Dedication and change weave portrait of ethnic unity and resilience

The daughter who stayed

Li Yuhua stayed in the village to care for her parents and later her own child.

Before 2016, her family mainly grew corn. Annual income per person was about 3,000 yuan ($441). That year, she became one of Dulongjiang's first ecological forest rangers. The job brought stable income and allowed her to stay near home.

By day, she patrols forest areas in the Gaoligong Mountain nature reserve. In winter, she checks for fire risks. In the rainy season, she looks for landslide dangers. At night, she returns home to care for her mother and child.

She later became a grid worker in Dizhengdang. She visits families, checks on elderly residents, publicizes policies, mediates disputes and helps with village affairs.

"Arguments between couples or neighbors are often small things," she said. "Usually we try to settle them in the village. If we cannot, we call the police."

Li is also an inheritor of Derung blanket weaving. She has helped local women turn traditional textiles into cultural and tourism products, creating new income sources.

Villagers know her as someone they can turn to. She visits elderly people, brings medicine, helps with errands and cuts hair for seniors who cannot travel easily.

Roads have also changed village life. A road reached the village in 2011, followed by new housing construction. Some families moved down from the mountains.

"After the road came, people's income went up," Li said. "Before, people were mostly self-sufficient. Now life is better, and people can buy things online."

Familiar faces

Trust in Dizhengdang has also grown through daily contact with the police.

Zhao Keshuang, 38, has served as the village's community police officer since June 2022. A former border soldier, he is responsible for public security, legal education and community policing.

The village has three elderly tattooed women, all key care recipients.

"When we visit households, we pay close attention to their health," Zhao said. "We bring common medicines and check what else they need."

His work often goes beyond policing. He helps villagers collect ID cards, pick up parcels, carry vegetables and handle small matters for those who have difficulty traveling.

Li Yuhua said Zhao is well known in the village.

"He helps solve all kinds of difficulties," she said.

That relationship also impressed Li Su, a 23-year-old trainee police officer from Yunnan. She began working at the Dulongjiang station in February under Zhao's guidance.

She quickly encountered the realities of life in a remote border region: heavy rains, difficult terrain and the challenges of working in a culturally distinct community.

"At first, it was not easy," she said. But over time, she found meaning in the work.

In her first months, Li Su joined patrols, mediation work, document handling and legal education campaigns. School visits left a strong impression.

"When children learn about the law early, it stays with them," she said. "You feel like you're planting something for the future."

She has also joined household visits, helping deliver documents to residents who would otherwise have to travel long distances on difficult roads.

"These small services make a big difference," she said.

She remembers visiting Li Wenshi for the first time.

"She held my hand tightly and tried to speak to me in Mandarin," Li Su said. "She looked so kind. After I learned about the history of facial tattoos, I felt even more for what the older generation had experienced."

On household visits, villagers often offer officers tea and local produce.

"They are very welcoming," she said. "They trust us."

Her mentor, Zhao, often tells her that as long as she treats residents sincerely, they will trust her.

"He knows almost every inhabited place in the township," Li Su said. "Even on weekends, he takes me to remote villages and explains the local situation. Guarding the border is not just about security. It is also about protecting people's lives and well-being."

Trust as protection

In Dulongjiang, village life is not managed by one institution alone. Township officials, village workers, police officers, forest rangers and residents all share the work of maintaining order, helping vulnerable groups and responding to the realities of life in a remote border area.

That overlap is clear in the care given to elderly tattooed women like Li Wenshi.

According to Li Yuhua, county, township and village authorities, along with the local police station, frequently visit these women. Police medical staff conduct regular health checks and provide common medicines. Tourists also occasionally stop by to see them. As a result, their daily lives and elder care are now well supported.

These interactions may seem ordinary, but together they form the texture of governance in the valley. Here, border security is not a distant concept. It is also a document delivered to a villager, a medicine bag brought to an elderly woman, a dispute settled before it worsens, and a young officer learning every road and household.

Ethnic unity here is not an abstract idea. It is built through repeated contact and long-term trust.

Li Yuhua's life shows that clearly. She guards the forest, helps neighbors, cares for the elderly, preserves traditional weaving and works with police and village officials when problems arise. Her mother carries the marks of an older Dulongjiang. She lives in a more connected one.

Between them is a story of change, memory and continuity.

As evening falls, Dizhengdang grows quiet. Smoke rises from kitchens. A phone lights up as a grandson calls home. Somewhere in the village, an officer may still be delivering medicine or checking on an elderly resident before dark.

Back in her home, Li Wenshi sets aside her phone and returns to her loom.

Outside, the valley is no longer isolated. The laughter of children playing after school occasionally echoes through the village. Roads connect places once separated by days of travel. Mobile signals carry voices across mountains that once blocked them.

Inside, the rhythm of weaving continues.

For Li and her family, change is visible everywhere — in their home, their work and their daily routines. Yet some things remain constant: the mountains, the traditions and the quiet persistence of life in the valley.

"As long as I can still do this," Li Wenshi said, running her hand across the woven fabric, "I will keep doing it."