Mountain town takes high road to success

Editor's note: This is the first in a series of reports China Daily will publish in the coming weeks focusing on efforts to raise living standards in the country's rural areas, especially among members of the nation's ethnic groups.

Profound changes have occurred in Moudao, once a deserted town, since the local government brought in real estate tourism developers as part of a poverty relief campaign that made full use of the town's natural advantages: a high rate of green coverage and cool temperatures during summer.

Before the tourism push began in 2011, Moudao's people could hardly harvest enough to eat from the limited farmland, which supported only potatoes and corn.