Editor's note: The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China set out a blueprint for China's path to modernization, with the aim of guiding the development of all walks of life in the new era and contributing positively to global progress. Throughout the year, China Daily will run a series of picture stories that highlight important waypoints on this journey. In this first installment, we examine the dramatic change in fortunes of the Derung people in Yunnan province, brought about by a decade of dedication and development.

Over the last decade, Dulongjiang township, Gongshan county of Yunnan province, has seen drastic changes, which resulted in one of the most remote, closed and poorest areas in China embracing digital and modern life.

Home of one of the country's smallest ethnic groups, the Derung, Dulongjiang township used to be isolated by deep gorges and snowcapped mountains until 2014, when a tunnel provided access to the wider world.

For hundreds of years, Derung people lived a primitive life — sleeping in thatched homes, traversing rivers by rope crossing, climbing the mountains on handmade vine ladders. But now it has been transformed.