Village Diary

by+Huang+Liwei

Shaoyu is an ordinary village in Yimeng Mountain area. Its 167 farming households fall under jurisdiction of Zhongzhuang Town， Yiyuan County， Zibo City， Shandong Province. Leading a modest life –neither poor nor rich – the villagers have preserved old traditions while maintaining close contact with the outside world. Nothing special – typical rural China. Great changes have taken place in the farmers lifestyles in recent years as the country has progressed so dramatically， which has brought issues familiar to other rural areas in China.

Between 2012 and 2013， photographer Jiao Bo and his team spent almost 1，000 hours filming and photographing the village over 373 days， resulting in a two-hour documentary， Village Diary.

Early this year， Village Diary won awards including Best Feature-Length Documentary at the China （Guangzhou） International Documentary Festival， Best Documentary at the 15th China Huabiao Film Awards， and Grand Jury Prize of the 3rd Chinese Documentary Academy Awards. “It is a great depiction of rural China， tremendously significant in recording details about such a transformational era，” commented a judge.

During their stay in the village， Jiao Bo and his team also took many pictures， freezing timeless samples of rural China.