOTTOM: Jier Ziri, 18, poses for a photo with his new home in Abuluoha Village on June 30, 2020. (Xinhua/Jiang Hongjing)
TOP: Ada Mecheza breast-feeds her eldest daughter A'e Meziamu in Abuluoha Village, Butuo County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 26, 2005.
BOTTOM: Ada Mecheza (L), 32, is seen with her second daughter, 13-year-old A'e Meriamu in Abuluoha Village on Dec. 25, 2020. (Xinhua/Jiang Hongjing)
LEFT: Qiesha Cier (L) and his second son Qiesha Shiri stand in front their old residence in Abuluoha Village, Butuo County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 26, 2005.
RIGHT: Qiesha Cier (L), 46, poses for a photo with Qiesha Shiri at their new home in Abuluoha Village on Dec. 25, 2020. (Xinhua/Jiang Hongjing)
LEFT: Jilie Lahuo poses with his mule at his old residence in Abuluoha Village, Butuo County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 26, 2005.
RIGHT: Jilie Lahuo, 73, poses for a photo with his new home in Abuluoha Village on June 30, 2020. (Xinhua/Jiang Hongjing)
LEFT: Jiji Moerzuo (1st L), then a 18-month-old baby, is pictured with her mother and two cousins in Abuluoha Village, Butuo County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, July 12, 2008.
RIGHT: Jiji Moerzuo (1st L) and her cousins Jiji Eqie (C) and Jiji Ela pose with the photo they took with Moerzuo's late mother on Dec. 25, 2020. (Xinhua/Jiang Hongjing)
TOP: Jier Niuri (2nd L, rear) poses for a photo with his family in front of their old residence in Abuluoha Village, Butuo County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 13, 2005.
BOTTOM: Jier Niuri (1st L), 46, poses for a group photo with his wife and three of their seven children at their new home in Abuluoha Village on Dec. 25, 2020. (Xinhua/Jiang Hongjing)
TOP: Ada Dangge poses for a photo ahead of the day's farm work in Abuluoha Village, Butuo County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, July 24, 2007.
BOTTOM: Ada Dangge, now working odd jobs on construction sites in Abuluoha Village, poses for a photo on Dec. 25, 2020. (Xinhua/Jiang Hongjing)
LEFT: Qiesha Cier (1st L, front) poses for a photo with his family in front of their old residence in Abuluoha Village, Butuo County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 12, 2005.
RIGHT: Qiesha Cier (2nd L), 46, poses for a group photo with his family at their new home in Abuluoha Village on Dec. 25, 2020. (Xinhua/Jiang Hongjing)
TOP: Tuojue Sezi (L, front), then a substitute teacher, poses for a group photo with students at Linchuan Primary School in Abuluoha Village, Butuo County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, July 13, 2007.
BOTTOM: Tuojue Sezi (front), who became headmaster of Linchuan Primary School in March 2013, poses for a group photo with students on June 24, 2020. (Xinhua/Jiang Hongjing)
TOP: Ada Riqie (L) and his wife Qiesha Moseza pose for a photo in front of their old residence in Abuluoha Village, Butuo County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, April 21, 2005.
BOTTOM: Ada Riqie, 73, and Qiesha Moseza, 70, sit next to each other at their new home in Abuluoha Village on June 30, 2020. (Xinhua/Jiang Hongjing)
TOP: Qiesha Niuzi stands in front his old residence in Abuluoha Village, Butuo County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, June 27, 2020.
BOTTOM: Qiesha Niuzi, who became the first to own a private vehicle in Abuluoha, poses for a photo with his SUV and new residence on Dec. 25, 2020. (Xinhua/Jiang Hongjing)
