In mid-September, the grasslands of Zoige in Sichuan, sitting at an average altitude of 3,500 meters, slowly take on a golden hue, with the First Bend of the Yellow River winding like a golden khata under the sunlight. As rotor blades roar, a Bell 407GXi high-altitude helicopter lifts off from Tangke Town, breaking the millennium-old silence of the plateau. When the helicopter compresses a bumpy three-hour ground journey into a 20-minute aerial experience, an "air economy circle," led by market entities with deep participation from social forces, is taking shape on the northwestern Sichuan plateau.
Behind this lies a profound shift in the east-west collaboration approach between Nanhu District and Zoige County—moving from a government-led "blood transfusion" model to a "blood-making" approach with social forces. This shift channels the surging tides of eastern capital, technology, and markets to precisely irrigate the vast lands of the west.
Corporate Leadership Creates a "Plateau Miracle" in 100 Days
Zoige boasts world-class landscapes such as the First Bend of the Yellow River and Huahu Lake, yet the "long journey, short stay" issue has long constrained local tourism development. How to break through? Government guidance is merely the prelude; corporate practice is the main act. In 2025, with the coordination of the Nanhu aid-work group in Sichuan, Zhejiang Dianlian Group saw the clean and open airspace of Zoige as an opportunity, investing in two Bell 407GXi high-altitude helicopters worth over 80 million yuan in total. They jointly established a general aviation tourism company with Zoige state-owned capital, with the enterprise fully responsible for market-based operations.
To ensure absolute safety, the company deployed a core team led by retired military pilots, bringing the mature operational standards and safety systems of the east. From launching research in March 2025 to achieving the first flight on June 26, it took just 100 days. Behind this "100-day miracle" lies the company's efficient decision-making and execution capabilities. Leveraging its resource mobilization capacity within the industry, Zhejiang Dianlian Group quickly completed complex processes including airspace applications, route approvals, and base construction, making Zoige the first pilot county in China for high-altitude low-altitude operations management. These 100 days not only showcased "Zhejiang speed" but also the high value of corporate assistance. Since officially commencing operations in July 2025, the project has completed over 300 flight sorties, generating direct revenue exceeding 600,000 yuan.
Homestay Transformation Brings "Golden Rice Bowls" to Herders' Doorsteps
The roar of helicopters not only brings tourists but also awakens dormant rural resources nearby. In Fenjia Village, Tangke Town, the home of Tibetan herder Zeren Zhuoma has undergone dramatic changes. "Previously, our whole family relied on just over 30 yaks, earning less than 20,000 yuan a year—life was tight," Zhuoma recalls. In 2025, after the low-altitude flight project landed, she keenly spotted a business opportunity. With guidance from Zhejiang aid forces, she converted her idle Tibetan-style residence into a distinctive homestay named "Jiugu Muyun."
"Now it's different—tourists get off the helicopter and come straight to stay with me," Zhuoma says with a smile. Her homestay focuses on the "low-altitude sightseeing + prairie herder home" experience, where visitors can enjoy authentic butter tea and dried cheese curds while also booking helicopter tickets directly. In the first half of 2026, her homestay received over 1,200 visitors, with half-year revenue surpassing 480,000 yuan. Zhuoma didn't forget her fellow villagers after becoming prosperous. She not only achieved doorstep employment for her entire family but also hired two fellow villagers from poverty-alleviated households for housekeeping, each earning an additional 3,200 yuan per month. Inspired by her, 11 neighboring farming and herding families followed suit, upgrading their own homes and forming a nascent homestay cluster with combined annual revenue set to exceed 5 million yuan.
Teaching Fishing Skills to Incubate Plateau "Sky Eagles"
The hardest part of developing the low-altitude economy is talent. At the Jiande Aviation Town in Zhejiang, Zoige youth train, eat, and live alongside Zhejiang trainees. From drone principles to simulator practice, from plateau meteorology to emergency response, the company brings in the best instructors and provides top-tier equipment. Tibetan youth Weng Ranmei was among the first batch of trainees sent to Zhejiang for training. "I never dreamed I'd fly a plane before," says Weng. During training, she overcame physical discomfort from the plateau-to-plain climate difference and tackled thick professional textbooks relentlessly. Her perseverance paid off—she successfully obtained the beyond-visual-line-of-sight drone operation qualification.
Today, Weng Ranmei is no longer the ordinary herding girl she once was. Dressed in a crisp uniform, she sits in the flight command center, skillfully operating drones for panoramic scenic photography and ecological monitoring. A stable monthly income of over 4,000 yuan allows her to achieve dignified employment at her doorstep. Joining Weng in changing their destinies are the county's first batch of four certified local female drone pilots. Under hands-on guidance from the company's "master team," they started from zero foundation and obtained medium-sized drone operator licenses within less than a year. These "sky eagles" not only handle tourism aerial photography but also participate in grassland fire patrol and wetland ecological monitoring using infrared-equipped drones, serving as "sky sentinels" guarding their homeland.
"We aim not only to leave behind a project but also an unremovable talent team," says Qian Ruanyu, general manager of Zoige General Aviation Tourism Company. In the future, the company plans to leverage this certified team to offer routine training courses for local youth, continuously strengthening the local low-altitude talent pipeline. Data shows that the low-altitude project has driven over 200 local residents into employment, with poverty-alleviated households accounting for over 60%. Average monthly income for residents has increased by more than 3,500 yuan, representing a 120% growth compared to traditional agriculture and animal husbandry incomes.