Households scattered all over the place in the oldest house in Gao Ban Ling Jiao, in Zhuji China, which has more than 100 years of history. Those residents in this house have either passed away or left for the city. This family had a history of catering for village banquets, so they had accumulated a large collection of spoons and bowls.

Yu Xueshun, 71, lives at his house with his wife in the village. The house built more than 80 years ago, even before the foundation of the PRC. A flood in the 1980s washed away some of the houses built in the same era. Yu Xueshun and his wife have one son and one daughter. Both of their children live in Hangzhou city and have two children each. Their daughter is planning to have a third child. Faded red couplets, traditional calligraphic inscriptions typically placed on doors during the Chinese New Year, are stuck on one doorway of Yu Xueshun's house. They once symbolized good fortune and prosperity.

Tang Dongzhen, 66, and her husband, Yu Xueshun, assemble unfinished badminton rackets at their home in Gao Ban Ling Jiao. These rackets were shipped from the Fuyang Guanshan Badminton Court factory and were distributed directly to the villagers. The villagers can choose how many rackets to process based on their own pace. The wages were very low, and it takes two people working from morning to night for two days to complete one box of rackets. This practice is quite common in rural areas in China. “We do it mostly for killing time”, Xueshun says.

Villagers burn hay on the roadside in Gao Ban Ling Jiao in Zhuji, China. Ashes can be used as soil fertilizer for farming. The hay is usually corn stalks. The house behine is the village community center, where weddings, funerals, and festivals were once held. It’s rarely used nowadays.

Yu Zhangfu, 84, deaf and mute, looks outside the window on a rainy day in his room. He is unmarried for life and lives alone in this village. Due to his inability to hear and speak, he grew up largely alone. His close relatives communicate with him in a unique sign language that they created since childhood, as opposed to the sign language used in schools for the deaf. The only sound he can make is almost “en, “ and the different tones of “en” are his entire language. In rural China, disabilities like deafness and muteness are not uncommon, especially in areas with a history of consanguineous marriage.

Yu Zhangfu’s broken watch in a basket at home.

Yu Rongwei (left), 52, and his son Yu Chengcong (right), 13, transplant rice seedlings. The villagers here are self-sufficient, and almost every family sows rice, a staple food in southern China. Here in this village, it grows in one season a year: sown in late May and harvested in early October. According to Rongwei, the rice harvested once a year is even too much to eat.

People stop to watch the helicopter rides, which are one of the entertainment facilities in the village on June 9, 2024 in Gao Ban Ling Jiao in Zhuji, China. The buildings behind belongs to provincial officials. Two years ago, in 2022, the town began to develop its tourism industry by building resorts and recreational facilities to attract tourists mainly from Shanghai and Hangzhou. The helicopter in the picture was just delivered on 7 June 2024 and is a newly established amusement facility. However, the helicopter was removed in August 2024 due to insufficient tourists.

Chengcong Yu, 13, lies on the bed headboard. “I might don’t wanna go out of this town, because I’m an introverted person, and I’m afraid that I cannot make friends and get along well with them.”

Tang Hezhen, 77, sits on the table and think before the dinner. She spent her entire life in this rural village. For her, the land is the most precious thing in her life. It provides her with crops and sustains her." She fully understands why her children want to go to the big city: "Hangzhou is a good place. People there don't need to farm."

An old person drys bamboo poles next to an ancestral temple of Majian Town where the village belongs to.

Yu’s family photos on the TV table at Yu Rongsheng’s home. Most of the people in the photos are not in the village anymore.

Tang Hezhen cooks at home.

Two “fu” characters are pasted on one door of the village’s oldest house, now abandoned. In Chinese culture, the character “福” (fú), meaning “good fortune,” is considered auspicious and is often displayed on doors, windows, and other prominent places. This tradition is prevalent during the Chinese New Year, as it’s believed to bring good luck, prosperity, and happiness to the home.