In 1935，demographer Hu Huanyong traced a diagonal line through China， from the edge of Siberia to the steamy subtropics.
　　What he found was frontier of asymmetrical growth between east and west.
　　After more than 80 years， despite the country's tremendous economic and cultural transformation， the Hu Line still stands-and China must ask hard questions ahout its uneven development.

　　Find a ruler and a big map of China. Draw a line beginning in Tengchong City， in the tropical southwestern province of Yunnan， near Myanmar. Continue northeast at an angle of around 45 degrees until you reach the city of Heihe， tucked at the very top of Heilongjiang province on the Russian border.
　　You have just successfully traced the Hu Line.
　　Named after Hu Huanyong， a Chinese demographer who first identified the demarcation in a research paper in the mid-1930s， the imaginary line divides China into two parts. To the east， just over one-third of the nation's land houses almost 94 percent of the country's population-more than 1.2 billion people. To the west，around 6 percent of citizens-but most of the country's ethnic minority groups - share the vast and varied terrain that some still think of as the \"wild west.\"
　　If you gazed at China from outer space at night， you would see dazzling proof of the Hu Line： the east densely sequined with bright lights， and just the odd shy flicker to the west.
　　China's natural landscape， too， splits along the Hu Line. Areas to the west are semiarid， colder， and more mountainous. Grazing is more widespread in the west， while growing crops is more common in the east， which is flatter and more humid. The Hu Line also represents the frontier of China's economic development： The average GDP per capita in provinces west of the line is around 15 percent lower than in those to the east， according to Sixth Tone's analysis of official data from 2015. The east has more highways， universities， hospitals， and even convenience stores. Meanwhile， many areas to the west of the line suffer from grinding poverty-partly because industrialization hasn't taken hold to the same extent， but also because residents have more barriers to accessing public health and education. Many face additional challenges as ethnic minorities.

　　SIXTH TONE，A team of writers， editors， and researchers from within China and abroad. We belong to Shanghai United Media Group， and share our offices with our sister publication， The Paper.

Preface： Hu Line： China 's Forgotten Frontier
The Last of the Oroqen Hunters
Reflections from the Rustbelt： A Laid-off Worker's Story
Inner Mongolia's Grasslands， Once Lush， Grow Ever More Parched
A Place to Preach in Inner Mongolia
Grass and Cashmere
Powering China With Darkness and Light
After Deadly Landslide， Shaanxi Villagers Resist Relocation
Bringing Creativity to Middle China' s Stifled Classrooms
Change Brings Opportunity and Angst to the Tibetan Plateau
Beichuan to Lushan： Memories
Success a Tall Order for World's Highest Craft Beer Brewery
In China's Home of Love Songs， Blind Teen Finds His Voice
The ups and downs of rural e-commerce
Finding Skywalker
360： The Shifting Allure of Border Town Gemstones
Lake Protection Plan a Raw Deal for Dali Garlic Farmers
Tengchong： The Words Of Our Elders