(Yicai Global) June 1 -- China has lifted nearly 800 million people out of poverty since it began opening up in 1978 through extraordinary efforts in some of its remotest regions, yet it was a tale largely unknown in the West until a US journalist wrote a book about the 16 years he spent witnessing and taking part in China’s poverty alleviation initiatives.

“My book ‘Closer to Heaven: A Global Nomad’s Journey Through China’s Poverty Alleviation,’ is the capstone of my life’s mission to contribute to and tell the story of China’s poverty alleviation miracle from the front lines," Erik Nilsson said.

“The West still has many misunderstandings about China. It may be that they really don't know China, or they are biased. This is one of the main reasons why I wrote this book,” he said.

Nilsson arrived in China from the US in 2005 as a 22-year-old intern at China Daily. He quickly fell in love with the country and decided to stay on at the newspaper and become a journalist.

"Like an onion, you peel off a layer and think you know a little bit about it, but there will be another layer, countless layers. Even if you spend a lifetime in China, you can't know all about it," he said.

"I have seen unexpected stories of poverty alleviation in China’s earthquake zones, deserts, mountains and other geologically hazardous areas," Nilsson said. His thirst for adventure took him across the country becoming a first-hand witness to the extraordinary efforts China was making to eradicate poverty.

When the Wenchuan earthquake rocked the country in May 2008, Nilsson was there. He made 15 trips over a period of five years chronicling the disaster and the ensuing rescue and recovery efforts.

"It was like hell when I first went there," Nilsson said. The shattered mountains, collapsed buildings, the traumatized survivors and the deafening silence of the missing gave him nightmares years afterwards.

“What I saw over the years was a miracle, as the rescue and recovery lifted the survivors in Sichuan further and further from hell and closer and closer to heaven,” he said.

When another big earthquake hit Yushu country in northwestern Qinghai province in 2010, Nilsson was also on hand to help. Nilsson and his wife volunteered to participate in post-disaster reconstruction work, such as installing solar panels in schools without electricity.

They also organized charity programs which gifted clothes, computers, libraries, food, water heaters, medicine, coal and even yaks. And they offered training to teachers, scholarships to children and covered the surgery costs for disabled children, transforming the lives of the nomadic Tibetan communities living in this remote region.

The best way for a person to understand China is to personally visit the country's vast tundras, pastures, grasslands, rainforests and deserts, Nilsson said. During his travels he has ridden ostriches, visited leprosy villages, hunted foxes with golden eagles, explored virtual reality parks built by farmers, ridden pigs with an elderly motorcycle club and much, much more.

Editor: Kim Taylor