Farmers zoom in on changing countryside

He is the proud recipient of more than 100 awards, from the county to the national level, and in 2016, he received a digital single-lens reflex camera as a gift from the local government for his outstanding contributions to local tourism. "As long as I can move, I won't stop taking pictures," he said. "Photos are the most precious things in my life."

Qi is not the only rural photographer in the area.

Over the past 20 years, around 80 farmers in the area have been recording daily life and the changes to rural areas with cameras.

Ma Xueyan, a 61-year-old farmer from Nianzigou village, began his photographic journey much later than Qi, but he has made remarkable progress.

After his son got married in 2011, Ma was able to relax, as the burden on the family was lighter. He spent 4,000 yuan on a digital SLR camera, fulfilling a dream he'd had since adolescence.

"I was interested in the arts as a child and was drawn to the camera my father brought home when I was in junior high school," he said. "An employer sent it to him as payment for work, and I was really curious about this strange new thing."

He had little chance to use the camera, however, as his elder brother took it with him when he moved to neighboring Heilongjiang province. That was when Ma decided to pursue photography on his own.

After getting a camera, he seized every opportunity to learn from other photographers and improve his skills. He made rapid progress.

Most of Ma's photos depict daily life in the rural area where he lives.

"I hope to record the particular beauty of farmers and their industrious nature with my camera," he said. "My family started to support me because my photos really surprised them. There was so much in them they had never noticed before."

In 2012, a sudden heavy snow during the late autumn harvest caused a lot of difficulty.

"The sight of the farmers working so hard to pick corn in the middle of the deep snow really moved me," he said. "This was real farm life, and I immediately recorded the scenes with my camera."

Three years ago, Ma moved to an apartment in the center of Jiaohe and found more time to take photos around the city.

"In recent years, Jiaohe has paid a lot of attention to promoting rural construction, and there have been big changes to living environments, infrastructure and peoples' spiritual outlooks in rural areas," he said. "Fortunately, I have recorded all these changes with my camera and will keep these photos as my precious treasures."