Gates symbolize man's prosperity

Owning a pair of iron gates used to be Hui Yuzhu's dream, but today the ones he owns are lying in a storeroom gathering dust.

"In the past, I was too poor to install the gates," said the 65-year-old farmer, "but now my house is too good for them."

In rural areas of China, such as Hui's home village of Zhongdagou in the Tianzhu Tibetan autonomous county, Gansu province, iron gates used to be a status symbol.