When he first arrived in the village, most of the villagers in their 20s and 30s stopped receiving education after primary school, and because there was no kindergarten nearby, the children went to primary school without even a basic knowledge of Mandarin, causing obstacles to their in-class comprehension, he said.

His team opened up a children's activity center that has been offering preschool education to all children in the village, so that the children can go to the primary school with a solid foundation.

The activity center also offers free nutritional breakfasts to the children, with all the expenses covered by the village's collective income generated from developing agriculture.

Li's project is among the numerous community-based early childhood educational programs that are being carried out throughout China.

China Development Research Foundation has been implementing a series of projects with the goal to promote equitable development and support children's growth, especially the "left-behind" children in rural areas.

With the goal to provide aid "from womb to job", the foundation's social experiments start with prenatal care, and continue through the age range of zero to 15, from ensuring children's nutrition and education, to enhancing vocational education and preparing them for their careers.