From Sina.com, translated by CDT:
Gansu’s Yongjing county is one of poorest counties in China. On average, 10% of the population is below the poverty line here, and in certain parts the poverty rate reaches 70%. Recently, 9 high walls have been nicely built along the highway. The local government named these walls as “Cultural Walls” and said the walls make a better and prettier environment for the village.
However, the local villagers said most poverty villagers’ families live next to the Lan Liu highway. Their houses were built more than 10 years ago and are in disrepair. The villagers keep their cows and sheep in front their houses, and pile up wood and straw around. It’s an ugly scene. The villagers could not afford to build new houses, thus the local government built the high walls to cover the ugly and broken scene. The villagers call the walls “The Wall That Covers the Embarrassment”.
Read the original Chinese report here. See also “Rural poverty and the ‘new countryside’: Xinhua News Agency investigates Gansu’s ‘Wall of Shame’” from China Media Project.
