My first experience with borrowers was in a village, approximately 40 minutes outside the city, called Yue Xing Village (岳兴村). The purpose of this meeting at the Loan Officer Mrs. Zhang’s (张主任) home was to hand out loans to 20 clients. The process was informal with everyone milling about her living room but everyone seemed to know the procedure. When it was their turn, the loan group presented their 戶口s (residence permits) in order for PCWSDA staff to verify each borrower’s identity. Then, under the watchful eyes of Mrs. Zhang, each person took her turn signing the appropriate documents and receiving her loan. Like a mother hen watching over her brood, she would scold borrowers who arrived late and reminded everyone to “count your money before you leave!”
Picture upper right: A borrower (left) listens to instructions from the loan officer (middle) and PCWSDA staff (right). 
I actually only had time to interview one client in the time we were there because Mrs. Zhang's husband wanted to show me around the village. The tour did end up being very helpful as I got a sense of how these villagers live and what services are available to them.
Picture right: The loan officer’s husband, Mr. Zhang (left), and friend who just returned from his fields. Land, electricity, and water in Yue Xing Village
For the rural poor across the world, owning land is often the decisive factor of where on the poverty spectrum a household will fall. However, in China, the government allocates land to every household in the village. Electricity is also a basic service. Televisions are becoming more prevalent, as TV channels provide important agricultural information, such as market prices of farming products, farming methods, etc. In close-knits communities such as this one, the farmers themselves are also another valuable source of information for each other. Neighboring farmers are in constant communication, often sharing ideas or strategies.
Their water supply is likewise dependent on electricity. Every household has an electric pump that pumps water into large gourds sitting in their courtyards. They then transfer this water to basins and buckets for various household uses.
Water for land irrigation is a different matter. This water comes from The Yellow River and is brought to the village via a series of large irrigation channels. The water travels past 8 water stations before reaching Yue Xing Village, a journey of over 500 Li. Neighboring farmers will coordinate with each other and at the scheduled time call the water station to release the water. It then flows through a series of u-shaped irrigation ditches, about a foot-wide, that are directed to their fields. These ditches were built by funding from Plan International. Thanks to this project, although years with little rainfall still do affect them, “as long as The Yellow River has water, we have water,” said Mr. Zhang. “There is a reason why we say The Yellow River is China’s mother.” 「只要黄河有水，我们有水。所以我们说黄河是中国的母亲。」
Villagers I met along the way
The loan officer and her husband are obviously highly respected figures in the village. Everyone we passed greeted Mr. Zhang warmly and I got to chat with many of them.
One man we came across sells pots for a living. His business is mobile, and he drives his truck from village to village bringing his service right to people’s doorsteps. The going price for each pot is 5 yuan.
Picture right: Driving through the village to sell his pots.
Another man I met is a farmer who had recently purchased 13 goats to supplement his income. This was a large investment. Adult goats cost 700-800 yuan, while baby goats cost 400, and each goat consumes one bag of feed per day (5 yuan/bag). Furthermore, he had to invest 1000 yuan to build a hut for the goats. He also explained it takes about one year for a baby goat to grow to full-size. His goats seemed to be doing well and he is optimistic they’ll help increase his income. (Don't think this man got a loan from PCWSDA, where the maximum loan size is 4000 yuan.)
Picture upper left: The camera shy goat herder. I had to tell him I thought his goats were cute (which they are) in order to get the photo.
From rice to pears:
Pucheng County is a large fruit producer, known especially for their pears. I therefore assumed they had been growing the pears in this region for generations, but much to my surprise, they only started growing pears (and apples) in the last couple of decades. 20 years ago, all land was used for farming rice and other grains. The government then initiated a campaign to convert the land to fruit orchards and sent experts to the village to train farmers and provide the necessary skills. At first, many villagers resisted the government’s attempts, but when it became clear that profits from 1 mu of pears equaled profits from 10 mu of grain, nobody held out much longer. Now, most farmers leave just a small portion of their land to grow rice for their own consumption. According to Mr. Zhang, producing these pears also gives people a sense of national pride.
