In the remote village of Dizhengdang, deep in the Dulong River valley, 39-year-old Li Yuhua balances multiple roles that keep her community running. As a forest ranger, a village grid worker, and an inheritor of Derung blanket weaving, her daily routine is the lifeblood of grassroots governance in this corner of southwestern China.

"When something happens in the village, people usually come to me first," Li said. "If it is a small problem, I try to solve it. If I cannot, I contact the police."

Along the Dulongjiang border, protection does not always come in uniform. Sometimes it is Li walking through the forest to check for fire risks. Sometimes it is a visit to an elderly neighbor. Sometimes it is a quiet effort to settle a family dispute before it grows.

Her mother, Li Wenshi, 84, is one of the few remaining Derung women with facial tattoos. The blue-black lines on her face are a mark of an old custom that has disappeared. They also carry the memory of a different Dulongjiang.

Together, the mother and daughter show how border governance here is built not only on patrols, but also on trust among villagers, police officers and local officials.

Mark of history

Li Wenshi still remembers the pain of the tattoos.

Her mother, a tattoo artist, used thorns to prick patterns into her face and then colored them with dye. The pain lasted for days. The marks stayed for life.

"When I was little, we lived in wooden houses in the mountains," she said. "We went barefoot in the snow to dig wild roots. We were always hungry and did not have enough clothes."

The Derung people once lived in deep isolation. It was not until 1964 that a narrow mule trail was built, linking the valley to the outside world.

Li Wenshi first left the mountains along that trail. In 1968, she walked for 11 days to the seat of Nujiang Lisu autonomous prefecture to attend a meeting as a representative of Derung women.

A rough road reached Dulongjiang in 1999, but winter snow and long rainy seasons still cut the valley off for much of the year. In 2014, a nearly 7-kilometer tunnel through the Gaoligong Mountains ended that isolation.

The next year, Li Wenshi flew to Kunming for the first time.

"We drove for a few hours to the airport, and then suddenly we were in Kunming," she said. "That was unimaginable before."

Her family has since moved into a new Derung-style house with a gray roof and yellow walls. The home has a refrigerator, television and washing machine. The village has better roads, public services and mobile networks.

"In the past, once the snow blocked the road, it was very hard to get fresh fruit and vegetables," Li Wenshi said. "Now the market has everything."

Her daughter said daily life has changed just as much.

"When there was no electricity, people went to sleep as soon as it got dark," Li Yuhua said. "Now my mother watches TV news and short videos on her phone as young people do. Sometimes she stays up until 11 pm."

As she spoke, Li Wenshi kept weaving. Her wooden shuttle moved back and forth, and a Derung blanket slowly took shape.

The blanket is an important Derung symbol. It can be worn by day and used as bedding at night. Li Wenshi mixes cotton, wool and hemp to make the blankets softer and more colorful.

"Now we want them to be more beautiful and more practical," she said.