Moving away from the mountains to find prosperity in cities

Located near a freeway in Bozhou district of Zunyi City, the community is around 15 km from Xiong's old home in the mountains.

"Now I work at a construction site earning 3,000 yuan a month and my wife works as a cleaner earning a monthly salary of 1,600 yuan," says Xiong.

"Everything is better than when we lived in the mountains. And there is tap water here, too."

Xiong and his wife paid for the apartment with subsidies from the government - 60,000 yuan (about $9,000) per person - and a bit of their savings.

Explaining how the subsidy scheme works, Wang Xiali, the director of the Bozhou district relocation office, says: "The apartments are designed so that in principle the total price does not exceed the government subsidy for relocation."

About 170 villagers from 15 remote mountain villages have so far moved into the Bailong community, which in total is expected to house 1,500 people.

Giving a sense of their main needs, Chen Shujin, who were relocated to Yangmeishan community in Chishui city in northwest Guizhou, says: "My first concern was a job. I used to plant rice before I moved here."

Now Chen and his wife each earn 2,000 yuan per month by processing bamboo in a bamboo factory.

The factory has provided 100 jobs for the relocated, and there are five similar factories nearby.

Tu Shigang, the deputy director of the local relocation office in Chishui city, which has a strong bamboo industry, says: "The relocation site was chosen carefully, so that the people who were relocated could find jobs easily."

By the end of May, 305 relocation sites like Bailong and Yangmeishan had been completed, but some 66,000 apartments are still under construction, according to the Guizhou government website.

Still, there are concerns regarding how the villagers will adapt to their new surroundings given that the relocation means not just a change of address, but a change in lifestyle - from being a farmer to becoming a city dweller.

In both the Bailong and Yangmeishan communities, a nursery, a school, and a hospital are all in the neighborhood.

Training on how to use electrical home appliances is also provided by the community office.

A "heart to heart" card is nailed on the door of every apartment that houses a relocated family in both communities, listing the contact information of the public servant who is responsible for providing one-on-one consultancy for the family.

Inside Xiong's new house there is a framed photo. It's a picture of his old house in the mountains.

"Sometimes, I still miss that old house," says Xiong.