People across China have been leaving small villages to look for better opportunities in big cities. It's led to families breaking apart and rural economies suffering. Our reporter Liu Xinqing visited one small town in central China to see how people there are trying to reverse this trend.

Dabieshan is a remote mountainous region in southern Henan province. Many of the villages here are not very well connected to the outside world. Tianpu Dawan is one such village. It sits at the foot of Dabieshan Mountain, and has more than 300 registered residents, but only a few dozens are left. 50-year-old Han Guangying, like many of his fellow villagers, left for better opportunities in his twenties. Three years ago, he came back.

HAN GUANGYING OWNER, LAOJIA HOSTEL "I worked in South Korea for four years. I heard the local government was trying to rejuvenate rural areas by transforming our village into a 'maker's town'. So I decided to come back and look for opportunities near home."

Han Guangying is one of the first makers to come back. He opened a hostel, designing and retrofitting his old houses all on his own. The old style and local cultural elements have been well-preserved.

YUAN YUAN TOURIST "My husband and I are taking our parents on holiday. We are from Beijing; we saw comments online saying this village is the hometown of many wartime heroes and has amazing folk culture.”

There are more than 200 old houses in this village, and most have been left abandoned by people leaving for the city. To entice people to come back, the local government is trying to help them find opportunities to become entrepreneurs, close to home.

HAN GUANGYING OWNER, LAOJIA HOSTEL "My mom is 80 years old and needs to be taken care of. It feels great to be able to start my own business and have a stable source of income while working from home."

LIU XINQING XINYANG, HENAN PROVINCE "Just three years ago, this was just a regular village with fewer than 100 people, most of them seniors and left-behind children. But now it has become a huge draw for tourists, and it is encouraging more and more of those who departed to return and start their own businesses."

Starting a business is not easy. But the local government is determined to make this work. Infrastructure for necessities like water and power have been put in place. The outer walls of old houses have been retrofitted in the same style that harkens to the past.

CHEN XIAOFENG ADMINISTRATIVE CHIEF, TIANPU TOWN "We will provide follow-up support by inviting certified and professional operators with outstanding ideas on management. We are not only helping with design and renovations, but also with management.”

China has hundreds of thousands of villages like Tianpu Dawan, many with special features that can be explored for growth opportunities. And what is happening in Tianpu might be a good example for similar villages waiting to be revived. LIU XINQING, CGTN, XINYANG, HENAN PROVINCE.