China News Service, Dali, August 20 (Lu Xicheng) At noon, in the "Infinite Happiness Courtyard" in Xishan Village, Nanjian Town, Nanjian Yi Autonomous County, the food in the kitchen is fragrant. On the porch, old people sat in groups, chatting about their daily routine, waiting for the meal to be served.
When the dishes are served, the conversation begins. Some elderly people said that their children are away from home all year round, and they hope that someone can help them deliver groceries and buy medicines; others asked if the barber could come regularly.
"We won't hear about the difficulties of many elderly people unless we sit at the same table and have a meal." Shu Yan, deputy director of the Nanjian County Civil Affairs Bureau, said that most elderly people in the county live alone, are introverted, not good at expressing themselves, and are used to carrying their own difficulties.
Following the old man's words, Shu Yan told everyone that the next step is to use the smart management platform to add "order-based" services such as purchasing, agency services, haircuts, and accompanying doctors in the hospital.
Nanjian County is located in the hinterland of Wuliang Mountain in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. It is famous for its national intangible cultural heritage representative project "Nanjian Yi Dancing Vegetables". At a banquet, when the gong sounds, the Yi men carry trays on their heads and dance to bring the dishes to the table. The host and guest are at the same table, and the whole courtyard is filled with joy.
However, as a large number of young and middle-aged people go out to work, the dining tables in the county are gradually deserted. According to statistics from the Nanjian County Civil Affairs Bureau, the county has a permanent population of approximately 193,000, including 44,000 elderly people over 60 years old, and 32,800 children under 14 years old. Nearly one-third of the rural labor force has gone out to work, and the care needs of left-behind elderly people and children have become increasingly prominent.
In response, in recent years, the county has used idle school buildings, villager activity rooms and other resources to build a total of 103 "infinite happiness courtyards" with functions such as elderly care and child care. In addition to services such as meal assistance and free clinics, each small hospital also carries out activities such as child care, handicraft experience, calligraphy and chess based on local conditions.
At the end of 2024, relevant practices in Nanjian were selected into the annual case list of the "China Reform 2024 Annual Case Collection Activities"; in July 2026, Yunnan promoted the Dali Prefecture's "Happy Courtyard" model to the entire province, and proposed to achieve full coverage of the province's administrative villages by 2027.
"As the number of small courtyards increases, how to manage and use them well has become a new problem." Shu Yan said that the grassroots management strength is limited and many staff often wear multiple hats, making it difficult to grasp the operation status of each small courtyard in a timely manner.
To this end, Nanjian will launch the construction of the "Nanjian Boundless Sunshine Happiness" smart management platform at the end of 2025, trying to improve the daily management efficiency of the small courtyard through digital means.
The project contractor, Yang Qimeng, manager of the Government and Enterprise Center of Nanjian Branch of China Mobile Yunnan Company, said that the platform is based on cloud computing, big data, Internet of Things and other technologies, and collects data on the operation, activities and catering operations of 103 "Infinite Happiness Courtyards" in the county; the hospital is equipped with "clairvoyance" video equipment, and the elderly can complete meal registration by swiping their faces, and the background synchronizes the number of people dining on that day. At the same time, smart bracelets are being piloted among elderly people over 70 years old in some towns and villages in the county, which can return heart rate, blood pressure, location and other data.
On August 19, two elderly people were choosing vegetables together and chatting about household chores in Xishan Village, Nanjian Town, Nanjian County, Dali Prefecture, Yunnan Province. Photo by Yang Kailin
Shu Yan said that with the help of the platform, each hospital has shifted from decentralized management to "one-screen overview", providing a reliable basis for the deployment of service resources. "But no matter how smart the technology is, it cannot replace the warmth of human kindness. The most important thing in caring for the elderly and children is that there are people around to talk to and care about."
She said that Nanjian will continue to improve mechanisms such as paired assistance, door-to-door care and mutual assistance for the elderly to further extend the reach of rural elderly care services.
