A group of Chinese technicians can be seen working hard among the watermelon patches in the blinding sunlight of Laos every January. Two months later, these watermelons will be sent to Xi'an, the starting point of the Silk Road.

Every autumn, these so-called "migratory birds" - technicians from Kouzhai village in southwestern China's Guizhou province - fly to Laos to plant watermelons and return to China the next spring to start their own farm work.

Yang Canxi, former Kouzhai village Party chief who is also an agricultural technician, said the village was lifted out of poverty through its strength in agricultural technology.