800 miles away from Shanghai, Liao Ziyu is also trying to make a fortune --- by selling cabbage. Her entire truckload is worth about 30 US dollars, less than one of Qihao's lamps. Liao lives in one of the poorest counties in China, where most live on less than 2 dollars a day.

Liao Ziyu, farmer of Changshou county, Chongqing, said, "I really envy those working in the cities. I work from morning till evening, but get much less than they do."

She shows me her old home. Her mother and father still live on the mountain。

A small government loan let her start this company five years ago to grow organic vegetables. It's now the family home. Her husband is helping her do the bookkeeping. But her son wants something else in life.

Yy Ke, Liao Ziyu's son, said, "It's so hard to make a living from farming. When I see how hard my mom works, I really don't want to be a farmer any more.”

But Liao Ziyu wants to be a farmer with a difference. With another small loan, she's opened a noodle factory. Compared with other villagers, she's already rich.

But she's still a farmer, as her family has been for generations. The next day, the cabbages are still waiting for her in the fields.

Facing the widening gap between the rich and poor, the government's answer is to build what's called the new socialist countryside. There will be free education, improved health care, and no agricultural taxes. But China is a complex developing country, which means there are no easy solutions.

In tomorrow's Across China special, we will take you to Anhui to witness the direct elections of the people's congress deputies in rural China. Please join us then.

Editor:Liu Fang