"For some households living in the mountains, if their houses are in good condition and the transportation is relatively convenient, or they need to herd sheep, relocating might cause certain difficulties for them," explains He. "That's why we made the resettlement project voluntary.

"Our policies are always people-oriented. Resettlers can keep their farmland. If they choose to transfer the land for industrial development, in recent years, many off-farm employment opportunities have also been created near the newly built resettlements."

Chen is still farming her land, 5 kilometers from her new home. Instead of planting crops, such as corn, wheat and potato for food self-sufficiency with a low economic benefit, since last year she has been planting honeysuckle, a kind of herb introduced by a company from Yunnan province in 2013 and now planted on a large scale in Tongwei.