Renovation and rebirth

Liu Shuanzhu, 57, has been Party chief of Xiwenxing village in Qinshui county, Shanxi province, for more than two decades; in his own words he has dreamed of helping the villagers become rich.

But as a remote village without coal mines or other resources and with each villager owning less than 0.067 of a hectare, Liu's many attempts to change the financial status of the residents failed to pay off.

Of the 200 residents, more than 95 percent carry the surname Liu. They are the descendants of Liu Zongyuan, a well-known thinker and writer during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), and the fortress-style village was once the most prosperous in the region.