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, Hezhuangping xiang, Lucaowang village. 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,
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.
