A Happy Life in Lichang Village

BEIJING, June 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report from China.org.cn on Lichang Village, Zuoquan County, north China's Shanxi Province:

As midday draws near, wisps of cooking smoke rise above Lichang Village, Zuoquan County, north China's Shanxi Province. Staff at the elderly day care center are busy preparing lunch, while local seniors wander into the dining hall in small groups. In no time, steaming hot meals are served. The elders line up for their food, sharing warm and joyful moments together.

Once a poverty-stricken settlement, Lichang Village is nestled deep in the Taihang Mountains with rugged valleys, home to just a small population. Most young people have migrated to cities for work, leaving behind a high proportion of empty-nest elderly. Caring for these left-behind seniors not only allows them to live out their twilight years in peace but also gives reassurance to the younger generation pursuing their jobs far from home.

Guided by this heartfelt mission, the village opened its elderly day care center in 2014. For more than a decade, the institution has brimmed with constant warmth. Free meals are offered daily for those aged 65 and above with regularly renewed menu choices. During the Spring Festival, villagers gather to make dumplings and prepare New Year feasts. For many elderly residents, the center is far more than a dining venue — it is a cozy home filled with company and warmth.

To sustain this heartfelt service, Lichang Village invests over 200,000 yuan annually in the center's daily operation. An important source of this funding is photovoltaic power generation. Neat rows of solar panels stand on village rooftops and mountain slopes under the sun. The solar power generated is fed into the national grid, bringing steady and long-term income to the village collective and local households, serving as a reliable "sunshine bank" that nourishes Lichang Village year by year.

Beyond green initiatives, digital technology also silently guards the well-being of local seniors.

Nearly all elderly villagers wear smart bracelets that monitor round-the-clock health indicators, including body temperature, heart rate and blood pressure. All data is transmitted to the village's digital dispatch center, which triggers immediate alerts once abnormalities are detected.

The smart screen at the digital dispatch center creates an extra layer of safety. The system issues an instant alert if a fall is detected, enabling onsite staff to respond promptly to emergencies. The seniors' children working elsewhere can also check on their elderly parents' real-time conditions via their mobile devices anytime.

Beyond safeguarding seniors' safety, the smart screen also mirrors the village's thriving development. Smart devices collect field environmental data to support the scientific planting and cultivation of Jinmei apricots, while cloud monitoring enables precise and efficient management of local black goat breeding. Digital technology has steered traditional rural industries toward refined and intelligent operation, injecting fresh momentum into the revitalization of Lichang Village.

From the homely warmth of the elderly day care center, to the constantly updating data on the smart platform and the flourishing local specialty industries, Lichang Village is blazing a distinctive development path that blends human tenderness and vigorous growth. Neighborly kindness brings joy and peace to villagers' lives, while digital technology runs silently behind the scenes to make this happy life even more secure.

China Mosaic

http://www.china.org.cn/video/node_7230027.htm 

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SOURCE China.org.cn