Features
One and only Lhoba delegate to CPC national congress devotes herself to ethnic unity
By Tao Xing  ·  2022-10-14  ·   Source: Web Exclusive

  

Yasha, the only Lhoba delegate to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (COURTESY PHOTO)  

The only Lhoba delegate to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) devotes herself to fulfilling the Party's founding mission--to seek happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation.

"I want to do my best to develop my hometown and make everyone's life better," Yasha from Nanyi Village in Nanyi Lhoba Autonomous Township of Nyingchi City, Tibet Autonomous Region, told Beijing Review. She is the only Lhoba delegate to the 20th CPC National Congress.

Lhoba is one of the least populous among all of China's 56 ethnic groups; its roughly 4,200 people mainly reside in southeast Tibet. The Lhobas have their own language, but no script. They use Tibetan for communication and sustain their cultural legacy by passing down the oral legends from their ancestors.

Before the 1950s, the Lhoba people still lived a life of slash-and-burn cultivation in mountain valleys and old forests. In 1965, they were relocated to new settlements out of the mountains under a government-led program, where they obtained a better living environment.

Yasha's village is home to five ethnic groups: the Lhoba, Tibetan, Moinba, Han and Hui. She always tries to help locals increase their income and enthusiastically assists them with their undertakings--be these bigger or smaller ones. Everyone affectionately calls her "Sister Yasha." As the village official in charge of women's affairs, she also safeguards the rights and interests of female villagers.   

In 2009, a new scenic spot near the village opened to the public. Yasha led local women to set up four specialty stores, which today can generate an income of over 100,000 yuan ($14,054) every year.

"With the state's solid policies in place, we must rely on our own hands to work hard and make more money," Yasha said.

She also helped the villagers try their hand at the greenhouse planting of strawberries and Ganoderma lucidum (an oriental fungus), which both saw good results. In 2021, total revenue of the village stood at more than 6.8 million yuan ($960,000), and per-capita disposable income of its residents came to 30,800 yuan ($4,328).

The per-capita disposable income of rural residents in China in 2021 was 18,931 yuan ($2,660), according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

"In the past few years, the lives of the Lhoba people have undergone tremendous change. These gratifying achievements have all benefited from the special concern the Party has for [China's] ethnic minority areas," Yasha said.

Yasha believes she must circulate the Party's policies to locals and deliver its message to people at the most basic social level.

Yasha has a good command of putonghua, or standard Chinese, and she has also started teaching classes to help more people in the village learn putonghua. Seventy-five percent of Nanyi's villagers today can use putonghua. "Now, most people here can directly watch news broadcasts--without translation," she added.

Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon 

Comments to taoxing@cicgamericas.com 

China
Opinion
World
Business
Lifestyle
Video
Multimedia
 
China Focus
Documents
Special Reports
 
About Us
Contact Us
Advertise with Us
Subscribe
Partners: China.org.cn   |   China Today   |   China Pictorial   |   People's Daily Online   |   Women of China   |   Xinhua News Agency   |   China Daily
CGTN   |   China Tibet Online   |   China Radio International   |   Global Times   |   Qiushi Journal
Copyright Beijing Review All rights reserved 京ICP备08005356号 京公网安备110102005860