Bangzhong Village, Nyingchi City, Tibet Autonomous Region, southwest China - Recent (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Bangzhong Village
2. Various of roads, houses in village
3. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Urgyen Tsering, Party Secretary, Bangzhong Village (ending with shot 4):
"The government has invested a lot in our village: 100,000 yuan (or about 14,895 U.S. dollars) per person."
4. Various of old pictures of Bangzhong Village
5. Sign reading (Tibetan/Chinese) "To build beautiful Tibet"
6. Various of roads in village
7. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Tobgye, Bangzhong villager (full name not given) (ending with shots 8-10):
"The government is very supportive. For example, when you want to open a hotel or a tea house, local government will support you. When you want to have business licenses, they can also help you. Besides, we could get pretty big tax cuts. So our life is getting better and better."
8. Party badge on Tobgye's clothes
9. Tobgye's house
10. Inside Tobgye's house, photo of Tobgye, his wife
11. Various of mountains

Qionglin Village, Nyingchi City, Tibet Autonomous Region, southwest China - Recent (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
12. Party service center in village
13. Various of roads, houses in village
14. Various of mountains, road, house, car carrying tourists

Galai Village, Nyingchi City, Tibet Autonomous Region, southwest China - Recent (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
15. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Ma Shengchang, Party Secretary, Nyingchi City (starting with shot 14):
"In developing the economies in these border villages, we focus on four aspects: housing, economic growth, ecological conservation and public services, as well as 30 related projects. The infrastructure here has been enhanced, and the living standards of villagers have been greatly lifted."
16. Various of villager herding yaks

Villagers in southwest China's remote Tibet Autonomous Region say that their life has been improved with better infrastructure and more sources of income, thanks to favorable government policies.

Thursday, or the Serfs' Emancipation Day, marks the 60th anniversary of Tibet's democratic reforms that ended the feudal serf system.

Since democratic reforms were introduced, the central government has been taking various measures to lift poor people living in this remote region out of poverty.

With a huge amount of money funded by the government, Bangzhong Village in Nyingchi City, which sits on the border between China and India, has put on a new face in recent years.

"The government has invested a lot in our village: 100,000 yuan (or about 14,895 U.S. dollars) per person," said Urgyen Tsering, Party chief of Bangzhong Village.

A housing project since 2007 has transformed old earth houses into brick-concrete buildings, and an infrastructure improvement project since 2016 that covers 141 border villages in Nyingchi with a total investment of nearly 3.7 billion yuan (or about 550 million U.S. dollars) has renovated roads, utility and communication systems, providing great convenience to local residents' life.

The government has also been encouraging villagers to explore sources of income on their own, and providing support in the process.

"The government is very supportive. For example, when you want to open a hotel or a tea house, local government will support you. When you want to have business licenses, they can also help you. Besides, we could get pretty big tax cuts. So our life is getting better and better," said a villager named Tobgye.

In 2018, the per capita income of Bangzhong villagers reached 24,000 yuan (or about 3573 U.S. dollars). In addition to better infrastructure, the villagers now also have access to more cultural products and services.

Another border village Qionglin has been developing tourism, poultry and forestry industries, which have enabled residents to earn more.

"In developing the economies in these border villages, we focus on four aspects: housing, economic growth, ecological conservation and public services, as well as 30 related projects. The infrastructure here has been enhanced, and the living standards of villagers have been greatly lifted," said Ma Shengchang, Party chief of Nyingchi City.