Reforms lift remote ethnic groups out of poverty

With its churning rivers, jagged karst outcrops, towering mountains and vast array of plants and animals, Yunnan province is a true natural paradise.

The southwestern province is home to the remote city of Shangri-La which has long lured romantic travelers in search of the paradise, real or imagined, described in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon, by British author James Hilton.

Yunnan's complex landscape and biodiversity may also have contributed to its rich culture. Twenty-five of China's 55 ethnic minority groups have been living there for generations, accounting for more than 30 percent of the province's population.