(DiDi bought Uber’s Service in China, and provide the same service as Uber)
I took a ride with Xiao Hou on my first day in LiJiang. We got along, so I asked him to take me around LiJiang the next day and listened to his story. After his permission, now I tell his story.
I was born in 1986 in a mountain village about 60 km from LiJiang. Our village had about 27 families. We lived apart, each with a big yard. All families raised chickens and pigs in their yard.
We had a primary school in the village from grade one to four with a dozen students and one teacher. The teacher graduated from high school. After grade four, I went to the county school about five kilometers away.
Like most other students came from villages around the county, I lived on campus for the county school. Every Monday we carried food and fire woods from home for the week. The school had about 200 students. We used our own little stove to prepare meals each day. There were more than 100 little stoves. Mealtime, the smoke was everywhere. By Tuesday, we all looked dark from making meals.
I graduated after grade nine. I did not continue to high school as my grades were poor. There was an opportunity to work in a shipyard in Anhui Wuhu, which was 2,500 kilometers away. It was the first time in our village for someone to go so away. I joined 19 others and left the village in 2001.
As an apprentice, we made about 30 Yuan per day (about four dollars) in the shipyard. The work was hard, and life was lonely. After six months, only six of us stayed. The shipyard was not doing well. After about a year, we went with our mentor to a shipyard in Shanghai. Other new jobs also took us to ZheJiang and Nanjing. We stayed in Nanjing the longest for about three years. Life was better when I made about 100 Yuan per day.
I saved about 20,000 Yuan each year. I went home each year for the Chinese New Year and spent half of the saving for transportation and gifts for everyone. Many young people returned for the new year. We organized a couple of basketball games and there were dancing parties in the evening.
I met my wife at the dancing party. She was from a neighboring village. We didn’t know each other before. She felt I was different from others who stayed in the village with my time in big cities. We kept in touch for a month after I returned to Nanjing, then I asked her to marry me on the phone. She said yes and came to Nanjing. After about a year, we decided to move back to the village. We wanted to have a baby. It was expensive to live in Nanjing and raise a child.
LiJiang was a poor place for a long time. After the earthquake in 1996, the World Bank provided a no-interest loan to develop tourism.
After returning to the village, we worked on our farm and had two boys. We came to LiJiang about a year ago. I learned driving and my wife worked in a hotel in LiJiang oldtown.
Our two boys are not 5 and 7 years old, and they live on the campus of their daycare and primary school. I go back to the village every Friday to pick them up for the weekend and drive them back on Monday. Both daycare and primary school have a cafeteria. They don’t need to prepare their own meals now.
My families have lived in our village through generations. I am the first one left the village. The time has been good for us. If my boys have good grades, I will send them to college.
头一天来丽江，坐小候师傅的车，谈得来。第二天又让他带我去丽江周围玩，听他的故事。小候师傅同意后，我来讲他的故事。
我86年出生。我们村在山里，叫大东乡东江村，有27户人家。每家都隔了几十米，有自己的院子，人畜分开。村里有个小学，一年级到四年级一共十几个学生，有一个老师，是个高中毕业生。小学五年级到初三去乡里的完小。
完小在四五公裡外，要住校。每週一從家裡背一周的糧食和柴火。每天要給自己燒飯。學校里有兩百多個學生，有一百多個小灶。煙薰火燎的，到週二衣服就全黑了。
初三毕业，我是村里第一批出去的；工业局联系，我们19个去了芜湖造船厂。学徒每天挣30元六个月月后只剩下了六个人。造船厂不景气，我们和师傅去了上海，然后又去了浙江和南京。在南京呆的最长，三年。每天能挣100元。每年攒了两万块钱，年底回家要花到一半。几个村年底要打几场篮球，晚上还有舞会。我就在舞会上认识了我老婆。她大概看我比较时尚。我回南京了，又在电话上联系了一个月，我就问她愿意吗，她就答应了， 来了南京。住了一年后我们还是回乡了。城里的房子太贵，我们也想要个孩子。
丽江一直是个很穷的地方。96年地震后，靠着世界银行的无息贷款，旅游业发展起来了。
回家后，在家种地。丽江旅游发展起来，我和老婆一起来了。她在一个客栈打工，我学会了开车。我们两个孩子一个五岁，一个七岁，都在乡里幼儿园和小学里寄宿。我每周日把他们送去，周五接回山里的家里。他们可以在学校食堂吃饭了。
我们家祖辈在山里种地，没想到在我这一代走出了山里。碰上了好时候，家里日子好了。我们的两个孩子，要是学习好，我就送他们上大学。
