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These people are moving out of here, he said,gesturing to the mountains that dominate the provinces south. And theyre moving here, he said,pointing to the farmers newly built concrete home. They are moving into the modern world.

Li is directing one of the largest peacetime population transfers in history: the removal of 2.4 million farmers from mountain areas in the central Chinese province of Shaanxi to low-lying towns,many built from scratch on other farmers land. The total cost is estimated at 200 billion over 10 years.

It is one of the most drastic displays of a concerted government effort to end the dominance of rural life,which for millenniums has been the keystone of Chinese society and politics. While farmers have been moving to cities for decades,the government now says the rate is too slow. An urbanisation blueprint that is due to be unveiled this year would have 21 million people a year move into cities. As is often the case in China,however,formal plans only codify what is already happening. Besides the southern Shaanxi project,removals are being carried out in other areas,too: in Ningxia,350,000 villagers are to be moved,while as many as 2 million transfers are expected in Guizhou province by 2020.

All told,250 million more Chinese may live in cities in the next dozen years. The rush to urbanise comes despite concerns that many rural residents are not ready for the move,lacking the skills to find jobs in the city or simply unwilling to leave behind a way of life that many cherish.

The effort is run by officials like Li in Xian,who speaks emotionally about wanting to help push Chinas 700 million rural residents into the 21st century. An objective rule in the process of modernisation, he said,is we have to complete the process of urbanisation and industrialisation.

One of the mantras that officials repeat about the Shaanxi project is that it is voluntary. Previously,Chinas largest migration project was to resettle about 1.2 million people for the Three Gorges Dam. That was mandatory. The new effort will take place over a decade or more,and those who wish to stay on the farm may do so,at least for a while,officials say.

In the mountains 200 miles south of Lis offices,one of the projects showpieces illustrates the complications he faces. The onetime village of Qiyan became a focus of national attention in 2010 when a landslide in a nearby ravine killed 29 people. Provincial leaders immediately made the disaster a case study of why the removals were necessary.

Qiyan,previously a village of 200 households,was designated a town,and its lower reaches were levelled and rebuilt with towers to house 6,000 people. The process is known as chengzhenhua,moving into towns,and has become one of the most-debated topics in China. The idea is to limit the number of megacities by keeping farmers closer to the land they farmed instead of moving them to giant cities. The problem is jobs,or the lack of them,in these areas.

During a visit in February,townspeople sat in their front yards,huddled around open fires. Their homes were brand-new,with indoor heating and modern appliances,just as Lis plan envisions,but it all runs on an unaffordable luxury: electricity. Hence the fires to keep warm.

Back when we lived in the mountains we had monthly electric bills of 10 yuan, about 1.60,said Lin Jiaqing,a farmer who moved to Qiyan two years ago. But one month we had to pay 670 yuan about 110. So from now on we dont heat or even use the washing machine.

The apartments also cost about 19,000. A government subsidy covers about a quarter of that,and the government credit cooperative provides an interest-free loan for another quarter. That still means families must come up with what for them is a staggering 10,000 to buy an apartment.

All of this helps push up domestic demand,just as intended,but people are having a tough time. I dont have the money now, said Cai Dawei,who bought his apartment in 2010,hoping to find employment in the new town. Almost everyone else is either unemployed or works in factories in distant places where migrant workers are not allowed to put down permanent roots. At 48,Cai said he was too old to work in factories,which preferred younger workers.

There are,in fact,growing concerns at the top levels of government that urbanisation is being carried out to satisfy abstract targets instead of improving peoples livelihood. After a meeting of a parliamentary committee in July,the government issued a document stating that while urbanisation is the only path to modernisation,it must be planned better.

Tall and vigorous,Li,54,is an unusually open and frank official. His title is executive vice commander of the relocation project,and he is also chief executive of a state-run company that has raised 1 billion from state enterprises and banks to start the worka possible model for the national urbanisation plan.

Under the plan,this money is supposed to be a pump primer for a self-sustaining process of people moving into towns,finding jobs,becoming taxpayers and replenishing government coffers.

One reason for the urgency is that water from the mountains runs off into one of Chinas largest engineering projects: the diversion of water from Chinas south to its arid north. Reforesting the mountains will keep the water cleaner,Li said. He also said the mountains were dangerous,with regular natural catastrophes. In addition,he called southern Shaanxi a drag on the economy. The poor farmers must become higher-earning urbanites,Li said.

Underlying the project seems to be a distaste among city dwellers for rural life. But like many elites in China Li is dismissive of rural life.

They need to shower more often, Li said. Put simply,we want to teach ordinary Chinese to bid farewell to backward ways of living.