The WeChat business has been in full swing in residents' homes in Lingtou village, Wuxiang county, in the southeastern part of Shanxi province in the early spring -- despite the current battle for novel coronavirus pneumonia epidemic prevention and control, according to local officials. 

Among 188 households in the remote mountain village, more than 60 households have opened and are operating virtual stores on WeChat. There, using the popular social networking platform, villagers use their mobile phones to sell local specialties. 

Officials said they successfully resumed work, one after another, after the New Year festivities. 

Wei Baoyu, aged 49, is now a leading startup figure for WeChat e-commerce in Wuxiang county -- while back in 2014, he was one of those struggling in poverty in Lingtou village.

"I have received quite a few orders, including from Guangdong province and Beijing," said Wei Baoyu, while packing millet to be transported. 

"I earned more than 70,000 yuan ($10,011) from WeChat store last year," Wei added. 

His life improvement was thanks to a program operated by Wuxiang county for poverty alleviation. It boosted e-commerce in 2016, when poor households in Lingtou village were given free training on how to operate WeChat stores. 

"I opened my WeChat store in December 2016 and made more than 10,000 yuan within just a month," Wei recalled. 

Another villager Zhang Xiaoxiao, aged 52, is the owner of the village's largest WeChat store. It has 46 kinds of local specialties for sale and she has grown in pride and confidence, alongside her WeChat business. 

"Don't look down on rural women like me. I can earn more than 100,000 yuan a year from the WeChat store and support my whole family," she added. 

Due to the thriving e-commerce, Lingtou village has become famous for its millet production.

It planted 20 hectares of millet and started on its path out of poverty in 2016 -- while the local price of millet has increased to the current 20 yuan per kilogram, from less than 8 yuan/kg in the past, when cheap but quality millet sold badly. 

Its success in the world of WeChat business has also brought more public attention to the village. More than 8,000 visitors -- many of whom come to learn about how such online stores can lift them of financial difficulties -- went to the village last year. 

Local official Zhang Yutang said that the village has grown over 13 hectares of wormwood and the WeChat shops of locals will now add a variety of wormwood products to their inventories. 

Although the coronavirus outbreak has had some impact on the villagers' business, it can't compare to the poverty they experienced before.

No matter how long the winter is, their efforts will bloom in spring, according to Zhang.

Related: E-commerce helps Shanxi village sell farm produce