Children in Atuleer descend an 800-meter cliff to go to school. (Photo : Getty Images)
The village of Atuleer located on the top of an 800-meter cliff is going to be developed as a new tourist site.
The isolated area is part of the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Southwest China's Sichuan Province. Villagers climb ladders made of bamboo to climb up and down the cliff.
The Chinese government is going to pour in 300 million yuan to develop the area and will be a model project for the government's efforts to alleviate poverty in the country.
Local media reported that a tourism company inked a deal with the government of Zhaojue to start development after the construction of a steel stairway between Atuleer and the lower villages.
Villagers are now able to go to the lower villages in a more secure manner and travel time only takes half an hour.
The bamboo bridge was replaced last year after the world gave attention to the deteriorating state of the villagers. Schoolchildren climb and descend the ladder and face high risks just to go to school.
The residents of Atuleer belong to the Yi ethnic group. Many efforts were done to integrate the group into modern China, but relocation has been a major issue.
There has been no road connection between the upland village and the low-lying towns prior to the construction of the steel staircase.
Residents depend on potato and walnut farming.
Fu Jiajie, a Shanghai-based ethnic Yi commentator, said, "Atuleer villagers' living conditions have undergone revolutionary changes compared to thirty years ago."
He added, "Yet they remain largely mired in the premodern, preindustrial age, their development decades or more behind the rest of the country."
Fu added that there are limited opportunities for the members of the ethnic group because they are severely discriminated and this limits them to employment access.
Some are even given dog-like treatment by other Chinese.
"Local governments have tried all the methods and policies they can," Fu said. "They need new methods and techniques, but they have none."
