Sisters who once relied on rickety ropeways to cross river on their way to school now embrace better lives

In 2007, a picture was widely circulated on the Internet that captured the moment when two girls crossed a river with the help of nothing but a ropeway, all in an attempt to reach their school located in the Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture of southwest China’s Yunnan Province.

(Photo/CCTV News)

15 years later, how are they doing now?

In 2014, the elder sister Yu Chunhua was admitted by the Yunnan Secondary Specialized School of Chinese Medicine. After graduation from the school, she became a nurse.

Yu Caimei, the younger sister, is also leading a better life now after getting involved with a plantation for Amomum Tsao-ko, a project introduced to local villagers after targeted poverty alleviation was carried out in the locality.

Yu Chunhua  (Photo/CCTV News)

On Dec. 30, 2018, the Qiaoma Bridge, a suspension bridge over the Nujiang River, was completed. Over the past years, the hometown of the two sisters has undergone tremendous changes. Gradually, ropeways became part of a leisure activity under a tourism program in the locality.

“After the bridge was built, there were fewer ropeways like this one, except for a few that have been preserved for tourists to experience,” said Yu Caimei.

“People of our generation and the future generations don’t need ropeways. This fact gives us a sense of happiness,” said the two sisters.

Yu Caimei (Photo/CCTV News)

Nowadays, the Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture has become a major production base for Amomum Tsao-ko in China. The planting area of Amomum Tsao-ko in the prefecture has reached 74,333 hectares, ranking it first in Yunnan. The annual production of Amomum Tsao-ko in the prefecture is about 47,400 tonnes and with an output value that now stands at 1.32 billion yuan ($208.7 million).