On January 18, Tibet Autonomous Regional CPC Committee's Rural Work & Poverty Alleviation Work Conference was held in Lhasa. Attendees studied the important instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping on the work concerning "agriculture, rural areas and rural residents", and the guidelines of CPC Central Committee Rural Work Conference and those of National Poverty Alleviation and Development Work Conference. Besides, honors were conferred on outstanding organizations and individuals emerging from Tibet's poverty alleviation work in 2018. Wu Yingjie, Secretary of TAR CPC Committee, attended the conference and delivered an important speech. One of the honors, “Entity Excelling at Organizational Innovation”, was granted to Lhasa Usunhome Potala Cultural Creative Industry Development Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Usunhome Potala), a subsidiary of Usunhome Group.

In recent years, Usunhome Group has actively responded to the call of the party and the state to "win the fight against poverty". Thanks to the guidance and support of local CPC committees and governments, Usunhome firmly implements the strategy to alleviate poverty through the development of cultural tourism projects, develops advanced concepts of poverty alleviation, turns them into actual quality projects, and combats poverty by “fostering ambition and imparting wisdom”—a “teach a man to fish and feed him for life” approach. The aim is to achieve targeted poverty alleviation and sustainable development in areas with large ethnic minority populations.

The Tibetan Plateau is where loving dreamers realize their dreams. Through the development of cultural tourism projects, Usunhome Potala never ceases to develop in Tibet poverty alleviation patterns that suit the region’s reality. 2018 has seen the perfect run of the 6th season of the large-scale Tibetan Culture epic drama “Princess Wencheng”. Since its debut in August 2013, the show has been performed over a thousand times. Together with its supporting facilities, it has, in total, received over 2.1 million visitors and yielded 770 million yuan in revenue. 95% of its cast of over 800 people are local Tibetan farmers and herdsmen who, apart from working or farming during the day, perform in the show in the evening and thus earn an additional monthly salary of 3000-4000 yuan apiece. The show has also contributed to the employment of more than a thousand people in related sectors like ticketing and transportation. Moreover, the operation of the premises and the development of the sector itself have diversified local villagers’ sources of income which include land transfer and house rental. The villagers’ incomes thus keep growing. Besides, over 80 businesses have been attracted to Cijuelin Tibetan-style Street (a supporting facility of “Princess Wencheng”), Princess Wencheng Cultural Tourism Theme Park and 3650 Innovation & Business Startup Park, where over 1500 people have been employed. “A single show has literally changed an entire village.”

As a "companion piece" of "Princess Wencheng", the historical drama "Princess Jincheng" which will premiere this year is expected to provide more than 700 stable jobs and contribute indirectly to the employment of over 2,000 people. To fight against poverty, “Princess Jincheng” will create over 100 positions specially for the poor who live in the placement buildings located in Tibet Cultural, Creative and Tourism Industries Park.

A short distance away from Lhasa, Dadong Village, known as “Tibet’s No.1 Folk Culture Tourism Village”, is a popular tourist attraction. Having been in operation for two years, Lhasa Dadong Village Comprehensive Targeted Poverty Alleviation Tourism Development Project has employed more than 80 local villagers, including 20 archived poverty-stricken individuals. Meanwhile, it has generated nearly 10 million RMB for locals by job creation, dividend payment and many other means. The average annual income per capita among the poor in Dadong Village reached 8048 RMB in 2017 and was projected to exceed 10,000 RMB in 2018. In September 2018, the village met the standards of poverty alleviation assessment and was thus removed from the official list of poor villages.

Up to this point, Dadong Village has been granted many honors or awards at national or local levels, such as “China’s Beautiful Leisure Village·Historic Village”, “China’s Rural Tourism Startup Demonstration Center”, “Demonstration Village for Beautiful and Livable Village Initiative (2016)”, Ecological Engagement Award at “China’s Most Beautiful Towns & Villages” Evaluation (2016), “Demonstration Village for Rural Living Environment Improvement and for Beautiful Village Initiative (2017)”, “China’s 50 Most Beautiful Towns & Villages 2017”, “National Eco-Culture Village 2017” and “Famous Historic Tibetan Village”. More importantly, Dadong Village has applied to be a national 4A-class scenic spot and has already been shortlisted by the relevant authority. When it gets the rating, Dadong will be the very first national 4A-class scenic spot in Tibet that features rural tourism.

“Deji Tibetan Home” in Boma Village, Doilungdêqên District is a sustainable tourism-based poverty alleviation project that sets out to develop rural tourism and fight poverty. It has improved the placement houses for people relocated from inhospitable areas and transformed them into homestays, a modern form of sharing economy. When part of the project came into operation in May, 2018, it employed 37 people, 30 of which were archived poverty-stricken people. Merely within that year, the project paid employees dividends twice, hence another means of income growth for those relocated people. The project, when put into full operation, is expected to employ 80-100 villagers, generate over four million yuan in salary or dividend for relocated villagers and help over 400 of them in 100 households to get rid of poverty and lead a well sustained life.

A key integrated tourism project in Nyemo county, Lhasa, “Karu Township·Walnut & Folklore Experience Village” has begun a test run. Based on the concept of integrated tourism, the project will realize targeted full-scale poverty alleviation, revitalize rural areas and bring new opportunities to the sustainable development of Karu township and other villages nearby. At this stage, the project has employed 13 local people, 5 of which are archived poverty-stricken individuals. When it comes into full operation, the project will help about 1000 archived poverty-stricken people combat poverty and increase their income. Deals have been made with eight travel agencies to expand the market. 2019 is predicted to witness the arrival of 86,000 visitors. In 2028, the village is projected to receive 202,800 visitors and earn an annual average of 49.91 million yuan from tourism. 

Usunhome Potala has gained much experience from its cultural-tourism-based poverty alleviation practices, such as the motivating “teach a man to fish and feed him for life” approach, and cooperation with CPC entities which play a vital role in the formation of ties. Since its establishment in November, 2012, Usunhome Potala is estimated to have employed over 800 Tibetan people and 4000 local people who have already been paid a salary of 200 million yuan in total. Among them, the over 500 archived impoverished people have been lifted out of poverty. The company keeps employing destitute people, such as the 45 archived ones newly recruited in 2018. Thanks to all its achievements in this field, Usunhome Potala has been conferred multiple honors: “Employment-based Poverty Alleviation Center 2017”, “TAR Cultural Industry Demonstration Center”, “Lhasa’s Outstanding Cultural Enterprise”, etc. 

Apart from Tibet, Usunhome Group also fights poverty in other places through the development of cultural tourism . In Sichuan, it sets up cultural tourism projects in Liangshan and Xichang to contribute to the two localities’ cause of poverty reduction. Usunhome Group was honored Outstanding Enterprise in Liangshan’s “10,000 Enterprises Help 10,000 Villages” Targeted Poverty Alleviation Campaign (2016-2017). In 2018, the group played an active part in the sales growth of agricultural produce and specialties from impoverished areas. It was consequently honored Charitable Enterprise in Sichuan’s “10,000 Enterprises Help 10,000 Villages” Consumption for Poverty Alleviation Campaign.