Mountains and hills make up 95.6 percent of the total 16,800-square-kilometer area of the Qianxinan Bouyei and Miao autonomous prefecture of Guizhou province. 

As of 2015, Qianxinan remains China's major battlefield to fight against poverty, with a population of 430,300 below the poverty line and seven national key poverty-stricken counties. 

To remedy the situation, the prefecture decided to make good use of its mountain resources. Their first step was to launch a relocation project to lift people out of the harsh living conditions where natural disasters happen frequently. 

"I never thought about living in such a good place before," said Wang Bisheng, a villager from Nidang town, Xingyi. He benefited from the relocation project and was also recommended for a job. In 2016 alone, some 70,000 people were relocated to better residential areas. 

The mountains bring about different climates in the area, which is good for planting tea, edible mushrooms and other vegetables. 

The local authority encouraged local farmers to take advantage of the climate and geological conditions to develop mountain agriculture, benefitting more than 300,000 rural households. 

Local agricultural companies and cooperatives provide with financial support and favorable tax policies. Leading companies such as Wangmo county's Guangxiu Chesnutt Processing Factory and Anlong county's Anqing Edible Fungi Company have created more than 100,000 jobs for local people. 

In the first half of 2017, Qianxinan achieved a GDP of 47.4 billion yuan ($3.42 billion), a year-on-year increase of 13 percent. 

The mountains also prove to be a source of tourism revenue. Qianxinan has become the permanent host of the International Conference for Mountain Tourism. In 2016, Qianxinan received more than 28.66 million tourists and earned 22.6 billion yuan, a 61.4 percent year-on-year increase.

Qianxinan embraces the local mountains to increase rural incomes. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]