Upon my request to interview some ordinary farmers and not the village head, I was taken to this rather distant village located outside Yan'an, at Baota district 宝塔区, Hezhuangping xiang 河庄坪乡, Lucaowang village 芦草湾村. The person I interviewed is Niu Gendou, age 44, living with his wife, an old folk, and two children, a boy of 20 and a girl of 9, in a rather remote part of the village up in the hills.
This household owns quite a bit of land, consisting of 27 mu of terrace field, on which 14 mu are planted corn, 4 mu of wheat, and 9 mu of potato, but the field is of low productivity (see picture).
Niu purchased a 4-wheel tractor for 16,000Y just two months ago,
so that his 20-year old son could do side-line business with it.
He took out a loan of 7000Y from a private source at a monthly
interest of 3%. I thought the interest rate was exorbitant,
and while we were discussing it, Niu just smiled, but a
visitor at home, a friend
or relative from Ansai 安塞,
moved down from the kang and gave a passionate denunciation
of usury.
I could not understand what he said mostly but I taped
a small part of it with my camcorder before he returned to
the kang sitting quietly next to the old man once again.
I believe Niu intends to pay back the loan after the coming harvest, so that his loan will last just 5 to 6 months. This shows Niu's confidence in paying back the loan in a short time.
In 1992 Niu built 6 cliff dwelling units for 20,000Y, and dug a well recently for 3000Y, which is intended for household use. Located high up the hills, the well is very deep. The household's net income is about 5000Y a year, and seems progressing ahead in affluence.
The household appliances of this family remain
quite backward even compared with other farmers living in
the valley. Before they got the tractor they had just a mule
to do all the heavy work, like milling and transport. Cooking is done outdoor by burning shrub branches.
