Sanle village enjoys the many fruits of its labor

It's early December and Liu Jinyu is busy preparing for the harvest of the densely-laden tangerine trees on her farm in Sanle village, Huanjiang Maonan autonomous county of Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

"This year's tangerines are good," the 60-year-old says of fruit blooming across her 12-mu (0.8 hectares) land alongside the cedarwood she also cultivates. Harvests of both have already been sold to buyers from outside the region.

Liu says she is quite content with her life at the moment.

"I don't have to leave home and move around, looking for opportunities to make a living," she says.

"I can stay home and take care of my grandchild."

Before 2005, Liu led a meager life selling peppers and ginger.

"We could barely afford to have meat once a month," Liu recalls.

She had to take part-time jobs away from home to keep her family's heads above water when there was no farm work available.

"Local villagers mainly lived on rice paddies and corn plantations, and could hardly make ends meet," says Meng Zusheng, head of Sanle village.