A farmer's festival memory
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Sitting idly in his yard, Guan Youjiang is enjoying the warm winter sunshine while smoking a cigarette. Under the roof of his house hangs salted meat and fish; inside the living room, a heap of fireworks are piled on the floor.
"I'm looking forward to the Lunar New Year's dinner when all my children return home for a reunion," Guan said.
Sixty-four year-old Guan Youjiang, and his son Guan Zhengjin, are running a farm house restaurant in Xiaogang Village, Fengyang County in east China's Anhui Province.
Last year, more than 500,000 tourists visited the village, and Guan's farm house restaurant earned more than 100,000 yuan (15,149 U.S. dollars) in net income for the family.
"When life was tough in the past, we looked forward to the Lunar New Year day and night, for that was the only occasion when we could eat some meat," Guan said, "while now the New Year is more of a festive atmosphere than just eating."
MAKING HISTORY
Dubbed "the birthplace for China's rural reform," Xiaogang was once infamous for its poverty, as most of the villagers had to flee their home and beg for food.
In Guan's memory, in the 1970s prior to 1978, his family was always starving.
"I never stayed at home for the Spring Festival at that time, because we could beg for more food than usual during festivals," Guan said.
Guan said at a time when people "ate from the big cooking pot," a derogatory phrase for collective economy such as the People's Commune in the countryside, farmers lacked motivation to farm.
In November 1978, 18 villagers in Xiaogang, including Guan, signed the land-contracting agreement to divide the farmland owned by the Commune into family plots.
Their ideas later won the support of Deng Xiaoping, chief architect of China's reform and opening-up, and was later adopted by the rest of the country's rural areas.
In 1979, the village harvested more than 69,600 kilograms of grain, which equaled the total yield during the 15 years from 1955 to 1970.
"During the Spring Festival in 1979, villagers took turns giving dinner parties," Guan grinned. "We cooked pork, chicken and fish, and the big tree in front of my house had hanging from it salted chicken, ducks and meat."
REACHING OUT
During the 1980s, all Xiaogang villagers tore down their thatched cottages and built tile-roofed houses.
At the beginning of the 1990s when they had more money in their pockets, they began to buy televisions, refrigerators and video recorders.
Guan said since then, his family would gather in front of the TV set on Lunar New Year's Eve, watching the Spring Festival Gala and eating candies and cakes.
The 1990s was a time when China's coastal areas witnessed a fast growth of industries which created millions of jobs. Ambitious youth in Xiaogang left the farmland, heading off to work in the factories in cities. Guan's four children also left home and became migrant workers.
When the youth returned home from factories during the Lunar New Year holidays, they brought back not only their hard-earned money, but also information and ideas from the outside world.
COMING BACK
In the 21st century, villagers are not satisfied with working as migrant workers any more, they are contemplating developing industries in their hometown.
Since 2001, Xiaogang began to develop fruit and vegetable planting and livestock breeding enterprises. Many villagers rent out part of their plots of land to business owners and went to work in the newly established enterprises.
Tourism is also becoming a major driving force for the development of the village. Displays showcasing the history of Xiaogang village have been attracting tourists from across the country.
In 2008, Guan built a two-story house and opened his farm house restaurant, which has been serving meals for about 40,000 tourists per year.
Industries such as a steel structure plant and energy-saving equipment factory have also been built in the village.
With the rapid development of the local economy, more and more villagers who are working in big cities have returned home to look for new opportunities.
Guan Zhengjin quit his job in the southern coastal city of Guangzhou in 2000 and returned home to work in the nearby steel structure plant and help his father run the restaurant.
"I could earn more money by working outside, but the cost of living is also too high in those big cities. More importantly, I can look after my parents and kids when I work near home," he said.
Last year, Guan Zhengjin bought a house in Fengyang County and a piano for his daughter.
"Life is good and I have nothing to complain about," Guan Zhengjin said, "What I care about most is the education of my kids and I am trying my best to provide them with a good studying and living environment."
"I believe that the village will become richer and richer, and all our kids will have a promising future," Guan Youjiang said.
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