 This year marks the 30th anniversary of reform and opening-up in China. What was China like 30 years ago? Recently a professor at Fudan University in Shanghai discovered the diary kept by a farmer in a village in east China's Zhejiang Province. It has become an important source for the professor's research on the changes since China's reform and opening up. Liu Yan has more.
Seventy-two-year-old Hu Shaoxiang keeps the diary, a pastime he has continued for over 30 years.
"I write about things and my feelings in order to keep a record for the later generation."
Before retiring, Hu Shaoxiang was an accountant in Lianmin village in Haining City. His diary began with records of his job including daily expenses and shifts manned.
"At the very start, I wrote to record as well things that happened in and around the village and were worth to write down."
Besides daily expenses and shift records, Hu Shaoxiang's diary is humorous and indulges in gossip, recording the troubles and sad stories of the villagers. His detailed entries earned him the nickname of 'information bureau' from his grand-daughter Xiao Hong.
"Even very minor things have been taken down in his diary such as how many chickens a neighbor raised. He took them down in the hope that the information might be useful someday."
Hu Shaoxiang's decades old diaries have turned yellowish and the words have begun to fade. The first of his diaries was written 30 years ago. On October 28th, 1978, Hu Shaoxiang wrote, "I carried 50 kilos of grain to the rice mill in another commune where a new rice machine was installed. The rice flour this time is brighter and fine because of improved grain quality."
Hu Shaoxiang says although life was improving, the family still lived on a tight budget during the early years of reform.
"We made about one thousand yuan a year in the 1970s and 80s. The family still managed to get by on such a small income. Vegetables and edible oil were not sufficient. We had to save every penny. It was all the same in the countryside."
However, Hu Shaoxiang's life has been gradually improving. On July 2nd, 1984, he wrote, "My wife and I withdrew 200 yuan in the 'credit cooperatives' or village bank. We spent 124 yuan to buy a sewing machine. Some neighbors came to see the machine and were envious. Our eldest daughter will get married this winter and this will be a dowry for her."
It is also recorded in his diary that private businesses came into being in the late 1980s. Hu Shaoxiang recalls that the first villager who became rich was Hu Guoxing. He later became known throughout the area because of his manufacturing business.
"His business became very large and was known throughout the region. It later expanded to vegetable processing and sock manufacturing factories."
The diary also records when the first TV set, telephone, mobile phone and computer appeared in the village as well as when products from privately owned companies were exported overseas.
The diary contains three million words depicting the changes in the village over 30 years.
"Great changes have taken place since the reform and opening up. It is very significant to record this part of the history for later generations."
Professor Zhang Letian from Shanghai's Fudan University has been studying China's rural development. He considers the diary an invaluable source for his study.
The professor says that his team have carefully studied the life of the villagers depicted in the diary and have praised their courageous efforts to strive for a better life.
"Under the reform and opening up policy, the people of Haining are the driving force for rural development. It's the local people who have made the city prosperous."
Hu Shaoxiang says he will continue to write about his life and hopes tomorrow will be even better.
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