My Village

The village I was born and raised in is located in the mid-eastern part of China, where there is a plain—a part of the Huabei Plain.

People in my village share the same ancestors—two brothers from a nearby big village, which is about one or two kilometers to the northeast of my village. It is said that our earliest ancestor originally came from Zaolian Village in Shandong Province a long time ago.

When I was a child, my village was very small—even the name of my village included the word "small". There were only about 26 families, with roughly 160 people in total. Villagers made a living by farming.

My village was rectangular in shape and surrounded by a small moat, with an entrance to the village in the center of the south side.

A main road ran through the middle, stretching from south to north and dividing the village into two parts. Each part had four to five rows of bungalows (also from south to north), with three families in each row.

For generations, they farmed. They grew sweet potatoes, corn, sorghum, cotton, sesame, and soybeans as their means of living.

They built their own houses, made their own clothes and shoes, yet no matter how hard they worked, they could never get rich—they only managed to make ends meet.

I haven't lived in my village for years now. Every time I go back on special occasions, there are always many young people I don't recognize. Still, the living conditions in my village have improved greatly.