Improvements

Things began to improve in 2017, when the family of five was relocated to an apartment in the Jinping residential community.

The compound was specially constructed near the center of Laoxian to house impoverished families who lived in areas that lacked convenient transportation and other modern infrastructure.

"We Chinese often say 'Each place has its own water and soil to support its inhabitants.' But if the water and soil can't provide enough support for the inhabitants or can't guarantee a good life for them, relocating people to a new area is a better option," said Yang Juqiao, Party chief of Laoxian.

"That's why we decided to build the community. We wanted to move people from areas that lacked transportation facilities or contact with the outside world and were prone to natural disasters, such as floods and landslides, to places where it would be convenient for them to go to work, school or the hospital."

According to Yang, construction of the community started in 2011 and was completed last year.

So far, 4,173 people have relocated from 11 settlements in Laoxian, including Wanfushan, Zhang's home village.

In recent years, local governments in Shaanxi have frequently lifted people out of extreme poverty by relocating them to places with better living conditions, facilities and job opportunities.

One successful example is a residential garden community in Yungaisi, a town in Zhen'an county, Shangluo city. The community houses at least 515 families, some of whom are still classified as impoverished.

Before, Zhen'an natives lived in densely populated regions or mountainous areas in the west of the county, where the poor roads resulted in constant traffic jams and educational, medical and other resources were scarce.

To improve living conditions for local people, construction of the garden community started in 2012. Since then, 50 residential blocks have been built, all equipped with running water, electricity and the internet, as well as a kindergarten, a health clinic, a public square, sealed roads and a parking lot, said Jiang Weijie, Party chief of Yungaisi.

Bu Mingqing and her family are among those who have benefited from the project.

In 2017, the family relocated from a barren, underdeveloped region of Zhen'an to a 105-square-meter apartment in the residential community.