Ethnic group charts course to prosperity following relocation

Li Zhengjun, a member of the Baiku Yao ethnic group, never expected to move out of his thatched shed in the mountains to a whitewashed brick structure in Nandan county, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

The 54-year-old was born in Lihu, where the Baiku Yao people live. A branch of the Yao ethnic group, they take their name from the knee-length white trousers worn by men.

With little arable land in the rocky area, Li and most of his neighbors lived a hand-to-mouth life. After several failed attempts to help them escape poverty, the local government realized that getting rid of the barren soil was the only long-term solution for the 47,000 ethnic inhabitants.