Building up rural rejuvenation

During the process, students can also learn how to ensure efficient communication with local construction teams, Cheng says.

As the project grew bigger, its teams started to recruit students from other schools and universities.

"The local government of Nanjian Yi autonomous county in Yunnan province needed eye-catching designs for the packaging of walnuts, tea, oranges and other local agricultural products. So, we encouraged students studying art and design to join us," Cheng says.

Cheng's team also runs a WeChat public account, where participants share their experiences and achievements in the project, which inspires other students to join the rural revitalization.

Former Tsinghua architecture postgrad He Yunjuan says: "I often read the stories they shared, and my tutor, who is involved in the project, also talked with me about what they had experienced when exploring the revitalization projects in villages. I was touched, and the idea of working for rural development after graduation hit me."

The native of Yunnan's Ninglang county decided to work for the province's Housing and Urban-Rural Development Department after graduating in 2018. The following year, she joined poverty-alleviation work in Dacang village in Yunnan's Xiangyun county. Then, she got in touch with her former university's revitalization project and took advice from experts about renovating shabby houses and improving rural infrastructure. They're preparing to set up a station in a county near Dacang, she says.

Every week, the 27-year-old volunteers to teach English to roughly 80 students at a local primary school, in the hope that the language will open a window to the outside world for the students, many of whom are "left-behind" children whose parents work in cities outside the area.

"The project will help me to better work on poverty alleviation in the village," she says.

The program organizers from Tsinghua have also introduced an online-education platform for the village school.