Farmers working in the fields in the past. [File Photo: People's Daily Online]

People may think of hard work in the fields when talking about Chinese farmers. But they will find they are completely wrong when they see present-day farmers, because their identities have changed dramatically over the past decades as they have changed from migrant workers to business owners.

China is traditionally an agricultural country, with most of its residents living in rural areas. Before the adoption of the country's reform and opening-up policies in the late 1970s, Chinese farmers stuck to their lands and rarely left the countryside for better-paying work in the cities. Hu Shaoxiang, a 73-year-old farmer in a village in east China's Zhijiang Province, recalled that during the early years of national reform, his family still had to live on a tight budget although their situation was gradually improving.

"We made about 1,000 (about US$146) a year in the 1970s and 1980s," Hu said. "The family still managed to get by on such a small income. Vegetables and edible oil were not sufficient. We had to save every penny. It was the same in the countryside."

Great changes have taken place with the further implementation of the reform and opening-up policies. Many farmers began seeking opportunities in cities and acting as a powerful force in the Chinese economy. With rapid urbanization, the former farmers have now become migrant workers in the cities. According to the Central government office for rural work, China has 130 million migrant workers, most of whom are farmers from the countryside looking for city jobs. They fuel the country's fast-growing economy by working as construction and factory laborers, restaurant staff, domestic servants and drivers.

Xiong Zhiping, a former farmer who is in his 30s, was a migrant worker from Meishan, a suburban district in Chengdu, capital city of southwest China's Sichuan Province. He went to Guangzhou, a coastal city in south China, at the end of 2002 and worked in a solid wooden door factory for six years. During that time, he became a professional carpenter. Xiong said he earned enough money to start his own business, and more importantly he learned all the technologies and techniques for making solid wooden doors.

The current financial crisis has been a turning point for many migrant workers. At the end of last year, for example, Xiong returned to his hometown and spent 100,000 yuan (US$14,640) building his own door factory. He said business is brisk, and with increasing sales, he has been able to hire six local villagers who were once migrant workers and have learned the craft of furniture making.

Xiong was not the only migrant worker in China who successfully took advantage of his urban experience to start his own business after returning to his hometown. When the global financial crisis started to take a toll on the Chinese economy, migrant workers were encouraged to return to their hometowns to start their own businesses.

Zhong Zhihua, a 27-year-old farmer from Gushi Township in Xiushui County, east China's Jiangxi Province, quit his factory job in Guangdong late last year and opened an e-shop in February on Taobao, China's largest retail website. The e-shop lets farmers sell their teas at a 20-percent premium.

Zhong said he is relieved that his online business is growing steadily.

"Sometimes I sell more than 15 kilograms of tea in one day, and for each kilogram I earn 40 yuan," he said with a smile on his face.