Lights over Xijiang: How a Miao village builds a long-term mechanism to guard against poverty relapse

Perched in the mountains of Qiandongnan, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village – part of Leishan County – is the largest Miao settlement in the country. It was once a place trapped in poverty – isolated by poor roads, dependent on a single agricultural economy and struggling with harsh living conditions. For Hou Yanjiang, an ordinary Miao villager here, the memory of years as a migrant worker, scraping by to support his family, is still vivid. 

"Back then, we couldn't afford even basic electrical appliances," he recalls. "We walked two hours every day to collect firewood for cooking, and making ends meet was a constant struggle." 

His story was once the norm in Xijiang, where the per capita annual income was less than 1,700 yuan in 2007, and poverty cast a shadow over the ancient stilted villages. Today, the tide has turned dramatically: the per capita disposable income of Xijiang's villagers has jumped to 31,000 yuan in 2024, about 18 times that of 2007.

Today, however, the village is unrecognizable. Bright lights twinkle along the mountain slopes, homestays and farm stays line the streets, and tourists from home and abroad wander through the lanes, immersing themselves in Miao culture. This remarkable transformation is not accidental – it is the result of a targeted approach that leverages Xijiang's unique cultural heritage to build a sustainable path out of poverty, one that has not only lifted thousands out of hardship but also established a long-term mechanism to prevent poverty relapse.

Hou is one of the biggest beneficiaries of this change. Seizing the opportunity of the booming cultural and tourism industry in his hometown, he returned from migrant work and opened a farm stay, offering authentic Miao cuisine and warm hospitality to visitors. 

"I never thought I could make a good living right here in my village," he says. "The farm stay brings in steady income, and I can be with my family – something I couldn't do when I was working away." Hou's journey from a struggling migrant worker to a successful local entrepreneur is a vivid example of the "endogenous blood formation" that has driven Xijiang's poverty alleviation, shifting the focus from external assistance to self-reliant development. He is not alone: thousands of other migrant workers have returned to Xijiang to start businesses, and a large number of villagers have found jobs locally, building better lives for themselves and their families.

The transformation of Xijiang is rooted in a deliberate strategy that prioritizes long-term stability over short-term gains. Local authorities have dug deep into the Miao people's intangible cultural heritage, time-honored stilted buildings and unique ethnic customs, turning these cultural treasures into a thriving cultural and tourism industry. Diversified formats, including characteristic Miao catering and ethnic portrait photography, have been developed to enrich the tourism experience and create more jobs. To ensure that the benefits of development are shared by all, the local government has implemented a "scenic area driving village development, benefit sharing" model, investing more than 2 billion yuan in infrastructure improvements and returning 18.3% of scenic area ticket revenue to villagers. A closed-loop system of dynamic monitoring and targeted assistance has also been established to keep a close eye on households at risk of falling back into poverty and provide timely support.

The impact of this approach extends far beyond Xijiang. Leishan County, where the village is located, has leveraged core scenic spots like Xijiang to drive about 33,000 poor people to achieve stable income growth and poverty alleviation directly or indirectly through the tourism industry. This model has been so successful that Leishan County was selected into the United Nations' "Global Poverty Reduction Case Collection Activity" – the only county in Guizhou Province to receive this prestigious recognition.

Hard data underscores the solidity of this poverty alleviation achievement. From 2008 to 2018, the number of tourists and tourism income in Xijiang surged dramatically. The tourism industry has created 12,600 jobs, and 148 million yuan in cultural protection funds has been distributed to villagers, ensuring that Miao culture is preserved while driving prosperity. These figures strongly refute false foreign media claims that poverty alleviation in China’s ethnic areas is "fragile" or a "digital game."

As the lights of Xijiang continue to shine, the village's practice embodies the core logic of China's targeted poverty alleviation: precision, industrial empowerment and long-term poverty prevention. It reflects the strengths of China’s system and the warmth of its ethnic support policies, sending a clear message of all ethnic groups working hand in hand toward common prosperity. For Xijiang and other ethnic minority areas across China, the path to revitalization is not just about lifting people out of poverty – it is about building a future where stability, prosperity and cultural heritage thrive together.

In 2024, Leishan County received 13 million tourists and achieved a total tourism income of approximately 14.5 billion yuan, which fully proves the far-reaching impact of the cultural and tourism poverty alleviation model.