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Reaping rich memories that flow through a village

By Wang Zhuoqiong (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-10-14 09:09

: An aerial view of the canal in 1972, three years after it was built. [Courtesy of Nancy Jervis]

Local farmers like Shi expected the canal to alleviate water shortage problems by bringing water from the other side of the rocky Taihang Mountain to local villages for irrigation.

"Almost every member of a family in our county has worked on the canal," said Ma Yufeng, a deputy head of the local tourism bureau.

"They could take advantage of the new freedoms without completely abandoning their collective ways of doing things, which had proven so successful in the past," said Jervis.

Another example of creative leadership in Linxian was in trying to boost the local economy by encouraging women, who were left behind in the villages, to start businesses.

The county hired a retired tailor from Tianjin to teach women how to cut and sew Western-style suits. The plan did not work because the suits they made were not selling well in the county.

"They were learning by doing things," Jervis said.

"They were not afraid of making mistakes."

Shi Cunji's journey is also an example of adapting to change.

After returning to Dacaiyuan, Shi opened his own private clinic with his wife in 1985. Their son later joined the clinic.

A villager from Dacaiyuan works on her land in 1982, in line with the introduction of the household land responsibility system in 1978. [Courtesy of Nancy Jervis]

Shi now makes about 20,000 yuan a year. The rural-urban transformation has allowed the Shis to receive some of the same benefits as urban residents.

But Shi is feeling a bit lost in the transition from farmer to urban resident. "One could say I am in the city but not of the city," said Shi. "We do not have many services the city people have, such as health insurance coverage or social security."

Now without land, the villagers in Dacaiyuan either work in the local service industry or go out and find jobs in the cities as migrant workers, returning once a year.

"Our lives have become a lot better in the past 30 years," Shi said, "but prices have gone up too. We have to make money. We are on our own now."

Visitors at the Red Flag Canal in Linzhou. The canal, still in operation, has also become a tourist attraction. [Courtesy of Jiang Dong]

Villagers at Dacaiyuan plant vegetables in front of their houses in May. Much land has been converted into housing projects. [Courtesy of Jiang Dong]

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