摘要
This is not your father's countryside. In rural China, tile-roofed houses are giving way to two-story dwellings and high-rises. An invisible social security net is being cast over more homes and their residents. Commercial loans are becoming more available, although farmers still rely on friends and relatives for many borrowing needs. And with the attention to fashion because of satellite TV, it's starting to look like MTV out there. Ok, maybe it's not Tommy Hilfiger land just yet, but the countryside is getting a serious makeover thanks to both government support and farmers looking for a more urbanesque life. And if you don't believe what the government says, hear it from the farmers themselves. Beijing Review asked officials about new policies to assist local farmers. Reporters traveled to two very different provinces in rural China to ask locals about their financial and social wellbeing. The detail captured is vivid and illustrates that the countryside is no longer willing to play second fiddle to its urban cousins. Farmers are no longer impoverished victims of misfortune, but are moving boldly toward a better tomorrow.
This is not your father’s countryside. In rural China, tile-roofed houses are giving way to two-story dwellings and high-rises. An invisible social security net is being cast over more homes and their residents. Commercial loans are becoming more available, although farmers still rely on friends and relatives for many borrowing needs. And with the attention to fashion because of satellite TV, it’s starting to look like MTV out there. Ok, maybe it’s not Tommy Hilfiger land just yet, but the countryside is getting a serious makeover thanks to both government support and farmers looking for a more urbanesque life. And if you don’t believe what the government says, hear it from the farmers themselves. Beijing Review asked officials about new policies to assist local farmers. Reporters traveled to two very different provinces in rural China to ask locals about their financial and social wellbeing. The detail captured is vivid and illustrates that the countryside is no longer willing to play second fiddle to its urban cousins. Farmers are no longer impoverished victims of misfortune, but are moving boldly toward a better tomorrow.
