"I received nearly 4,000 yuan (589.3 US dollars) this year in dividends and more than 10,000 yuan (1473.3 US dollars) in salary, so it's been a good year," Yang Xiekui, a villager from Yuezangfu Village, Xinchengzi Tibetan Township,

Tanchang County is located in southern Gansu at the edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and where the western part of Qinling Mountains and Mount Min branch mountain ranges intersect. In the past, due to poor location and inconvenient transportation, Tanchang's economic development was slow, and it was one of the poorest counties in the province and in the country.

In order to earn more money to support his family, Yang Xiekui used to go away to work. Nowadays, he invested in the Yuezangfu Village Tourism Cooperative with unused houses.

He enjoys dividends every year. "I am able to farm at home and take care of the elderly. Every day is getting better and better!" he said.

Yuezangfu Village is a Tibetan township with strong ethnic Tibetan and Qiang culture. The village relies on the advantages of the surrounding green mountains, pastoral scenery, Tibetan and Qiang culture, and other resources, and it has gradually transformed its residential houses into folk custom inns, creating an ethnic culture tourism destination.

In 2017, Yuezangfu Village continuously improved infrastructure such as water, electricity, roads, and houses. They also developed tourism, labor, beekeeping, planting, and other money-making industries. Depending on the village "three transformations" reform (resources transformed into assets, capital transformed into shares, farmers transformed into shareholders), a number of cooperatives have also been set up, helping farmers stabilize their incomes.

It is understood that in Yuezangfu Village there are 114 rooms in 18 households that have been converted into guesthouses. The village has built tourist facilities such as a circle dancing square, a rock-climbing facility, a path through the forest, stepping stones on the water, a net bridge, as well as a barbecue area with barbecue and dining options. During the May 1 holiday last year, Yuezangfu Village welcomed more than 70,000 tourists.

Editor: Tommy Tan.