Relocated villagers scaling new heights

Building new futures

Wu said relocation is not the end of the story.

Nearly seven years after it began, the real challenge lies not only in providing physical dwellings, but in helping villagers build stable livelihoods and adjust to new ways of life.

At Congjiang Shenyao Health Care Products, the county's largest bath-product factory, workers make herbal bath products using traditional Chinese medicine.

In the packaging workshop, they box concentrated bath liquid for shipping across the country. Most of the workers are women in their 40s and 50s.

A woman surnamed Yang, who is nearly 50, said she lives nearby and earns 120 yuan a day.

Yaoyu is a popular traditional bathing practice that involves dissolving herbal medicines in hot water, and is believed to have health benefits. It has also been developed into an industry that local officials say is being modernized to create jobs.

By 2025, the area planted with herbs used for Yaoyu bath products had reached 43,000 mu, with 47 processing companies and an industrial output value exceeding 150 million yuan.

The company's owner said hiring became much easier after villagers moved into the nearby community. Some mothers stay home to care for their children, while older residents want work close to home. The factory has created more than 300 jobs.

Even so, Wu said employment remains one of the most pressing issues for relocated communities. With a weak industrial base and limited local opportunities, many residents still choose to work outside the county.

"Most still go out to work," Wu said. "Those who stay local are mostly employed in industrial parks or in the market."

To help residents find jobs nearby, the community organizes training every quarter in electrical work, domestic services and cooking, and recommends jobs to those who complete the courses.

At the community market, many stalls are reserved for relocated households. Women sell vegetables and rice noodles, while others run grocery stores and breakfast shops. On market days, the street fills with people.

"Sometimes you can hardly walk through," Wu said with a smile.

Beyond shopping, the market has also become a place where neighbors get to know each other.

The community brings together many ethnic groups. Many older residents do not speak Mandarin and are unfamiliar with urban community life.

Wu said one of the most important jobs for local cadres now is to keep organizing activities so residents can talk to one another more and get to know one another better.

"Back in the villages, everyone knew each other," he said. "Now that they have moved together, they have to adjust to new neighborhood relationships."

"Even though the relocation happened long ago, there is still a lot of work ahead of us," Wu said.

As the market day draws to an end, the street is still packed with people.

Vendors call out, children laugh, and electric scooters whiz past the stalls. For many relocated families, these ordinary sights and sounds are gradually replacing the silence of the deep mountains they once called home.

liuboqian@chinadaily.com.cn