Poor memories of China's minority groups

Li Nati, 97, struggles to remember her youth. The one thing that does pervade her memories is an unbearable feeling of poverty. Unforgettable poverty.

"There was nothing to eat," Li told Xinhua from her home in Laodabao, a tiny hamlet under Jiujing Township in southwest China's Yunnan Province.

All her life, she had lived off the land -- the mountains to be more specific -- collecting olive tree bark, and foraging for nameless wild herbs, seeds and fruits.

The small, thatched house that she grew up in was dark. At night her family would burn rosin, bathing the dank rooms in its light glow. However, it is such a flammable material that fire would often burn out of control and destroy the house.

When electricity finally came to her community in 1988, she was almost 70 years old. That day, she was so excited she kept the light on the whole night.

Li's remote hamlet is nestled high in the mountains. She identifies as a Lahu, one of China's 56 ethnic groups. The Lahu, along with eight other minority groups, are called Zhiguo.

The term Zhiguo refers to minority groups who, before modernization, had lived in relative isolation and skipped the transition period associated with feudal monarchy.

Accounting for less than 0.2 percent of China's population, Zhiguo minorities were not formally identified until after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. One of them, the Jino, was only recognized in 1979, the last minority to be officially acknowledged.

The very canyons and mountains that had protected the Zhiguo from warring fractions and foreign invaders also trapped them in a cycle of poverty.

"We would just wear one outfit for the whole year," the old lady recalled as winter sunlight shone on her lined face. "Every time I think about it I well up."

China has lifted more than 700 million out of poverty in the past three decades, however, poverty alleviation remains a formidable task for the world's most populous nation.

As of the end of 2014, 70 million Chinese -- more than the population of France -- still lived with an annual disposable income below 2,855 yuan (413.8 U.S. dollars).

"The residents of ethnic minority areas in Yunnan live in abject poverty," said Huang Yunbo, a local poverty relief official.

Huang said that of the 4.7 million registered underprivileged people in Yunnan at the end of 2015, 43.4 percent lived in small minority communities, 700,000 were classed as Zhiguo.

Thanks to the local government, Laodabao built its first concrete road in 2012. After the road, the Internet, public toilets, and a Western instrument of wealth -- the guitar -- all followed.

Eighty percent of the 400 plus villagers now perform regularly with the guitar, helping each of them to earn more than 3,000 yuan annually.

Li, who is the oldest resident, has seen the village change over the years. "We are becoming better off. When I was young, we lived off the land, now we can buy items to supplement our lives," she said.

The road also paved the way for the abolition of outdated rituals and cultural norms. Li and her peers had been banned from marrying people from other ethnic groups, but now, couples can marry who they want.

As the matriarch of an 80-strong family, Li had never attended school, but she loves watching TV with her great-grandchildren. "It looks interesting, but I have no idea what they're talking about."