China: People in isolated village spend 15 years opening a road through mountains

The mountain road was opened by the villagers of Shenlongwan. Source: Odditycentral.com

People in Shenlongwan, an isolated village deep in the mountains in China's Shanxi Province, spent 15 years carving out a road to bring the village closer to the outside world and lift it out of poverty.

Blessed with a favorable climate, Shenlongwan Village has always been famous for its fresh produce such as walnuts and pears. But harvesting and selling them to the market used to be a big challenge for local people.

Until 2000, to reach the county seat of Changzhi City, one had to travel through eight towns in three different provinces or risk climbing over steep, almost vertical cliffs to reach the village.

One day, the villagers decided that things had to change and if the government did not build a road to their village, they would do it themselves.

“We really need a road. If we can’t finish it in one year, we’ll try to finish it in two years. If two years is not enough, we’ll do it in three years,” said Duan Jianlin, an elderly man from Shenlongwan village who was also involved in the road construction.

Shenlongwan is surrounded on all sides by mountains, so villagers had to dig through rocks to build roads connecting their village to other cities in China.

With only rudimentary tools such as hammers and chisels, the villagers' work of carving the mountain to make a road was extremely difficult and time-consuming. The road built by the Shenlongwan people was only 1,526 meters long, but it took them no less than 15 years to complete, starting in 1985 and ending in 2000.

Inside the mountain road opened by the villagers of Shenlongwan. Source: Odditycentral.com

This short but invaluable road opened the door to tourism and trade and was the key to helping the people of Shenlongwan escape poverty. Not only could they sell the fruits of their labor more quickly, but the natural beauty of the village also began to attract tourists.

Today, more than 60% of the 700-plus villagers are involved in tourism-related businesses, and the once-poor conditions are a distant memory.

In 2000, before the mountain road came into operation, the average income per capita was only 680 yuan (2.4 million VND), while today it has reached 12,000 yuan, equivalent to 42.5 million VND.

According to Vietnam+