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Life in Rural China A great majority of China's people -- about 70 percent -- lives in China's countryside. But farmers haven't benefited from recent economic growth the way city dwellers have. A five-part series looks at life in China's rural areas and the government's efforts to improve it.
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Life in Rural China

A five-part series looks at life in China's rural areas and the government's efforts to improve it.

Arrival of Industry Brings Suffering to Countryside

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.

Arrival of Industry Brings Suffering to Countryside

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Village Schools Battle Dearth of Teachers, Resources

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.

Village Schools Battle Dearth of Teachers, Resources

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Opinion

An Outstanding Name for an Outstanding Student

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.

An Outstanding Name for an Outstanding Student

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Rural Chinese Leave Home in Search of a Better Life

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.

Rural Chinese Leave Home in Search of a Better Life

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Opinion

Who's Better Off: An Illegal Immigrant or a Migrant?

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.

Who's Better Off: An Illegal Immigrant or a Migrant?

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Chinese Village Provides Model for Prosperity

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.

Chinese Village Provides Model for Prosperity

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Opinion

Recalling Random Calls in the Night

Commentator Bates Gill has traveled all over rural China. He shares a story about the unsolicited calls that he and his wife received while staying at a guesthouse. Bates Gill is co-author of China: The Balance Sheet: What the World Needs to Know Now About the Emerging Superpower.

Recalling Random Calls in the Night

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Eking Out an Existence in China's Remote Badlands

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.

Eking Out an Existence in China's Remote Badlands

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