The biggest challenge

This year, because of the good price of green chile pepper, one of the major crops planted in the area, many young people have returned home to help with harvesting.

The pepper harvesting season typically spans from July to October, Zhao said. "The labor-intensive process of picking, sorting and packing the chile peppers keeps the villagers occupied from dawn until dusk," he said.

From the morning hours until late noon, he said, two or three people can harvest 200 to 250 kg of fresh chile. Following a brief lunch break, women in each family diligently sort and pack the vegetables into uniform plastic bags. "It's essential to pack the peppers neatly," Zhao said. "Each bag holds about 25 kg of peppers, currently priced at 5.4 yuan per kg. At the season's onset, prices soared to as high as 8 yuan per kg."

As evening descends, traders arrive in trucks along the road, purchasing the villagers' yields one household at a time. As a result, a day's worth of strenuous effort yields a family an income of more than 1,000 yuan.

However, he said, the prices plummeted to a mere 1 yuan per kg the previous year. "The drastic drop in prices led to a situation where the villagers were hesitant to even harvest the peppers," he said.

Despite the village's per capita income surging from a meager 9,000 yuan in 2018 to over 17,000 yuan last year, Guo said, the income from working in cities continues to surpass that from agricultural activities. This discrepancy persists due to the volatile nature of agricultural product prices.

Zhao said the bank has extended loans exceeding 100 million yuan to enterprises in Ebian, contributed over 1 million yuan to rural initiatives in the county, and purchased agricultural products totaling 3.7 million yuan from the county since 2021.

However, to make young people stay in the village, he said, they still need to explore alternative ways for sustainable community development beyond agriculture. "It's truly the biggest challenge we have faced since our arrival," he said.

They tried rural tourism at the village and suggested Guo turn his mother's new house, a three-story building beside his house, into a homestay with a dozen guest rooms. Earlier this month it received its first group of customers. "They came to enjoy the cooler air in the mountains," Zhao said.

A stone stairway constructed on the mountainside links the county seat with the village. Zhao said that the bank is planning to build a cultural plaza and scenic lookout for the village to help it attract visitors. As a result, he is thinking of staying in the village for two more years after his official term ends next year.

chenliang@chinadaily.com.cn