Villagers rush to a Taobao county-level service station in Suixi county, Zhanjiang, on Aug 31. [Photo by Wu Wenkang]

The first 20 Taobao county-level service stations in Zhanjiang's Suixi county opened for business on Aug 31, marking the beginning of Alibaba rural e-commerce activities in Suixi.

Taobao county-level service stations provide services including online shopping, accepting payments for phone bills and express delivery. It also helps villagers sell agricultural products online.

Villagers flocked to the service station in Xiangyang village as soon as it opened at 6 am on Aug 31. Some checked products lists, others placed orders with the help of Taobao staff workers, and those who wanted to find out more read online shopping process instructions and service items on the wall.

"Many villagers don't know how to shop online. I'm glad to help them," said Wang Lina, a Taoboa staff worker. She helped villagers to place more than 10 orders in just one hour.

Staff workers help a villager place orders online at a Taobao service station in Suixi county, Zhanjiang, on Aug 31. [Photo by Wu Wenkang]

Li Shengzhen is the rural Taobao partner of the service station. He used to run two supermarkets in Dongguan, Guangdong province, before he signed up for rural Taobao partners in Suixi?this July.

"It is now more promising to start businesses at my hometown," he said. Li hopes to open up a market for local chilies and bananas through the service station and help villagers earn more money.

Wang Libai, a resident in Xiangyang village, said that it takes her 20 minutes to go to the county by bus to buy commodities such as clothes and shoes. Thanks to the Taobao service station, she now needs only a 10-minute ride and can buy cheaper and more variety of goods.

Wu Huaqing, a rural Taobao partner of Chengyuexu service station, said he hopes this platform could allow villagers enjoy services in downtown Zhanjiang.

Lin Caiyun, a 27-year-old rural Taobao partner of Hengshan village service station, said she had received 60 orders between 6 am and 10 am on the first day. The most expensive of all was a washing machine priced more than 2,000 yuan ($314). The product will be delivered to the customer's address within four days.

A Taobao service station is crowded with villagers in Suixi county, Zhanjiang, on Aug 31. [Photo by Wu Wenkang]

Alibaba Group, the e-commerce giant in China, and Suixi county People's Government signed a cooperation agreement on rural Taobao project on July 30. Within one month, the recruitment and training of Taobao partners have been completed and Taobao county-level service stations have begun operations.

At the end of September 2015, the rural Taobao project will start to recruit the second batch of rural Taobao partners in Suixi county.

Edited by Mevlut Katik