Poor ethnic minority Chinese load by hand mud bricks in Lijiang

Poor ethnic minority Chinese load by hand mud bricks on to a truck from an old house being torn down to make way for a new hotel in Lijiang, northern Yunnan Province, on September 30, 2012. Income inequality continues to grow in China as rural poverty persists despite rapid urban growth. China raised the poverty line to $1 per person per day in 2011, increasing the country's poverty-stricken population from 26.99 million to 128 million. UPI/Stephen Shaver