The Red, Red Azalea

An official study of China’s poverty reduction program. In this book, Wang Song describes the five most representative counties of poverty alleviation in the south of Jiangxi Province—Yudu County, Shicheng County, Xingguo County, Quannan County, and Longnan County—detailing the characteristics and outstanding achievements of each. Full of vivid characters and rich with historical depth, the reportage provides a remarkable panoramic view of the region. China’s Targeted Poverty Alleviation program was proposed by President Xi in 2013 and aims to give poor people the resources to lift themselves out of poverty. No fewer than three million cadres have been sent to the least developed areas of the country to educate, inspire, and help impoverished people with financial support, jobs, and business opportunities. The authors of the books in the Poverty Alleviation Series visited some of the villages targeted by the program to assess developments in education, agriculture, health, and tourism. The authors wrote about what they saw, what they heard, and how they felt during these visits and rendered them in touching and vivid detail.