Poverty alleviation proves a matchmaker

CHANGSHA - On a rainy, fall day in Hunan province, Shi Liujin led a team carrying a bridal sedan chair. He couldn't have been happier. He was getting married.

Shi's home village, Shibadong, tucked away in remote mountains, was once extremely impoverished. With a per capita annual net income of just 1,668 yuan ($240) in 2013, 136 of its 225 households lived below the poverty line.

It was home to more than 30 single men age over 40, and women from elsewhere were reluctant to marry into the poor village.