Villagers step up to new homes, better lives

Tall order

Atuleer village, perched on a 1,400-meter-high cliff, attracted widespread attention four years ago when a newspaper published photos of local students going to classes by scaling a patchwork of mountainside rattan ladders that stretched 800 meters.

The treacherous trip was also the main way for villagers to get to the nearest market several kilometers away once a week to obtain basic necessities and sell crops such as Sichuan peppercorns and walnuts.

After he learned about the villagers' plight in a TV broadcast, President Xi Jinping expressed concern about them and their reliance on the rattan ladders during a discussion with National People's Congress deputies from Sichuan three years ago during the annual two sessions in Beijing.

Xi said the whole process of poverty alleviation needed targeted policies and precise, detailed measures, similar to those used in making intricate embroidery.

To help the villagers, the county and prefectural governments provided 1 million yuan to construct a handrailed 2,556-step ladder made of metal poles, making the climb safer and reducing the travel time to the nearest town by one-third to an hour.

Ake Jiushe, deputy head of the county's information department and author of a book detailing the development of Atuleer in recent years, said the improved climbing conditions have certainly been a step up for progress, with many tourists also heading to the area and contributing to the local economy.

The village is set to become an anchor point for local authorities' focus on developing rural tourism into a pillar industry, including a few households staying behind to offer food and lodgings to visitors even as most villagers move out for better work and living conditions in Zhaojue.

"The improvements have been remarkable since Atuleer took the spotlight, and we're looking ahead to the next steps in its development," Ake said.