Combo photo shows 21-year-old kindergarten teacher Yang Meiliu posing for a picture (main image in the layout); and Yang's work and life (smaller images in the right-side column), in Banlan Township, Rong'an County, southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Oct. 23, 2019. Yang's boyfriend, Yang Zhixian, has been working in Banlan Township for seven years. She joined him to work as a kindergarten teacher after graduation from college this year. Hemmed in a mountainous area where stony desertification holds sway, Rong'an County in southwest China has been struggling against dire poverty that is aggravated by population aging and loss of labour force. In the past years, many from the post-1990s generation have played active roles at the forefront of local poverty alleviation campaigns. Embracing a range of professions, the younger generation working in Rong'an helps pour renewed vigour to a county eager to throw off the shackles of destitution. Statistics show that the county's poverty rate dropped to 3.03 percent in 2018, down from 23.68 percent two years ago. Some 47,500 residents in the county have been lifted out of poverty during the same period. At the moment, 6,761 residents are still in need of help before they overcome poverty. (Xinhua/Huang Xiaobang)
