TOP: Undated file photo shows Dulong residents crossing a rattan bridge in Dulongjiang Township of Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province.
BOTTOM: Aerial photo taken on Oct. 29, 2020 shows the newly-built Bailai Gan'en Bridge in Dulongjiang Township, Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Photo taken by Hu Chao)
KUNMING, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- Dulong is a mountain-dwelling ethnic group in southwest China. It is one of the least populous of China's 56 minority nationalities. It is also called a "direct-transition" minority ethnic group because the Dulong people didn't bid farewell to primitive life until the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 and since then they directly stepped into the socialist society.
Most Dulong people live in Dulongjiang Township, where an inhospitable mountainous terrain had been thwarting the town's development for decades. Thus, the township had been one of the poorest area in Yunnan Province and even in the entire country.
Aerial photo taken on Oct. 31, 2020 shows a view of Dulongjiang Township of Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Xinhua/Hu Chao)
But the local economic and social development has been fast-tracked in recent years when many difficulties that bottlenecked the development were eliminated thanks to state and provincial efforts. For example, the town built better infrastructure, developed specialized industries and enrolled high-quality talents. In 2018, the Dulong ethnic group shook off poverty as a whole, a phenomenal breakthrough.
Nowadays, all of the 1,100-plus households in Dulongjiang have moved into new, better residences. Many residents are now engaged in herbal planting and poultry husbandry with local characteristics.
TOP: This file photo taken at a certain time before 1949 shows Dulong children in Dulongjiang Township of Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province.
BOTTOM: Students pose for a photo at Dulongjiang Nine-Year Comprehensive School in Dulongjiang Township of Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Oct. 28, 2020. (Photo taken by Hu Chao)
The youngsters are entitled to 14 years of free education which lasts from pre-school classes to high school education. The rate of primary school attendance and that of enrollment into schools for higher levels have both remained 100 percent.
TOP: Undated file photo shows the old campus of Dulongjiang Nine-Year Comprehensive School in Dulongjiang Township of Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province.
BOTTOM: Photo taken on Oct. 31, 2020 shows the new campus of Dulongjiang Nine-Year Comprehensive School in Dulongjiang Township of Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Photo taken by Hu Chao)
Dulong student Xiao Qinping attends a lesson at Dulongjiang Nine-Year Comprehensive School in Dulongjiang Township of Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Oct. 31, 2020. (Xinhua/Hu Chao)
Dulong students play rope jumping at Dulongjiang Nine-Year Comprehensive School in Dulongjiang Township of Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Oct. 31, 2020. (Xinhua/Hu Chao)
Dulong villagers attend an evening lesson in Kongdang Village of Dulongjiang Township, Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Oct. 28, 2020. (Xinhua/Hu Chao)
Dulong villager Ken Yuzhen looks into the classroom where her son attends an evening lesson in Kongdang Village of Dulongjiang Township, Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Oct. 28, 2020. (Xinhua/Hu Chao)
Photo taken on Oct. 31, 2020 shows a township-level hospital in Dulongjiang Township of Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Xinhua/Hu Chao)
Rural doctor Meng Wenxin measures blood pressure for Dulong resident Ma Guiying in Bapo Village of Dulongjiang Township, Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Oct. 26, 2020. (Xinhua/Hu Chao)
All villagers benefit from a critical illness insurance program.
Dulong resident Li Bin (R) collects his package at an e-commerce service center in Dulongjiang Township, Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Oct. 30, 2020. (Xinhua/Hu Chao)
All of the six administrative villages have access to roads with hard surfaces and signals of radio and TV, and are all covered by the 4G network.
Dulong villager Li Yuanmei feeds chickens in Dizhengdang Village of Dulongjiang Township, Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Oct. 29, 2020. (Xinhua/Hu Chao)
TOP: Undated file photo shows Dulong residents dancing in a circle in Dulongjiang Township of Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province.
BOTTOM: Dulong residents dance on a square in Dulongjiang Township of Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Oct. 31, 2020. (Photo taken by Hu Chao)
Dulong resident Li Wenshi, wearing a traditional face tattoo, takes a rest in Dulongjiang Township of Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Oct. 27, 2020. (Xinhua/Hu Chao)
Dulong resident Li Bin (L) and his wife Li Yuanmei calculate the income at the grocery store they run in Dizhengdang Village of Dulongjiang Township, Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Oct. 29, 2020. (Xinhua/Hu Chao)
Dulong resident Li Bin (R) and his wife Li Yuanmei check their online shopping packages at the grocery store they run in Dulongjiang Township, Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Oct. 29, 2020. (Xinhua/Hu Chao)
LEFT: This file photo taken at a certain time before 1949 shows a Dulong resident climbing a cliff-side ladder in Dulongjiang Township of Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province.
RIGHT: Dulong villager Li Yongming accompanies his grandmother Dang Na as they climb up cement steps to reap fodder grass from the mountains in Dulongjiang Township of Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Oct. 31, 2020. (Photo taken by Hu Chao)
TOP: Undated file photo taken in 2001 shows Kongdang Village in Dulongjiang Township of Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province.
BOTTOM: Aerial photo shows a newer view of Kongdang Village in Dulongjiang Township, Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Oct. 27, 2020. (Photo taken by Hu Chao)
Wang Shirong, the Party chief of Bapo Village, removes weeds from a herbal plant field in Dulongjiang Township of Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Oct. 27, 2020. (Xinhua/Hu Chao)
Dulong student La Qingsa attends a computer lesson at Dulongjiang Nine-Year Comprehensive School in Dulongjiang Township of Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Oct. 28, 2020. (Xinhua/Hu Chao)
Dulong villagers attend an evening lesson in Kongdang Village of Dulongjiang Township, Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Oct. 28, 2020. (Xinhua/Hu Chao)
Dulong resident Dang Na makes pancakes in Kongdang Village of Dulongjiang Township, Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Nov. 1, 2020. (Xinhua/Hu Chao)
Nowadays, Dulongjiang is no longer the isolated, conservative and backward region it used to be. The Dulong people here are embracing modern life at a faster pace and are keeping pace with the outside world.
Aerial photo taken on Oct. 29, 2020 shows a view of Dizhengdang Village in Dulongjiang Township of Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Xinhua/Hu Chao)
LEFT: Undated file photo shows a Dulong man, using a pair of machetes, giving a haircut to a fellow villager in Dulongjiang Township of Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province.
RIGHT: Dulong villager Ken Yinglin (front) gets a haircut at a barber shop in Kongdang Village of Dulongjiang Township, Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Oct. 31, 2020. (Photo taken by Hu Chao)
Dulong students Pu Yanfang (L) and Lu Yanmei make a heart-shaped pose at Dulongjiang Nine-Year Comprehensive School in Dulongjiang Township of Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Oct. 28, 2020. (Xinhua/Hu Chao)■
