Hitting the bull's-eye

Songs. Livestreams. Ethnic Miao embroidery. The village where President Xi Jinping's targeted poverty alleviation strategy was first articulated in 2013 serves as a microcosm for the country, as China seeks to eradicate extreme poverty by year-end, Owen Fishwick discovers.

Jiao Jiao cups her hands around her mouth and inhales a deep gulp of crisp morning air, before blasting a high-pitched bolt of undulating and rhythmic notes into the surrounding mountain scenery.

Dressed head-to-foot in traditional ethnic Miao clothing, all intricately hand-stitched, colorful and bursting with birds and bright flowers, Jiao is one of many young people who have returned to the village of Shibadong in the high mountains of Hunan province to grasp new opportunities.

Prior to 2013, Shibadong village was an isolated backwater accessed only by dirt track and with land too steep to farm anything of value on, and barely enough crops to sustain the locals let alone turn a buck.