Eric's Beijing Diary

Young lady out standing in her field.
I have been pestering Snow to take me to her farm. Today was the day. Snow and Fly met me at the bus stop by the Square. I asked them if they had eaten breakfast. Turns out they had both had their bags stolen, so they hadn't eaten. I took them to McDonald's and bought them each an order of pancakes and sausage. We took a motorcycle taxi to the bus station, and boarded a bus for the countryside. Snow's parents live about an hour from Beihai. Their home is situated in a small traditional courtyard, with the main living area on the front side of the courtyard, the "moonshine" (rice wine) still on one side, the family pig sty on the other, with additional living area on the back side of the courtyard.

Snow's family is not impoverished, but they are certainly not wealthy, either. In sharp contrast to China's "one chld" policy, there are five children in Snow's family. It is not too unusual to see families in the countryside with more than one child, because the the government makes exceptions for farmers. But five does seem to be a large number. There is a jackfruit tree in the couryard that is quite heavily laden with fruit. Snow calls this fruit "bo luo," but bo luo is the word for pineapple, and this stuff is definitely not pineapple.

China is still very much a peasant society, although you wouldn't know it from the cities. The style and level of life in the eastern cities is so different from what you see in the West. But even though farmers are not wealthy, they do benefit (albeit indirectly) from China's current prosperity. During the past few years, there have been many riots throughout the countryside of China. And there are still situations where farmers in a given community may suffer because of corrupt local leaders. The government in Beijing does not have absolute control over every situation in every corner of the country. But strong protests in recent years have brought about significant reforms in agricultural policy. Again, this is largely because China can afford it right now. It is uncertain what would happen if the economy took a downturn. In other words, the current move towards prosperity does not necessarily signify a fundamental change of life for folks in the countryside.