How mobile Internet is transforming rural life

Tencent has teamed up too with third-party designers to create the village's own branding, which is used on local-grown Kam Sweet Rice, tea oil and carpentry.

"We have launched an online store for the products," said Wu Cuxiong, a 21 year-old villager who returned to Tongguan from Guangdong province this year to help run the facility.

"By the end of last year, it had sold 1.5 million yuan of goods, and so although we just started, business looks promising."

This mobile Internet-driven tide of activity has also spawned other local commercial opportunities outside of traditional farming.

Wu Yong, a 36-year-old decorator, for instance, has moved back to paint walls for local residential buildings near the museum.

He had spent years in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, producing wooden furniture which was exported to Europe. He was divorced four years ago, and his two daughters had to be looked after by his 65-year-old mother while he worked away.

"Working for Tencent, I was able to rake in 10,000 yuan a month," Wu Yong said.

"I really hope its plans for our village will succeed. If more visitors come, I will have more buildings to paint and can stay at home with my daughters for good."

Tencent's Chen said that the company's efforts have encouraged a number of younger villagers to get involved in the museum's daily operations, and she hopes that soon it can entrust its running, and the other tourism-related activities, completely to local people.

"We will genuinely be able to say that we have helped Tongguan manage its own affairs, and I am sure it will prosper in future."

A collective effort

Tencent's efforts at helping rural villages are certainly not restricted to Tongguan.

The Internet giant has also launched WeCountry, which offers villages right across the country the chance to ask for technical assistance in their best use of smartphones, or when they form community groups using WeChat.

When smartphone use hits a certain level in any village, Tencent says it can arrange help from several hundred other companies registered on the platform.

And to help with the effort, the company has set aside 5 million yuan ($785,000) in a special rural training fund, which provides technical guidance for up to six villages a quarter.