Tian Peilin, 77, a villager in Fugu County, said that he has never experienced such a serious drought. In his village, no one has died from starvation in this unprecedented crop failure, Tian said. "It is really a miracle."

There are now over 20 counties in northern Shaanxi, with a total population of three million. Situated between the northern Muus Desert and southern Loess Highlands, the region, China's revolutionary cradle, is known by the outside world because Edgar Snow traveled there in the 1930s and wrote his famous "Red Star Over China". However, it is a place frequently assaulted by drought and has long been listed among the most barren and backward places in China.

In the first half of the 17th Century, a serious drought hit the region and caused a terrible famine. The then corrupt governments were unable to relieve the disaster. A peasant uprising led by Li Zicheng broke out in the region, finally leading to the collapse of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Another severe drought in 1947 also caused a famine in the region and 3,300 people were starved to death.

Since 1997, a drought has dominated the region again, with the present rainfall in Fugu plunging over 60 percent below normal, and reducing the county's grain yield in 2001 to only two percent of the normal output.

However, local farmers are well dressed and appear to be in good physical condition.

Tian Wai, another old farmer in Fugu County, said the local farmers' financial situation has improved since China adopted a reform and opening policy two decades ago.

"Many households in the region had deposited a large amount of grain before the drought came, which greatly reduced the effects of the disaster," he explained.

During the 20 years to 1997, the per capita grain yield in the northern part of Shaanxi Province had increased from 300 kg to nearly 600 kilograms. The per capita income had grown from several dozen yuan to over 1,000 yuan.

Local governments have urged the officials to play a leading role in relief work, and set a special responsibility system which puts the poorest households under the care of designated officials, said Liu Cunzhu, deputy director of the civil affairs bureau in Fugu County.

An official observer has also been assigned to each village to make sure that everyone has enough food and necessities, Liu added.

So far this year, the Shaanxi provincial government has allocated over 30 million yuan (US$ 3.6 million) to a special relief fund for the drought-ridden Yulin area, and the Fugu County has distributed 2.5 million kilograms of relief grain to the farmers, according to Liu.

The market-oriented economic reform has also greatly changed the farmers' way of life and brought them more job opportunities.

Statistics show more than 56,000 farmers in Fugu County, making up 31 percent of the county's overall rural population, have bid farewell to farming and now work in towns and cities to support the living of their families.

When asked about his living conditions, Liu Huailin, a senior farmer waiting in line in front of a food booth in Mizhi County, said that his son, now working on a construction site in the neighboring Shanxi Province, had just sent him 500 yuan.

"I took the money from the post office just now," he said. "I want to have two pieces of steamed bread here first, and then I will buy a bag of flour to take home."

The northern part of Shaanxi Province has a fast growing infrastructure investment as the Chinese government accelerates the development of its western areas.

Last year, Yanchuan County launched 40 road- and bridge-building projects, which employed a total of 5,000 local farmers.

Zhang Sichun, a market administrator working in the Baota District of Yan'an City, said almost two thirds of the retailers in the free markets he supervises are farmers migrating from surrounding drought-stricken areas.

The railways, expressways and airlines enable the region to be well connected to other parts of China, greatly facilitating the transportation of grains. Grain prices at the markets in Fugu and Mizhi County remain the same as in other provinces.

"Five years of drought, yet no one starved. It is a good example of China's historical changes." Zhang Wei, deputy governor of Shaanxi Province, said.

(a href=http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/index.htm>Xinhua News Agency November 30, 2001)