Xizang Untangled: Not one left behind

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:10]This is the type of lock for when you really trust your neighbors. We don't we don't have those in the US.

[00:00:18]In the US, Shazong is often portrayed as a backwards and impoverished place, though beautiful. So, I decided to see it for myself. It only took 24 hours of flights and a touch of scoliosis to get there, but I did it. And well, it was nothing like I expected, except the beauty was very accurate. I arrived in a small village tucked away in a snow accented valley where I met with the village cadre, Guatemala, to find out how poverty alleviation policies are changing people's lives.

[00:00:58]Hi, Lee.

[00:00:58]>> Hi, Miss. Good to finally meet you.

[00:01:10]>> It's so stunning here. In the US, I think we'd say it looks like a postcard.

[00:01:36]Sounds like a very challenging problem to figure all this out.

[00:01:42]I'm no architect, but it seems like a lot of these buildings are collapsing, falling down. Why not send people up here to renovate them?

[00:02:00]For the older people who've lived here their entire lives, I'm sure it's tough to convince them to move. How do you do that?

[00:02:18]Or you could just tell them there's puppies and children there. All old people love puppies and children.

[00:02:24]>> I went with Secretary Hua to check out a relocation project. The old houses we saw had been home to generations of villagers, but they were also impoverished, cold, and limiting of the possibilities for progress. Secretary Qua said they believe the first step towards change is giving people a new starting point. That new beginning is a place called Sonu Village. The government built the new village and the people in the surrounding areas, especially those living in poverty or inconvenient locations or in need of support are then able to move there if they choose to. It's a fresh start based on their own decision. I asked if I could have one of the houses, but they said no, which is kind of rude.

[00:03:10]>> This is the new village. It's actually gorgeous. It's modern. I want to start with an easy question. This is SO Village. What does Sano mean?

[00:03:34]This village is definitely different from the old one. It has clean, wide streets, groups of elderly people taking walks together, a charming atmosphere with children and animals playing together. I asked how they managed to distribute them fairly and also why can't I have one?

[00:03:56]>> This is the man. Huh?

[00:03:58]Delay >> Zlay. Pleasure to meet you. So I've heard that how it works is certain villagers are selected to move to the new village. How do you decide who to select to move and uh do many of them uh resist or do they say they don't want to?

[00:05:06]You've been so involved in the in the building of this town and the growth of it. And I see even now that you're retired, you still come back and do work.

[00:05:34]After hearing the old village secretary talk about the lottery style house assignment, I wanted to actually speak to some of the people impacted. So, I asked to drop in on one of the relocated families at random. I'm sure suddenly having a big dumb American in your living room might be a bit of a shock, but I had to do it in the name of journalism.

[00:06:13]Oh, this is this is beautiful. This is great. Is this kind of standard of the houses around here?

[00:06:38]Yeah. Sh.

[00:06:46]>> Thank you.

[00:06:47]>> No, no.

[00:06:50]>> And he's got a bigger TV than I do. I'm kind of jealous.

[00:06:58]>> So, was that a tough decision to decide to leave the old town and come to the new?

[00:07:27]So once you heard about the advantages, it it made more sense. Who told you about the advantages moving here?

[00:07:47]Although my conversation with the Shazang uncle wasn't very smooth, he has some hearing difficulties, it was still clear he's happy with his choice to move here. Speaking of happiness, Secretary Hua told me the village has something called a happiness station to take care of people like him who might need help and those who are unable to live independently. I wanted to check it out.

[00:08:11]A thank you.

[00:08:14]So we come and watch TV here and and who who gets to choose who has the remote?

[00:08:18]Who chooses the show?

[00:08:30]Add this to the list of things I never thought I'd be doing in my life.

[00:08:33]>> I had a happiness station once. It was my neighbor's hot tub that I used to sneak into at night. This one was a little different. This happiness station is more like a gathering place, the social heart of the village. It's where people connect, share stories, and feel cared for. This new village isn't just a bunch of buildings. It's a real community, a place that puts people at the center. And I'm still not sure why I can't have a house. Okay. They were extra. I saw them.

