Old China – undisturbed by 30 years of change

(Photograph credit Raul Gallego Abellan)

It’s three years since I was last in China, and although much has changed in that time, it seems even more has stayed the same.

In Yangshuo county, in southern China, there are far more tourists than on my last visit.

The growing middle class has plenty of cash and the Dragon Tooth mountains prove an irresistible draw to those with money to burn. Luxury buses, imported cars and Chinese motorbikes now throng the streets and an ever-growing number of restaurants and souvenir shops are sprouting to give the visiting city dwellers somewhere to offload their wealth.

(Photograph credit Raul Gallego Abellan)

Undisturbed by change

But away from the glitz and neon, it’s still possible to get a glimpse of the old China and the rural life that sustained it. Much here remains undisturbed by the change of the past 30 years.

Along the Li and Yulong rivers, hidden among the peaks lie hundreds of tiny villages where subsistence farmers still live, lives ruled by the seasons, scratching a living from their paddy fields. From the walls the faded portraits of Chairman Mao look down.

The farmers here know their country is a superpower. They know that the economy has grown beyond their comprehension. But despite the growth, they talk in whispers of the corruption of local officials which blights their lives.

(Photograph credit Raul Gallego Abellan)

Hard times

Pen Wen Xing is proud of this new China. He’s 82 and a veteran of the war between North and South Korea which left him deaf. He remembers his orders. “Never retreat,” they told us, “or you will be shot. It was a hard time. We were afraid, hungry and tired but we had to do our duty.”

In Jima village he’s still a hero because he fought the Americans. “They didn’t want to fight at night or in the rain. We fought whenever we had to, whatever the conditions. That’s why we beat them.”

The Americans would, of course, dispute his talk of victory, but he goes on: “We had to help our Korean brothers. But we were farmers fighting the mighty USA. They came to steal from us. We had no choice but to fight.”

In his hands is a mug, with the words “Resist against America. Help Korea. Protect our family. Defend our country” on it – a gift for a returning soldier from the government in Beijing.

(Photograph credit Raul Gallego Abellan)

Strong memories

Despite his age, his memories are strong. I asked him how he dealt with the fear of death at the front. He picks up a length of wood and points it like a rifle. “I saw many of my comrades killed. The only way to survive was to fight.

“Things are better here now,” he tells me. “I think the changes are good. I’m pleased more people are coming here. The village is better. There are new roads. Everyone benefits from it.”

I ask what he thinks of the new China. “I’m glad China is so powerful now. But there are things that don’t change. I heard that the USA are fighting another war somewhere. It’s just what they did in the past and they are doing it again.

“They wouldn’t dare to attack us these days though.”

(Photograph credit Raul Gallego Abellan)