"I thought, potatoes are rich in starch and good for removing dirt, so I thought they would make good ingredients in soap bars," Peng said.

Last year, he started conducting a variety of experiments. After much trial and error, he managed to create the perfect soap bar using the humble tuber.

Amid the coronavirus epidemic, Peng made a batch of potato soap bars and distributed them free to local villagers.

"It is important for people to wash their hands to prevent infections, so this is good timing for people to better understand the importance of maintaining good hygiene," he said. "It is a chance to change the habits of some people."

Peng said one of the impoverished teenagers enthusiastically washed his hands with the potato soap after initially being surprised by its appearance.

He plans to ask women in the village passed over for marriage to start making the soap bars after the epidemic.

"I want to help create a handmade soap bar cooperative in a year," he said. "Local officials are quite supportive of my idea."

Besides soap bars, Peng is also in charge of other areas, including stopping drug trafficking, enhancing education and tackling AIDS.

As part of his hygiene drive, he often goes door to door to ask locals to fold quilts and clean their rooms. Sometimes he goes to the village school to help children wash their hair.

Other jobs he has done in the village over the past two years include: sending children to school; running errands for villagers; and transporting chickens, piglets, seedlings and fertilizer. At night, he plays films for locals while educating them on the dangers of illegal drugs and the transmission of AIDS.

During the day a group of children follow him around and watch him as he goes about his work in the village.

"I do not speak the Yi language, but I had experience of getting along with different people when I worked in the exit and entry administration department," he said. "I use body language to express myself or drawings to communicate with the villagers."

Peng's hopes he can have potato soap patented.

"I want to leave the soap bars to the villagers," Peng said. "When the highway is completed, I am sure a lot of people will come to this place and buy the handmade bars as gifts."

Xinhua