Thanks to the relocation, as much as 5,000 cubic meters of timber has been spared in the mountain each year, and the village also set up a vast rose field to make use of the farmland on the mountain.
"Growing roses not only helps with environmental rehabilitation, but also brings income for us," Xu, the village head, said.
Qinglian New Village was established ahead of a national relocation project involving some 2.4 million people nationwide from 2011 to 2015, the largest project of its kind ever undertaken by the Chinese government, according to figures released by the National Development and Reform Commission in September.
The massive relocation in Xinzhou has seen over 30,000 people move out of mountainous areas annually over the past two years, and the city plans to relocate 170,000 people from disaster-prone regions to towns with better economies and environment by 2015, according to the city government.
Liang Xiaodong, chief of the city's poverty alleviation office, said the mass relocation is a new and effective poverty alleviation tool.
"Compared with other relocation projects, this project is designed to help those being relocated to have better living conditions at a relatively lower price, and it's also a plus for environmental protection," said Liang.
Challenges remain for smoking ban
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