How Resettlement Has Transformed Life for Xizang’s Deng People

Zayu County in Nyingchi City is located in the southeastern part of Xizang Autonomous Region and is the main living area of the Deng people in Xizang.

Following the democratic reform in Xizang in 1959, the Deng people began to emerge from the remote mountains and, with government support, embrace a modern way of life. More recently, the “Revitalizing Border Regions and Enriching People's Lives” initiative has helped Deng communities relocate. Under the policy, the government has established new villages complete with a comprehensive infrastructure including water and electricity supplies, roads, and internet access, and provided those being resettled with housing subsidies and assistance in developing tea and fruit farming.

Today, the Deng resettlement villages present a vision of paved roads and well-kept courtyard houses, with orchards extending across the nearby fields and lush tea gardens covering the distant hills. Kiwi, citrus and tea growing have emerged as a pillar industry, boosting local incomes.

Take Deng New Village as an example. As of October 2025, it had developed 320 mu (21.3 hectares) of high-standard kiwi fruit orchards and 150 mu (10 hectares) of high-altitude tea plantations.

From mountain stockades to modern villages, the landscape and local life have assumed a completely new look.