Zhang Lian, 45, a farmer during the day and a poet at night. Photos by Kuang Linhua / China Daily

Solemn emptiness

Conditions in Ningxia can be brutal: The rugged mountain ravines, dry riverbeds, and solemn emptiness of the sandy plateaus often appear in Xihaigu Literature. Poverty and hunger are common topics as the writers describe their rural lives and culture.

"I used to complain about living in such a poor area and in a poor family," said Guo Wenbin, a 46-year-old writer who was born and raised in Xiji. "I often asked 'Why me'?"

He admitted that after years of eating potatoes and sorghum flour, the greatest luxury he could envisage as a young man was eating an apple, but that rarely happened.

"However, I wouldn't be able to write so many stories without those experiences," said Guo, who is deputy director of Ningxia's Writers Association. In 2007, he won one of the country's top literary awards, the Lu Xun Literary Prize, named after one of China's most renowned authors, with a short story chronicling the lives of two children in a remote village.

"Life experience makes for good stories, and in return, literature and writing change people's lives," he said.

Kang Pengfei's life changed when he was deeply touched by a novel he stole from a bookstall

"A person will be enlightened at some time in his life. How early that enlightenment occurs decides the person's fate," according to a character in Lu Yao's award-winning novel Ordinary World.

Kang said the sentiments stirred his soul.

At 17, he fled his village and joined the local gangsters. At one point, he robbed a couple in town, taking 85 yuan, all the money they had. "The wife knelt and begged me not to take their money, saying they had worked a whole week to get it, but I didn't listen," he said. "This has become a source of great anxiety to me."

Kang, 35, whose parents are illiterate, dropped out of school when he was 15: "Nobody told me right from wrong or how to behave," he said. "I felt confused and guilty as I grew older, but I didn't have the courage to make a change."