Editor's note: The Sichuan-Tibet Plateau, a beautiful region that reaches toward the heavens, is a place showered with blue skies, covered in white clouds, and dotted with snow-covered mountains, but recently, something truly remarkable has been materializing among the households that call this place home. A groundbreaking historic change has been reshaping the land and its people. From today on, we will publish a series of stories to tell you those changes. 

Across from the Lower Ringo administrative office, a small workshop buzzes with activity.

The closer one comes to it, the stronger the enticing fragrance and the louder the machines. Lozang Jiangcuo, a villager working here, smiles brightly at any and all visitors. The 30-something-year-old comes from Lower Ringo, and in 2016, he was still registered as part of a poverty-stricken family. Today, though, he no longer calls himself poor, and that is all due to the blessings pouring out of this little workshop.

This mill is known as the "Lower Ringo Electric Mill Cooperative", an economic collective for the village. The funds to construct and purchase everything necessary for its operation came from poverty-relief funds donated by the local government. The village cooperative then used it to offer job positions to poor locals, and that is precisely how Lozang became the workshop's "manager".

Tsampa is the workshop's main product and is the number one Tibetan staple food, being used in practically every meal. Previously, Lozang used a water mill to help people produce tsampa: a tedious job rendering an extremely limited income. 30-40 yuan were all that could be made within an entire day. Today, however, the electric mill takes care of all tsampa-making processes, including frying and milling. After only a few days of training, Lozang was ready to manage the entire operation, and his salary has jumped significantly to over 100 yuan a day. His joy is heartwarmingly palpable.

This machine, that eliminates much cumbersome manual labor, equips the local people with an engine of sorts that drives them forward to a future without poverty. Happy with his new job, Lozang believes that tomorrow no longer looks so bleak. 

The Chinese version of this story is written by Huang Yingliang & Liu Kung and translated into English by Huang Wenjuan. And the story is sourced from the United Front Work Deparment of the Communist Party of China (CPC)Sichuan Provincial Committee.

Editor: Ana Wu