Asha (L) at at the 20th CPC National Congress [Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Villagers in the Neyul village of Neyul ethnic township, in Manling county of Tibet autonomous region, generally acknowledge Asha as a community leader, a bellwether in their rural vitalization drive and women's affairs, Tibet Daily reported.

Neyul village is abundant with dense forests, lush pastures, snow-covered mountains and boasts the unique culture of the Lhoba ethnic group. It has become a tourist attraction in recent years, and the revenue generated boosts the income of the local residents.

Asha always seeks ways to lead her fellow villagers toward prosperity. Being the chairwoman of the village's women's federation, she has worked hard to help women increase their income via the tourism industry.

In 2009, the Neyul valley opened to the public as a scenic area. Asha, together with other women from the village, started four market stalls selling commodities with ethnic characteristics at the tourism service center. The business has since brought financial benefits to the women in the village.

"The government offers us such good policies, it is important for us to cherish the opportunity and work hard," said Asha.

To help her fellow villagers get rid of poverty, a strawberry plantation was established a few years ago. She invited agricultural technicians to provide training on planting techniques for the women.

The strawberry plantation has been providing each household an average annual income of 2,000 ($276) yuan over the years. In addition, 49 greenhouses were set up in 2021 devoted to growing lingzhi fungus (Ganoderma), which increased the average income of each household by 9,400 yuan in the year.

By the end of 2021, the per capita disposable income of the villagers hit 30,080 yuan, and the village's total economic revenue exceeded 6.8 million yuan.

"In recent years, the Lhopa people have seen tremendous changes with their livelihood, and we owe these achievements to the special care of the central government to us in border areas and areas with large ethnic minority populations," she said.

Asha has also taught standard spoken and written Chinese language to the villagers by running home-based classes.

At first, very few villagers showed up at her class. She did not give up. Thanks to her persevering efforts, villagers gradually realized the need to learn Putonghua, the standard Chinese language.

"Now, all our village officials are fluent with the standard Chinese language, and more than 75 percent of Party members and villagers have largely improved their proficiency of the language," she added.