Made by placing a bamboo chair on two bamboo poles carried by two persons, the "huagan" has for generations helped people who are unable to climb the high mountains on foot.

Increasing numbers of tourists come to Chishui, which is surrounded by steep mountains on the border of Guizhou and Sichuan provinces and decorated with bushy bamboo, beautiful waterfalls, clear streams and gigantic rocks.

Chen Yangfang, a farmer in Sidong village of Chishui, supports his six-member family by carrying "huagan" for tourists.

"I also carried 'huagan' for passers-by before Chishui became a new favorite of tourists, but as a part-time job I could not count on it to support my family," Chen said.

The remote area has become exposed to tourists thanks to a new highway linking Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, and Beihai, in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, which went into operation in late 2001.

It took a week to travel from Chengdu to Beihai by car before but the journey has shrunk to one day now due to the 1,700-km new highway, most of which is expressway.

New opportunities have arisen for the remote areas along the new highway, including Chishui, which is 70 kilometers away from it.

Chishui received about 200,000 tourists from home and abroad last year, according to the local tourism department.

In Chen's village, there are about 250 young 'huagan' carriers.

"I carry the 'huagan' ten days a month, earning 20 to 40 yuan ( 2.42 to US$4.84) per day, and even more in prime times such as in May and October," Chen said.

During the rest of the month, he works in his six-hectare field to grow bamboo.

Farmers in Chishui do not farm anymore since the country introduced the policy of converting the land for forestry along the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.

In southwest and southern provinces like Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Chongqing Municipality, farmers were forbidden to grow farm produce in their fields, encouraged instead to plant trees in a bid to protect the environment of the Yangtze and Pearl rivers, two major rivers in China which suffer soil erosion.

About 2.52 million hectares of farmland were converted to forest in 2002 while thousands of farmers turn to tourism to make a new living.

"I had worried about how to make a living when the conversion project started but am now relieved thanks to the tourism," Chen said.

Chen makes some appliances and art works with the bamboo he grows, in which tourists take great interest.

His two children have been sent to high school and he has bought a TV set and a washing machine. Some of Chen's neighbors run family hotels and are hired as tour guides.

(eastday.com April 17, 2003)