Holiday without hardship

Xinjiang local governments hope to eliminate poverty through tourism

Ajihan Wushouer was understandably thrilled when her family’s annual income doubled to 20,000 yuan ($ 3,005) in 2014.

The 69- year- old, a local of Grape Valley, Turpan, Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, had never made so much money in a single year before.

The seven members of her family used to make a living by growing grapes. In 2014, they were offered a new way to make a living – tourism. Since then, selling food to tourists has become the family’s important source of income.

On the busiest days, Wushouer can sell about 200 plates of “hand pilaf,” a traditional Xinjiang dish made of rice, carrots and lamb. For each plate, she charges 20 yuan.

Wushouer’s home was chosen by the local government along with five other houses in Baiximaili village as pilot places to test how effective tourism is at alleviating poverty, according to Guli Tursun, an official with the village’s management committee.

Grape Valley is a 5A scenic spot ( the highest rank for a scenic spot in China), which is renowned for its high- quality grapes.

The chosen houses provide tourists with meals, tour guides and accommodation.

“Before carrying out the project ( of eliminating poverty through tourism), the dirt road in the village was replaced with a concrete road and the sewage system was renovated. We also taught them how to run hospitality services,” Tursun said.

Seeing and envying the success, now more and more local households are joining the trend of developing tourism to alleviate poverty. “So far we have 32 households in the village that provide tourism services,” she told the Global Times.

The pilot project in Grape Valley is one small part of the Xinjiang tourism administration’s larger plan – to help 300,000 people in Xinjiang escape poverty through tourism by the end of 2020, according to the local news website xjbs.com.cn.

Though they are optimistic about the future, villagers and officials told the Global Times that the difficulty of getting the word out about local tourism, as well as the low general awareness in Xinjiang of the money that can be made through tourism and the lack of investment all pose obstacles on their road.

Lifting out of poverty

In May, Premier Li Keqiang addressed the First World Conference on Tourism Development hosted in Beijing, at which he vowed that the government will help bring 12 million people out of poverty in the next five years through tourism development, Xinhua reported.

This echoes the country’s greater plan to help all of China’s poor out of poverty by 2020.

As of the end of 2014, there were 70.17 million people in rural areas living

“Our finances have improved after developing tourism,” she said. “I don’t have enough room to let people stay here. I just hope there will be a steady flow of tourists for my meals.” Ajihan Wushouer Uyghur resident of Grape Valley, Turpan