![[Watch it again]: A tour of China's beautiful countryside in Yanta Villa](http://subsites.chinadaily.com.cn/kunming/img/attachement/jpg/site48/20220812/16602919333551.jpg)
From an aging, worn-out village to one of renewed beauty, Yanta village in Yunnan province has undergone major changes over the last three years.
Asian elephants, the continent's largest land animal, are under top-level protection in China and constitute an important part of Yunnan's rainforest ecosystem. In Yunnan province in Southwest China, nearly every elephant herd has welcomed newborns in recent years.
As Yunnan province in Southwest China is dedicated to building itself into a trading hub facing South and Southeast Asia, its people are looking to profit.
The total volume of imported and exported goods transported via the China-Laos Railway has reached 1.02 million tons since the railway's opening eight months ago, with total worth of about 9.14 billion yuan (about $1.35 billion).
Horticulturalists working on the development of proprietary varieties of the China rose－or Rosa Chinensis in Latin－in Yunnan province have overcome technical bottlenecks with the help of independent research and development, allowing new variations of the native plant to blossom around the country.
Home gardening has blossomed as more people have remained at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A record 1.45 million passenger trips were made on the China-Laos Railway in July, averaging 46,000 trips daily, according to operator, the Kunming branch of China State Railway Group Co.
Wuhua district of Kunming, capital city of southwest China's Yunnan province, and Sapa, a city in Northern Vietnam's Lao Cai province, signed a letter of intent on establishing sister city status via a video meeting on August 8.
