In reversal of fortune, a remote village prospers

Liu Tingzhou, Party secretary of Xiaying, said more than 80 percent of villagers kept up their businesses at home via livestreaming, and the number of orders didn't seem to drop in the face of the pandemic.

Many young people who studied or worked elsewhere returned to their hometown to join the beat. Of the village's 339 local families, about 139 are involved in e-commerce.

Xiaying was once a desperately poor village. Liu said that before 2012, about 90 percent of the residents were migrant workers who left for better pay elsewhere. The roads were muddy and the power supply was unstable.

In 2014, Xiaying was first in the province to be designated a Taobao Village. After that, lines of buildings were built up, and the road to town was renovated and got a new name — Taobao Avenue.

Now, in addition to turquoise, residents sell chickens, eggs, rice noodles, tea and other specialties on Taobao. Rural tourism has also developed.