New home to offer villagers warm welcome

For 35 poor households on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, a beam-raising ceremony in a newly-built village marks the start of a new life with solar power heating and modern grassland husbandry.

Along the ancient "South Silk Road" that linked Han with Tibet, Xuelihe Village in Datong Hui and Tu autonomous county is 3,000 meters above sea level in northwest China's Qinghai Province.

The adverse natural and living environment has hindered development.

"The remoteness and poor traffic have prevented villagers from looking for jobs in towns and cities," said Wu Hai, secretary of the county's Communist Party of China committee, at the ceremony on Sunday. "The only way to prosperity is relocation."

According to a provincial government's poverty alleviation plan, a subsidy of 20,000 yuan (3,283 US dollars) has been given to each household for building a new home in a lower area near the county. The new village is 12 km away from the old one.

Together with another 60,000 yuan from two local companies, construction costs are almost covered.

"I have been dreaming about moving into a new house for over a decade, and now it will soon come true," said Du Guoan, a local villager.

The villagers will be able to move by the end of January, in time to celebrate Spring Festival.

A solar heating system has been developed by a local technology development company. It will provide hot water for baths and to heat the floor. For years, villagers have had to burn wood for cooking and heating.

For the local government, however, pleasant living conditions are only part of the problem.

"We are more afraid of leaving our land behind and having no income," Du said.

A special industry development plan put forward by the local government requires the setting up of a grassland husbandry cooperative once villagers are settled in their new homes.

Modern management and efficient organization of grazing activities will hopefully boost villagers' income, said Wu Hai. Also, more convenient transport to the county and the province's capital is another huge impetus for villagers to move.

So far Qinghai provincial government has invested 455 million yuan in 112 relocation projects in 148 villages and communities, addressing the housing need for 14,150 poor households in the province.