Chinanews, Hohhot, June 29 – Two years ago, 70-year-old He Lizhong, a farmer that used to make modest income by growing crops on barren land in Erdos, moved to the urban area two years ago in the process of the ecological relocation taking place in Inner Mongolia.About 400,000 farmers were relocated in the downtown area of Erdos during the ecological relocation, like He. In Erdos city, two deserts, Mu Us and Kubuqi, stretch across the city, leaving only 4% of the land suitable for farming. In light of this, local government in Erdos started to relocate a large number of farmers in the urban areas in 2000 to let them start a new life.He’s hometown was a state-level poverty-stricken county. He and his family had lived there for more than 70 years. For a long time, they grew nothing on their dry land. Instead, they grew some corn and tomatoes in the paddy field. Their paddy field covered a total area of 20 mu (1.25 hectares) and they could get only 200-250 kilograms of corn and potatoes per mu. They would then trade the corn and potatoes for wheat or rice.“We had a severe shortage of water at our hometown. We lived totally at the mercy of the elements. Actually, we could hardly get a harvest any way in crop failures, ” the farmer said.There used to be 20 households living in He’s hometown. Now, about half of them have moved to other places and the rest of the people still live there. Young people have left their hometown to look for a job in big cities, leaving only the old people behind.“In recent years, the secondary and tertiary industries have developed fast in Erdos. As a result, people now can exploit few resources from nature directly. As more and more herdsmen have relocated in cities, the ecological environment of the land has improved greatly,” said Chu Bo, Party Secretary of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.Statistics show that in 2006, output value in Erdos reached 80 billion yuan and the GDP per capita reached 6,600 US dollars..It's under his son’s repeated persuasion that He moved to the present "ecological resettlement area"120 kilometers away from his hometown. He is now called a "new settler in the ecological resettlement area".After moving to the new place, He has since experienced that he had a more relaxed life than before. Every morning after breakfast, he will take a walk around the central square of his community. After taking a nap at noon, he will visit the square again, chatting with the other settlers.“I have nothing to do after I moved here. Every day, I just hang around,” he said.He also spends his Spring Festival holiday in the new place because there are more people here. But sometimes he still missed his hometown.“People here are not as friendly as people in my hometown. Sometimes when I want to borrow something from my neighbors, they are unwilling to lend it to me. In my hometown, people are always willing to help, ” He said.