Oroqen people in north China witness astonishing changes in their life

In this combo photo, the left part taken in 1961 shows an Oroqen woman drawing on a box made of birch bark; and the right part taken by Lian Zhen on Aug. 7, 2021 shows Jiang Lixian arranging decorated birch-bark boxes at his handicrafts shop in Ali River Township of Oroqen Autonomous Banner, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Oroqen, dubbed "China's last hunting ethnic minority," is one of the smallest ethnic groups in China. They used to live a nomadic life, hunting in the forests. After the establishment of the Oroqen Autonomous Banner in 1951, the lives of the Oroqen people changed for the better. By 1958, many of the region's nomads had settled down and changed the way they lived and worked. The Oroqen people made a tremendous leap from primitive tribes to modern civilization. The past seven decades have witnessed astonishing changes in their life. (Xinhua)