BEIJING - Long Decheng celebrated her birthday for the first time this year, at the age of 79.

She asked her son to serve a free bowl of spicy rice tofu to each visitor at their family eatery and, wearing a paper crown, made a wish in front of a birthday cake.

"I didn't have the money and wasn't in the mood for a birthday celebration in the past. Now, life is much better, and I wanted to try that experience," said Long, from Shibadong village in Xiangxi Tujia and Miao autonomous prefecture, Central China's Hunan province.

On Nov 3, 2013, right in her courtyard, Chinese President Xi Jinping first put forward the concept of "targeted poverty alleviation" while visiting the then impoverished village during an inspection of Hunan.

The concept, which requires tailoring relief measures to different local conditions, was included in the first-ever resolution addressing poverty eradication in rural areas adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2018.