Luliang

China’s remaining poverty is primarily rural, mainly scattered among remote, mountainous, and minority nationality areas in the northwest and southwest. To address this challenge China is shifting from regional development projects to household-based initiatives that are increasingly directed at women. One especially successful example has been the poverty alleviation program sponsored by the Luliang Prefecture Women’s Federation (LPWF) in Shansi province.

In Taiyuan, the provincial capital, I was told that a new field of high-quality coking coal was being developed in Gujiao, 56 kilometers away.…This was intriguing, and I left for Gujiao by bus, accompanied by a comrade from the provincial coal bureau. We first crossed the Luliang mountains, 1,800 meters above sea level. In the valley, a 47-kilometer electric railway has been built, running through 18 tunnels and over seven bridges across the winding Fenhe River.