Villages join forces for more prosperous future

For Luo Xianguo, 53, the two-month vocational training he received in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu province, two years back was a life-changing experience.

Before that, Luo, who lives in Gaofeng, Yanhe county, Guizhou province, had several jobs, including as a farmer and construction worker, all of which did not allow him to support his entire family. In 2014, Luo's wife fell ill, making it worse for his whole family. That same year, Luo's family was registered as being poverty-stricken by the local government.

Luo wasn't the only one. Among the 571 residents in Gaofeng, 197 were living in poverty. The 6-square-kilometer village has only 840 mu (56 hectares) of farmland, and about 85 percent of the area is heavily forested.