In a metropolitan city where people are interested in eating at chic restaurants, few pay attention to where the food comes from.
As is often the case, suburban villages supply Shanghai with fresh vegetables and meat everyday.
Wang Xianglong, director of Taiping Village in Lvxiang Town, Jinshan District, enjoys talking about life in Shanghai's remote countryside.
About a two-hour drive from downtown, Taiping has a population of 2,775 spread out over an area of 233 hectares.
This season's harvest looks bountiful. Beautiful golden colors can be seen in all directions. Row upon row of brightly painted three-story houses are built in a neat order.
Walking on the meandering country lanes, bicycles and motorcycles pass by quickly at irregular intervals, leaving nothing but floating dust.
"I have lived in the village all my life and witnessed the great changes during the past years," Wang said. "It is totally different from what it was before."
The 45-year-old said when he was young, the small village always struggled with poverty.
Villagers relied solely on the crops from the limited land assigned by the government. A drought or flood meant certain disaster.
"Twenty years ago, having a television set at home was a dream," Wang said.
Nowadays, every family in the village has at least one TV set. Nine out of ten families have installed telephones. Both electricity and running water are common.
"All these things were hard for us to imagine at that time. Now our dreams have come true," Wang said.
According to Wang, growing crops is a part-time job for most of the villagers. With more and more companies setting up plants in the countryside, many residents, especially young people, would rather work in factories as it pays more than farming.
"Some earn more than 1,000 yuan (US$120.48) every month at the factories," Wang said. "But on average, planting 1 mu (0.07 hectares) of rice brings about only 800 yuan each year."
There are now seven factories in the village. They contribute tax revenue of more than 400,000 yuan to the village last year.
"We hope that more and more companies will set up plants in our village in the future and we will provide them with our best service," he said.
However, as one of the city's food suppliers, the village is still encouraged to provide more crops. A series of preferential policies have been launched by the government.
People who grow less than five mu of rice will receive a government subsidy of 60 yuan per mu each year. For those who grow more than five mu, they will receive an annual subsidy of 70 yuan per mu and 80 yuan per mu is given to those who grow more than 15 mu.
"The land is still assigned to villagers by the government but they can be transferred to ensure that no land is wasted," Wang added.
Apart from rice and vegetables, some residents have developed their own business by growing flowers and fruit. Others fish or raise cows.
Last year, Taiping Village's per capita income reached 6,500 yuan, the highest among the town's nine villages.