Same old village but brand new livelihoods

A solitary farmer makes his way up the track with some kind of crude tree-pruning implement resting on his shoulder. Another chops wood outside his home with an axe that looks like it came out of the Stone Age.

Hens cluck around his feet, and their pecking and the splintering of wood are the only sounds in a rural scene that has probably not changed much for hundreds of years.

But despite the appearance of a yesteryear world out here in Beijing's outskirts, I've noticed a remarkable transformation since I rented a courtyard here.