Editor's note: Yunyang County is located in the Three Gorges Reservoir area in Chongqing. More than 400,000 of the county's 1.37 million citizens work in cities year-round, leaving 90 percent of the county's children behind at home to be cared for by grandparents or other relatives. The lack of parental attention has produced various problems and even threatens the children's psychological health and personal safety. The local government recently sent officials to conduct an in-depth survey of the situation in order to see what can be done to help. At the same time, a comprehensive nationwide survey of left-behind children will be carried out this year by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Public Security.

A local investigator visits a left-behind boy and checks his schoolwork in Yaoling Township of Yunyang County, Chongqing. Since April 7, 2016, the county government has sent hundreds of officials to conduct an in-depth survey of left-behind children in order to see what can be done to help. [Photo by Rao Guojun/China.com.cn]

Two left-behind girls snuggle together during the rapeseed flowers festival in Qixia Township of Yunyang County, Chongqing. Since April 7, 2016, the county government has sent hundreds of officials to conduct an in-depth survey of left-behind children in order to see what can be done to help. [Photo by Rao Guojun/China.com.cn]