The voice heard coming from the high-frequency speaker in the village was not that of Yang Derong, head of the village, but of a woman announcer reminding villagers to come and vote.

In the coming four months, farmers in nearly 4,000 villages in the suburbs of Beijing, who are considered to be more politically-minded than farmers in other parts of China, will directly elect their village leaders for the first time ever.

The election dates for China's 730,000 villagers' committees varied from one village to another. The last six provinces and municipalities, including Beijing, will finish this round of elections before the end of this year.

This signifies the end of the first round of direct elections ever held in China's rural areas since the Organic Law on Villagers' Committees was enforced in 1998, said sources from the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Villagers from Xiwongzhuang selected two candidates themselves ten days ago, and pictures, resumes and written campaign speeches of the candidates were posted along the way to the ballot station in front of the villagers' committee's office building.

After breakfast, villagers began streaming to the ballot station, lining up to give their final say on who would be the next village head.

Zhu Fenglan, an 80-year-old woman whose feet were deformed by the practice of food binding in old China, came with two electoral certificates and a trust paper as she had to get a ballot for her paralyzed husband so she could vote on behalf of him according to his will.

An official told the illiterate granny that she could vote for either of the two candidates, or she could name a third candidate.

"My grandma did not tell me whom she and my grandpa voted for," said Liu Lina, 22, who came to vote from her factory in the county. "I will vote for someone who can do good things in our interests."

Liu Xilai expressed the hope that the candidate he voted for would win. "I would then discuss with him how to make our village richer so we could all live a better life."

The average income of farmers in Xiwongzhuang Village surpassed 6,000 yuan last year, 2.6 times that of the national average.

The two candidates, Yang Derong and Hou Dongsheng, went back home after casting their ballots.

"According to the election rules, they are not allowed to be seen on the spot after voting as their presence might have some impact on other voters," said Zhang Benhong, vice-chairman of the electoral committee.

Hou Zhongjin was one of the villagers who sat not far from the election state waiting for the outcome when they cast their ballots into the big red box.

"This election is good," said 53-year-old Hou. "We are free to make choices and no one can practice fraud."

Hou voted at the door of his house in an election three years ago, as someone was hired to go from door to door with the ballot box in his arms for villagers to cast their vote. And there was only one candidate.

Hou Dongsheng said he had never expected to become a candidate for the election when he was informed on March 12 that he got 237 votes, enough to make him the arch rival of the current village head Yang Derong, though Yang received 122 votes more than he did.

"That would have been totally impossible if it is not the direct election, because I am not a member of the Communist Party of China (CPC)," Hou said.

In the experimental direct elections held earlier in 183 villages in Beijing, one tenth of the leaders elected were not CPC members.

"It's nothing strange," said Wang Jinhua, an official with the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Compared with the rates of 20 to 30 percent in some provinces, Beijing's result was much lower.

The final result turned out before supper. Yang Derong won 829 votes of the 1,657 valid ballots, 102 more than Hou Dongsheng. Yang will soon start his fourth term which lasts three years.

Wen Qingyun, an official from Beijing municipal bureau of civil affairs, said that villagers showed strong enthusiasm during the pilot election earlier. On average 86 percent of the electors voted, and in some villages the rate was 100 percent.

"They scrutinized the specific rules of the election," said Wen, "and will ask for a re-examination if they find something questionable."

China has gain precious experience from its 12-year practice of direct elections in villages, said Wang Jinhua. "Beijing is making even more progress while standing on the shoulders of other provinces."

(Xinhua 03/25/2001)