Atop a sea of clouds in Yuanyang County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, the ethnic Hani people's thousand-year-old "earth sculptures" once painted a picture of breathtaking beauty intertwined with poverty.

The integrated rice-fish-duck farming system has been promoted, enabling every terrace to generate higher yields in Yuanyang County, Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, southwest China, April 2019. 

Today, as targeted poverty alleviation reaches the depths of Ailao Mountains, these ancient terraces – a UNESCO World Heritage Site – have become a living proof of the pursuit for realizing United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.

While preserving their traditional charm, old houses have been renovated, and ecotourism has transformed farmhouses into homestays in Yuanyang County, Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, April 2019. 

Ecological tourism transforms farmhouses into homestays, rice-fish-duck systems boost yields, and Hani embroidery patterns now reach global markets through e-commerce.

Ditch-tenders – an age-old profession unique to this region – are tasked with maintaining unobstructed water channels across the irrigation system in Yuanyang County, Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, April 2019. 

On the UN's 80th anniversary this year, Yuanyang's story shows the world that poverty eradication is not about conquering nature, but finding a symbiotic rhythm between people and the land – much like the terraces themselves. When Hani children laugh and run along the paddies, we witness the most touching footnote in China's poverty alleviation campaign.

(All photos via CGTN)