Rural farming, little changes over the last century.

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Rural farming, little changes over the last century.-Photo-09

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Have you ever wondered what farming was like a hundred years ago??  Coming from a farming family, I had lots of pictures and stories growing up, but did not understand until my wife and I moved to live in rural Guizhou province of China.  Here almost all farming is one by hand or with animals with very little machines at all.  The plowing is done with water buffaloes, planting done by hand, along with weeding and harvesting.  Now, a great deal of this work is being done by the women, grandparents (often with their grandchildren on their backs) and children, as men are often away in distant provinces trying to get higher wages.  

There are small changes that are starting to happen.  People are starting to use more small machines.  It is impossible to use tractors in the fields because of their small size and the abundance of stones, but people are starting to use tillers instead of the traditional water buffalo plows.  I will wait to see if the trend increases in the spring, but I am always intrigued to see how my grandparents and great-grandparents farmed.  The hard work and admiration I have for the farmers cannot be imagined and their generosity cannot be measured.  Truly a great place to live and experience life as it has been for centuries.