(250716) -- GUIYANG, July 16, 2025 (Xinhua) -- This photo taken on July 9, 2025 shows a homestay owner making bed in her homestay of the "Astronomy Town" in Kedu Town, Pingtang County of southwest China's Guizhou Province. China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), the world's largest single-dish and most sensitive radio telescope, locates in a naturally deep and round karst depression in southwest China's Guizhou Province.
In 2007, Pingtang County launched a relocation program that involved 6,653 rural residents from Kedu and Tangbian townships. The program was implemented in order to prepare for the construction of the FAST, which was completed in 2016 and started formal operations in 2020.
From September 2015, Kedu Township started a plan to transform itself into an astronomy-themed town, taking advantage of its proximity to the FAST. Many relocated rural residents have found jobs or started their own businesses in the town.
Tourist service facilities, along with job opportunities of handsome pay, have been mushrooming as more and more astronomy lovers flock here over the years. (Xinhua/Yang Wenbin)
