Yang Xiubing, 62, was boiling a bowl of plain noodles on his wood-burning stove, his dirt-floored kitchen lit only by one flickering bulb. Only a battered wooden table sat in the spacious dining area.
"I'm not moving anywhere," he said with a stubborn resolve as he fanned the flames with a piece of cardboard.
Yang's wife has already moved into a nearby town, under a government drive to relocate 10 million people by 2020 as part of the larger plan to eradicate rural poverty.
"My wife seems to be enjoying her new home, but I'm too old for any change," he said. "I don't have any skill. I can't survive there."
Zhoutun settlement in Jiangkou County, Guizhou Province in southwest China. /CGTN Photo
'Good deal'
China's southwest mountainous province of Guizhou, where Yang is from, is at the heart of the relocation drive.
Some parts of the terrain are too harsh to raise crops and build roads. After a careful assessment, the local government came to the conclusion that no realistic prospects for development could be seen in these remote villages.
"Resettling the villagers makes more sense," said Yang Yi, a government official of Jiangkou County, "because it's more convenient, and is the fastest way to lift them out of poverty."
In Jiangkou County, as part of the relocation package, the new settlers also go through a job training program, then are given a basic job so they can survive in the new location and environment. The county is also developing fruit farms and related processing and packaging industries to generate more jobs.
Yang Xiubing bundles a broom in his village home. For each broom he sells, he makes five yuan, about 80 US cents. /CGTN Photo
Yang Xiubin's wife Jin Qundi is working as a gardener, getting paid 60 yuan a day, or less than 10 US dollars, for watering and weeding the plants just within her new town settlement, which houses a few dozen families.
It's a temporary job, with meager pay, aimed at wading her through the early stages of her new town life,. But she said it's better than her previous farming one, which could barely cover her survival expenses. But contrary to her husband's belief, she is having mixed feelings.
"This job won't go on forever," she said. "What's going to happen in the future if I don't get another job? Everything costs money in town, even flushing the toilet."
In her new courtyard, overlooking the mountains that were once her home, she took her mother for a walk. Jin brought the 85-year-old here for a visit, something she couldn't do in the past because the elderly could not stand long travels on twisting rocky mountain roads. Surrounding them are newly-built brick houses in snow-white paint, household furniture installed, free of charge, in every home.
"Life here is definitely better," Jin said to a visiting relocation official. "But I can keep my old house, in case I want to move back, can I?"
Jin Qundi (R) and her 85-year-old mother in their new town home. /CGTN Photo
Stark contrast
Government officials understand the challenges ahead.
"They know little about the outside world. They're scared out here," said Yang Yi. "We repeatedly talk to them, and calculate their income with them. Eventually they understand it's a good deal."
"A lot of the settlers have trouble adapting," said Yang Jiujiang, another relocation official. "It's indeed a stark contrast with their old farming ways," he said, listing examples of new settlers who J-walked, littered or even excreted in an elevator.
Reports of settlers returning to their villages elsewhere put them on edge.
Jin is adapting better than many. Soon, she might start a new job as a kiwi fruit picker in one of the government-sponred plantations. The prospect has eased her worries.
Still, she is worried, about her husband. As dusk falls, she makes her way back home deep into the mountains.
"Why don't you come downhill as well?" she asked Yang Xiubing as the couple cooked a simple dinner.
"No," said Yang. "Who's going to take care of our goats?"
China Footprint (CGTN's special series):
Episode 1: How a 'secret deal' transforms lives of Chinese farmers
Episode 2: Large scale farming leads to high productivity in China
Episode 3: Shenzhen: Lodestar of China's economic reform
Episode 4: Shanghai free trade zone attracts major multinational corporations
Episode 5: Infrastructure brings prosperity to China's rural communities
