Tradition and tourism offer hope to poor rural residents

Sunshine came through the window and shone on the dusty concrete floor of the wooden house. An old TV set was the only electrical appliance in the living room, but a number of articles - including notebooks, papers, bottles and boxes - were scattered around the TV set which stood on a dust-covered table near the window.

Wan Zhengwen, a member of the Miao ethnic group, raised himself up from a bamboo stool and reached for his traditional costume which hung on the wall. After putting on the clothes, he went out to fetch a thick-brimmed hat he had left outside.

Neatly dressed, he sat back down on the stool and began chanting, the sun illuminating one side of his wrinkled face. The ancient song related Chinese mythology, in which the world was created long ago by Pangu who separated the sky from the earth and made the world as it is.