The Premier, Mr Zhu Rongji, visited Dingxi last October and promised to give away surplus grain to farmers whose land was unproductive. In return, farmers would be asked to plant trees instead of grain on steep farmland, to curb soil erosion. But one Western economist, said farmers would rather be given money to terrace their land and boost production. During three years of man-made famine that followed Mao Zedong's catastrophic Great Leap Forward in 1958, the people of an entire village in Dingxi, led by their mayor, trekked for days to neighboring cities to beg for food. The Great Leap Forward campaign saw farmers abandon their fields to join a mad rush to make steel in backyard furnaces to boost economic growth.
Beggars are still a common sight in Gansu's capital, Lanzhou.
Poverty has led to other problems, including prostitution, trafficking in women and children, drug abuse and rising crime. The Age Company Ltd 2000. Any unauthorised use, copying or mirroring is prohibited.