Image #: 15072589 A herd of sheep scrambling to drink water in Jiefang Xinzhuang Village of Tongxin County, northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Aug. 12, 2011. “Poverty” has been a long-time label for Xiji, Haiyuan and Tongxin counties of northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, as the region has been afflicted by serious drought all the year — average precipitation of merely 300 millimeters but more than 2,000 millimeters of evaporation almost every year. As early as 1972, these three counties were listed as inhospitable place to live by the United Nations. Currently, 1.05 million people, about one-sixth of the total population of Ningxia, still live here, including 350,000 people in extreme poverty. The good news is that the local government has decided to pour 10.5 billion RMB yuan (1.64 billion U.S. dollars) in helping the villagers emigrate and cast off poverty as well. (Xinhua/Wang Peng) (lfj) XINHUA /LANDOV
CHINA-NINGXIA-PEOPLE IN POVERTY (CN)
