1. My life as a farmer in Xiao Kunshan village has been very interesting
through out my life time. The village is located approximately sixty miles from
Shanghai, China. I have worked my whole life as a farmer in the country side
outside of Shanghai for nearly forty years. My family consists of four children
aging from twelve to twenty years old and my wife of 35 years. The well-being of
my family has changed for the better over the years but we still continue to lack
major necessities as health care and the shortage of farming land to raise crops.
We are very fortunate to have enough money to buy clothes and food. (BBC,
2006)
My typical day as a farmer has been a routine that I have mastered over
the years living in the village. The day generally starts out a 7:00 am in the
morning each day. After breakfast, I head out to the field to begin gathering
vegetables for the day so that I can bring them home and prepare our family’s
next meal. I usually have spare time to do household repairs in the village or
just relax for the afternoon. Generally, everyday we have fresh vegetables and
rice for our meals. Occasionally, we can afford to buy meat within the local
village shops and markets. The shops within the village offer a wide variety of
household goods such as decorative art; clothes and items such as bicycles.
Technological advances have made our lives better since the beginning of the
decade. My family has been able to have cable television and phone service in
recent years. (BBC, 2006), (China Daily, 2004), (Tropix Photo Library)
2. My family has a wide variety of entertainment available to them in the village.
We have the same opportunities as Western culture to enjoy such things as
cable television, computers/Internet access and music videos. We also enjoy
singing songs with our local villagers. Our means of entertainment cross over
the lines of both local and global. We are able to enjoy global entertainment with
our cultural integrated into to it. We still enjoy hearing songs of our own heritage
but also like western performers such as Christina Aguilera. We have the ability
to listen to songs/music videos about our local culture or be able to listen to
television channels such as MTV that are adapted to the Chinese culture. The
Internet allows us the capability to communicate with the world on a global range.
We have the choice to view such websites as CNN or content regarding the
Chinese culture. (China Today, 1995-2008)
As a farmer in 2006, one my greatest fears for my family is the shortage
of land for farmers to grow crops. The raising of current crop prices has farmers
encouraged but the overall costs of farming supplies has increased higher than
the actual prices of the crops that the farmers sell. I’m concerned about my
health deteriorating and not being able to farm and raise money for my family.
We have no health care within our village making it very difficult to get treated in
a timely manner. As a farmer and a father, I worry about being forced to bigger
cities with the growth of new industrial and commercial businesses. (BBC, 2006),
(China Daily, 2004)
3. REFERENCES
Tropix Photo Gallery, 2008,
http://www.tropix.co.uk/Region_Files/china_trade.htm
China Today. “China Entertainment Information”. 1995- 2008.
http://www.chinatoday.com/entertain/entertain.htm
“Son of Chinese Farmer At Home with Friends in Huanginao”. Retrieved
April 10, 2008. . http://www.chinadan.com/05huangjinao/page01.html
Chinese Farmer: Chen Xiaohua”, BBC News, 2004
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4899406.stm
China Daily. “Life in the Village, by a Sichuan Farmer”. April, 2008
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-11/19/content393991.htm
