Hongsibu in Ningxia is the hub of China's largest ecological migration initiative for poverty alleviation, helping over 200,000 people relocate and start a better life.
Xihaigu is a name you won't find on any map, but is the colloquial term given to counties with the least fertile land in China's northwest, and have been given the dubious classification of "most unfit for human settlement," by the United Nations.
In the 1990s, the local government started an ambitious initiative to move people into a town and shake off poverty. Since then, the government has started the construction of a power supply, communication, roads farmland, and most notably, the Yanghuang irrigation project. The massive irrigation project lifts water from the "mother river", or the Yellow River, more than 300 meters and pumps it into the veins and arteries of what would become Hongsibu.
24 years later, thanks to ongoing government support and hard work, the people of Hongsibu have transformed their community.
Liu Kerui, a local resident said: “Ever since we moved out of the mountains in the south to Hongsibu, it's much easier for my kids to receive education and for us to find jobs.”
Goji berry queen Wang Hangdi started with nothing, but now runs a successful goji berry company, selling her goods all over China via live-streaming.
In addition, the spiritual world of the local people has also been enriched. Ma Huijuan has been engaged in literary creation after working in the field since 2010. Her story starts on a remote farm where she clicked away on old phones, documenting the stories around her. She has since gone through 9 phones and has published 6 books.