Mo (right) talks with a villager while delivering mail. WANG LIXIN/FOR CHINA DAILY

"The villagers also looked forward to my visits," he said. "I brought them letters, telegrams and money orders and took their letters, handmade shoes and local specialties to families and friends who had left the mountains."

When he received college admission letters in the summer, Mo always made sure to deliver them first, regardless of the weather.

"I was just as happy that they would have the chance to study at universities and experience life outside of the mountains as their parents were," he said. "But I was even happier when I'd hear some of them say that they would like to come back after finishing their studies to make their hometowns more prosperous."

Since local authorities have been consolidating the achievements of poverty alleviation in coordination with the drive for rural vitalization, great changes have taken place in the mountains of Longli.

There are now more sources of employment and more ways for villagers to make money.

"Since smartphones are widely used, people seldom send letters. Most of the items I deliver are daily necessities and things people have bought online," Mo said.

During the season when local produce such as honey, kiwi fruit and purple yam is harvested, specialty products are sent all over the country by mail.

Nowadays, Mo mainly works in an urban part of the county town with a route that covers hundreds of buildings, delivering around 2,000 items every day. He has always been willing to work hard.