“This precise device is called feedback source cabin, which stores all information collected by the ‘eye of heaven,’” Peng Bo, deputy manager of China’s 500-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), told 12 amazed visitors. 

It was not a normal group of sightseers. They were 12 farmers who used to live where the gigantic FAST device sits.

A decade after they were relocated by the government to make way for the project, these farmers are finally back on Dawodang, the ground they used to till.

Dawodang is a natural depression deep in the mountains of Pingtang County in southwest China’s Guizhou Province.  

Scientists spent 17 years to find a suitable place for FAST, a metallic dish with a diameter of 500 meters that China wants to use to see the cosmos.

The site was chosen because of its unique geography and favorable geological conditions, as well as the good weather. 

“I planted an osmanthus tree there, and my house was in the place of the No.11 tower footing,” 42-year-old Yang Tianjue said.

Yang said never in his wildest dreams did he think that such a technological feat would be achieved in the place where he used to live. 

“Over 10 years ago, several scientists came here and said they would set up a ‘big cauldron’ here to watch outer space. I was excited to guide them as they climbed up and down the mountains to investigate. But I couldn’t sleep all night. I thought it was incredible,” he said. 

The scientists spent three years investigating, and Yang and other local residents thought their move would never happen. But one day, five drilling machines arrived. Yang and other farmers knew it was time say goodbye.

Yang said the local residents used to be poor. There were no roads in and out of Dawodang, and the nearest town was three hours away by foot. 

The lives of Dawodang’s farmers changed because of FAST. The government gave Dawodang’s residents new homes in town, and they were paid for their loss of land and home.

Using the money, Yang started a tire business two years after his relocation. His is the owner of the town’s leading tire retailer. “The telescope gave us the opportunity to live a new life,” Yang said. 

The decision to move the “eye of heaven” to Dawodang was made in 2006. The 12 families were relocated in July the following year.

Later, an additional 8,097 people from 1,794 families living within a five-kilometer radius around the telescope were identified for relocation. At least 2,377 people moved to two new settlements in the nearby towns of Kedu and Tangbian in Pingtang County, according to Zang Kan, a county official. 

The construction of FAST was completed on September 25, 2016.