Zhu Jianyou herds his sheep on the morning of March 18. ZHAO DONGSHAN/ZHANG ZHAOWEI/FOR CHINA DAILY

Affectionally called "commander of the sheep herd" by locals, Zhu Jianyou is a 51-year-old farmer from Lucun in Yiyuan county, Shandong province.

Unable to make money through heavy labor after contracting an eye disease as a child, Zhu was considered impoverished by local government standards in 2014.