Life in Rural China
Arrival of Industry Brings Suffering to Countryside()
May 19, 2006 Modernization in China has created a host of problems for farmers — among them, the loss of farmland to industry and the onset of industrial pollution. The plight of one village illustrates the difficulties.
Reporter's Notebook
The End of Agriculture in China()
May 17, 2006 Rural China is undergoing dramatic change, as the cities encroach on farmland and farmers flock to the cities. Meanwhile, income gaps widen between the countryside and cities. Louisa Lim offers her observations on life for rural Chinese today.
Village Schools Battle Dearth of Teachers, Resources()
May 18, 2006 Many of China's rural poor see education as the only way to lift their families out of poverty. But village schools lack resources, and Beijing's plan to get rid of uncertified teachers would hurt them even more.
An Outstanding Name for an Outstanding Student()
May 18, 2006 Writer Peter Hessler spent two years teaching English to young men and women who wanted to be teachers in rural schools. He reads an excerpt from his new book about one particularly memorable future teacher, and the English name he chose for himself.
Rural Chinese Leave Home in Search of a Better Life()
May 17, 2006 Some 200 million farmers have left behind their families and fields to forge a living in China's booming cities. The phenomenon has been described as the biggest internal migration in the history of the world.
Who's Better Off: An Illegal Immigrant or a Migrant? ()
May 17, 2006 Commentator John Pomfret says that people who are in the United States illegally are better off than China's internal migrants. Pomfret is a reporter for The Washington Post who has spent many years in China covering internal migrants.
Chinese Village Provides Model for Prosperity()
May 16, 2006 On average, rural Chinese are poorer than their cousins in the city. But one village a few hours' drive away from Shanghai has come up with its own route to prosperity — and other areas hope to learn from it.
Eking Out an Existence in China's Remote Badlands()
May 15, 2006 A visit to an isolated, poverty-stricken village in China's mountainous Northwest illustrates how far some rural areas lag behind the country's cities — and the challenges Beijing faces in tackling the problem.
