“Poverty alleviation and projects development show true feelings, relocation facilitates the prosperity of residents.” The slogan attracts much attention on a white wall of a new Tibetan courtyard with eaves painted in red. On the afternoon of July 28th, Liu Yongfu, director and party secretary of the State Council Office for Poverty Alleviation and Development,  came all way with other officials to Boma Village, Duilongdeqing District for an investigation on “Deji Tibetan Home” Tourism Project for Resettling and Sustainable Development during their visit in Lhasa for investigating on poverty alleviation programs. Qi Zara, deputy secretary of the CPC Tibet Autonomous Region and chairman of the Tibet Autonomous government, Padma Wangdu, member of the CPC Tibet Autonomous Region and secretary of Lhasa Municipal Party Committee, Wanghong, deputy mayor of Beijing and other leaders of district-level and municipal-level participated in this investigation. Liao Qiang, vice president of Usunhome Group and general manager of Usunhome Potala Company, introduced the project on site.

“Deji Tibetan Home” project is jointly built by the government of Duilongdeqing District, Lhasa, community of resettled residents in Duilongdeqing District for poverty alleviation and Usunhome Potala Company, which is affiliated to Usunhome Group. This project is to restore the resettlement buildings in Boma Village for poverty alleviation and to upgrade this area to new Tibet-style home-stays which integrate folk culture experience, specialty restaurants, sightseeing tours and leisure shopping as a whole. 

The beautiful Tibet-style courtyards together with tidy and comfortable Tibetan home-stays drew the attention of investigation group led by Liu Yongfu during their visit. Liu inquired the details of current living conditions and tourism income growth during his visit at resident Basang Zhandui’s house and felt much relieved after hearing their home-stay was already open for guests and received bonus for the last quarter. As Liao Qiang mentioned, “Deji Tibetan Home” project is to increase income and create job opportunities for resettled residents by developing featured tourism industry to reduce poverty. He also introduced the “Trinity” operation mode which integrates government, cooperatives and professional companies all together, allowing residents to earn more in multiple methods by means of employment, profit-sharing, selling agricultural by-products and handcrafts, etc.. Liu Yongfu spoke highly of this operation mode and brought up a goal that residents shall be guided on perception transformation while improving their living conditions with increased earnings, not least to reinforce the poverty extrication by promoting education and ambition in this area.

During this investigation, Qi Zara mentioned that Usunhome Group had created many projects in Tibet following the same principle of developing cultural tourism industry in order to facilitate employment and self-employment for targeted poverty alleviation in surrounding areas. He suggested speeding up the second phase of “Deji Tibetan Home” project aiming at extricating resettled residents from poverty to a moderately prosperous life through travel business.

During the research, Liu Yongfu also pointed out the principle that poverty alleviation program should be centered by people and industries shall be developed according to local conditions, where local lifestyles and means of production could be transferred into productivity, with a purpose to overcome the challenge that “inhabitants cannot make a living by resources available in the dwelling place”. In the process to reduce poverty by industrialization, companies should take fully use of advantages, explore duplicable mode with local characteristics to alleviate and eventually get rid of poverty, and especially provide training on skills, techniques and perceptions for the poor class. Through these methods would resettled residents hold ambition and motivation to flight against poverty and live a better life day after day to moderately prosperity.

It was introduced that the first phase of “Deji Tibetan Home” poverty alleviation project had restored 40 Tibet-style houses which were already put into operation. 40% profits from the project operation were shared by resettled residents who offered houses as a homestay hotel. This project had become one of the most charming cultural tourism project for poverty alleviation in Tibet, thanks to the tourism resources of Xiangxiongmeiduo Eco-cultural Park, convenient transportation and experience-based Tibetan homestays.