The winding mountain road of Zhonghe village, Baima town, Dahua Yao autonomous county, Hechi. [Photo by Wei Zhe/Hechi Daily]

After years of hard work, many roads have been built to connect Dahua Yao autonomous county, a high mountainous region in Hechi, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, with the outside world, which has helped lift many people here out of poverty.

Dahua has more than 20,000 peaks and more than 3,300 mountain alleys. Within 251 square kilometers of Qibainong town, there are more than 5,000 peaks at an altitude of 800 meters to 1,000 meters, with an average of nearly 20 peaks per square kilometer. It is the second most unsuitable place for human habitation after deserts with harsh natural conditions.

After investigating the area in 2016, Yang Longwen, Party secretary of Dahua, said that without building roads, there is no way to overcome poverty.

Poverty alleviation teams and rural cadres in the county overcame many difficulties to carry out surveys. The county established a project database, as well as conducted planning and preparation in two months, which laid a solid foundation for bidding, organization, implementation, and accurate allocation of project funds.

After four years of construction, roads have been built along the mountains, enabling people to no longer have to carry goods on their shoulders.

Statistics show that the county has a total investment of about 750 million yuan ($105.99 million), and built, renovated, expanded, and upgraded 1,370 roads, with a total mileage of more than 2,000 kilometers. It has meet the transport needs of 309,000 people, including 28,800 impoverished families with 112,500 people. The county has also set up village-to-city buses in 109 villages.

In addition, the problems of house renovation and goods transportation have also been solved. As a result, the economic and social development of Dahua has been rapidly developing.