China's iconic revolutionary base Yan'an bids farewell to poverty

ROAD TO FORTUNE

Mashuping, a cliff village on the Yellow River bank, was one of the poorest villages in Yichuan county, where most of its population are living in the mountainous areas.

Until the completion of a road, Fu Changhong from a registered poor household in Mashuping had never been to the renowned Hukou Waterfall on the Yellow River, only 30 km away from his village.

The road Fu mentioned is a newly-built highway along the Yellow River, which opened to traffic in 2017.

The north-south highway, stretching 828.5 km along the west bank of the Yellow River, has contributed to the poverty alleviation of the three once poorest counties of Yan'an, including Yichuan and Yanchuan.

"In the past, we had no ways to go out of the village but a narrow meandering footpath," Fu said. "I used to look at the Yellow River and thought how nice if it were a road."