Guizhou's online chat room shortens rural and urban distance

Chatting via face time or network video isn't common for rural residents, but left-behind children and the elderly in Dabang village in the mountainous Guizhou province now have the chance to experience the new technology.

"What a magical machine," said a left-behind senior citizen, who had never imagined that she could talk with her child through a computer. The 70-year-old Bouyei resident lives more than 20 kilometers away from the local government. She thanked the local policemen for bringing the laptop to her home to let her chat online with her child.

Dabang village has more than 10,000 residents, 70 percent of whom are working as migrant workers in big cities, leaving their parents and children in the village.

"We opened the video chat room on March 2. Now we already have 450 left-behind children and elderly that can chat with their relatives via the network," said Ban Zhongyi, a political instructor of the local police station.

During lunch and in the afternoon from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm, 250 local middle school students in the village can see and talk to their parents via the network in the online chat room.