Learning lessons about the countryside

Like most Chinese born and raised in cities, I have no direct knowledge about real life in rural China.

That's a rather sad state of affairs for a journalist, because about half of China's population of 1.4 billion lives in rural areas, so issues related to agriculture, farmers and the countryside have long been major concerns.

However, thanks to my job, I was given the opportunity to spend a month in a remote mountain village on the outskirts of Chongqing, a megacity in Southwest China, learning how the residents dragged themselves out of poverty.