We met this farmer on a small town and he told us about his life while smoking cigarettes. Then he brought us to his farm in the remote village of Yongfu, on February 27, 2006.
It was -25 C in Heilongjian province when I went there with a journalist in February 2006 to meet poor Chinese farmers. Heilongjiang is one of China's poorest provinces, with an average income per capita of 7,141 yuan in 2004. China has 200 million people living below the $1/day poverty threshold, according to World Bank 2004 estimates.
