Ma Yisa once thought his life would be no different from the older generations of his family: living off the land, grazing animals and doing casual work deep in the mountains. Yet after he came across hand-pulled noodles, he found a chance to break free from a stagnant life.

In Monigou, a township in Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Gansu Province, roads weave through mountains, adding to the difficulty of making money locally or venturing out.

Around 2000, a story had it in the poverty-hit village where Ma lived that wealth would pour in with the craft of making hand-pulled noodles. It intrigued Ma.

"I was eager to learn the skill, and live a better-off life like the noodle artisans in my village," Ma said.

The hand-pulled noodles Ma mentioned was Lanzhou beef noodles. With a history of more than 200 years, the well-known regional specialty consists of a flavorful broth, shaved beef, radish slices and chewy handmade noodles. While a bowl of hand-pulled beef noodles can be prepared quickly, it may take years to master the skill of noodle making.

The bond Monigou forged with hand-pulled noodles went deeper upon the early stage of China's reform and opening up, when a band of villagers blazed a trail to seek fortune in eastern China. With fine workmanship in making the noodles, they got established in big cities like Shanghai. Back in their hometowns, these artisans built new houses and drove new cars, being some of the first to amass wealth.

Decades later, Ma went down the same road. In 2007, the then 17-year-old was introduced to a noodle restaurant in east China's Jiangsu Province. There he started as a dishwasher. Constantly striving to gain more knowledge, Ma squeezed in learning noodle know-how from the cooks.

At first, he was too weak to pull wheat flour dough by hand into long strips. To overcome it, he often lifted the solid wood benches in the restaurant to build up arm strength. Every night before bed, he would go over every technique in his mind.

"Even in my dreams, I was thinking about the amounts of some ingredients," he said.

Two years into his stay in Jiangsu, Ma saw his dream come true. He became a noodle cook and his salary doubled.

With the increased income, his family became better off. They renovated their adobe home and purchased an agricultural vehicle. Their life in the mountains was renewed.

"Our people dream big, dare to venture out and are persevering. With the noodle craft, we have carved out a niche," said Ma Xiaolong, township chief of Monigou. "Hand-pulled noodles are helping us win the fight against poverty."

To foster the noodle industry, the township has designated the craft as a pillar for the local economy, organizing training courses and offering loans to those in need. It also encourages those trailblazers to promote its popularity, opening noodle restaurants around the country.

Since 2015, nearly 1,100 residents in Monigou have joined in the training, and loans of about 36.62 million yuan (5.25 million U.S. dollars) have been granted, according to official statistics.

Once the idea of owning a restaurant flickered in Ma Yisa's mind, the next second he ruled it out. "It would cost 60,000 yuan or even more. How could I get so much money? Plus, I have no experience in management. So the plan had to be shelved," he said.

In 2015, opportunity knocked again. Ma applied for a 50,000-yuan loan for targeted poverty alleviation and attended courses organized by the local government on the management of restaurants. His wife, meanwhile, received training in making hand-pulled noodles and some other home cooking.

Soon the couple opened a noodle bistro in Jiangsu. Today the annual profit of Ma's business is over 150,000 yuan, more than tripling the income of him as a noodle cook.

Early this year, he prepared to rent a storefront on a commercial street and applied for another 50,000-yuan loan with the help of a program designed to encourage startups.

So far, a total of 1,038 households in Monigou Township work in the noodle industry, creating more than 2,200 local jobs with a monthly salary of over 4,000 yuan. The annual output value of the noodles reached around 100 million yuan in the township.

Now Ma has taken one more title as a pathfinder in creating wealth out of hand-pulled noodles. Recently, he was occupied helping two homies select a restaurant location.

"Due to the support of homies and the local government, I have rid myself of poverty. Now it's time to return the favor and lead more people to taste the blessings of hand-pulled noodles," he said.