Cross-Straits amity aids rural residents

Assistance

Those activities led her to Guanghe, a county in the northwestern province of Gansu, a previously impoverished area that eliminated extreme poverty in February last year.

In October, Huang and other livestreamers visited Guanghe to help promote local products, including herbal tea, walnut cookies and woolen jackets.

"The trip was surprising," she said, noting that Guanghe was the most far-flung place she has visited in the mainland.

She flew about 2,000 kilometers from Shanghai to Lanzhou, Gansu's capital, and then took a bus for two hours to reach Guanghe.

"Before setting out, I prepared food, medicines and other necessities because I thought it would be a remote desert with bad air quality and no shops. Instead, it turned out to be a place of treasures－delicious food, greenery and kind people," she said.

"I felt the strength of the country's poverty relief work. More than a decade ago, people started planting trees in the province to tackle desertification and they selected the most suitable crops to boost incomes. I was proud to play my own small part."

During her stay, Huang visited the Hongxing Kindergarten. She discovered that the 150 students did not wear uniforms and there were only simple teaching aids in the classrooms.

"It was different from what I had seen in developed cities like Shanghai, where kids wear handsome uniforms and look lively and tidy," she said. The visit prompted the thought that she might be able to help.

In December, Huang and five friends from Taiwan organized a livestream promotion, with many of the products coming from businesses in Taiwan. They arranged for 30 percent of the proceeds to be donated to the kindergarten to buy uniforms and teaching tools.

"Luckily, after learning about our idea, a businessman from Taiwan offered to sponsor the uniforms before the activity had even taken place," Huang said.

"These charitable works gave me a deeper connection with the mainland. I want to do more to help farmers in poor areas. I was born into a tea-growing family in Taiwan, so I know farmers can live decent lives."

She is not the only Taiwan resident who has helped poverty alleviation work on the mainland.

Businesses from the island have donated 60 million yuan ($10 million) to improve local facilities and industries and have also provided jobs outside the province for 8,000 Gansu people, authorities said.