[00:09:07]All right. So, we've seen the town elders. Where are the children in this town?

[00:09:17]>> Absolutely. Is there anything cuter than Tibetan kids?

[00:09:22]>> Oh, man. Okay. All right.

[00:09:30]Sit down. Sit down.

[00:09:44]>> This is beautiful.

[00:09:46]>> Beautiful.

[00:09:49]>> HELLO.

[00:09:55]THE SHAISON KIDS ARE adorable and their school has everything, even a jungle gym. It was me for about half an hour.

[00:10:03]Watching them play at school, hearing their laughter, it really hit home that everything happening here is worth it.

[00:10:11]From better education to more opportunities for the future, these children now have real choices. like the choice to not jump on my head. That's a choice they could have made. Anyway, I also started wondering how this tiny village affords all this social welfare.

[00:10:28]To answer that, Secretary Hua took me to visit the Xiao Kong workshop.

[00:10:34]>> Secretary Hua told me there's something called the rural collective economy. The factories and workshops are rented out to small business owners, bringing in income for the village while also creating jobs for the locals.

[00:10:52]The Xiao Kong workshop was really fascinating. A young woman was live streaming so fast that it sounded like an auction for a prize-winning pig. Not that I would know. I've never bought a pig. Who told you that?

[00:11:07]Meanwhile, a few older women were operating sewing machines without even looking down at their hands. I would definitely have lpped my fingers off if I tried that. Believe it or not, their intricate thanka artwork is sold all over the world. It's pretty impressive.

[00:11:25]But that's not all. The village also runs flower green houses. They even have a chicken farm. It's like a tiny self-sufficient economy that also features gremlin children. Of course, none of it would be possible without the hard work and dedication of the officials behind the scenes.

[00:11:51]Hi. So, you work here at the village committee and what's your dayto-day like?

[00:12:17]from the old village secretary to the current team on the ground. I saw a sense of continuity and community. Each person quietly plays their part, plays their role, and together, like pieces of a puzzle, they're building the future of this village. The children can probably defend the village gates cuz no one's getting past them.

[00:12:40]>> The Shizan government sends 10,000 officials out to do kind of the job you're doing. It's an interesting system, uh, one that not a lot of countries have. Why is it necessary and and how does it work?

[00:13:11]Do you have confidence in the future progress of this village?

[00:13:16]Yeah. Yeah.

[00:13:33]Uh, some Americans are happy. Yes. A lot are not. A lot of the smaller towns, the rural towns are having a lot of trouble.

[00:13:45]>> Ah, well, some people don't know who to turn to. Uh my mother actually is a social worker, so she helps people figure out how to solve problems. So that's one place people can turn.

[00:13:55]Unfortunately, a lot of people turn to the police, which in the United States, the police kill a lot of people, and so that's a bad place to turn, but people still do it. So yeah, there's some issues. Some issues, definitely. Well, thank you again so much for showing me around. You've been wonderful, and I really appreciate it.

[00:14:17]I I hope to see you again.

[00:14:18]>> Oh, thank you.

[00:14:24]>> With just a couple of weeks of experiencing Shaong, meeting the people, I have to say I've seen a lot of positive impacts of China's poverty alleviation program. Life expectancy in this region over the past 70 years has gone from 35 years old to over 70. The population has gone from 1.2 million people to over 3.6 6 million. So if you consider tripling the number of Tibetans in the world as genocide, then I don't think you understand what those words mean. I've also gotten to meet some of the village administrators working tirelessly to improve the lives of those coming from extreme poverty. Sometimes it's helping them find a new home.

[00:14:59]Sometimes it's a new job. Sometimes it's helping to pry the town elders out of the massage chairs. But whatever the problem, it seems like they're working on it. Amazingly, it took only 5 months to build this entire village. That accomplishment and so many others have been achieved through the efforts of countless Sano village cadres. While it's of course difficult to move from a place where you've lived for decades to a new area, the villagers enjoy a better life now. Look, Shazang is a beautiful, varied, and unique place. I think making sure the vibrant, friendly, and generous people here have clean water, warm food, and a safe place to live is a good thing. Sorry, Western propaganda.