Wu Jin/Shanghai Daily news

A simple set of accounting ledgers kept by a 75-year-old farmer in Nanhui District provide a fascinating glimpse into how life has changed for the city's rural residents over the past few decades.
Wu Liangquan has kept a written account of all of his daily expenses for almost 50 years, during which he witnessed China's opening up to the world and subsequent development.
As Nicheng Town, Wu's village, will soon be renovated as part of the Yangshan Deep-water Port construction plan, his accounts have become a treasured historic record, proving an unique look at how farmers in the area lived during some very turbulent times.
"We lived through a poverty-stricken era and realized the importance of thrift and saving," said Wu.
During his life he has witnessed the liberation of China, the Cultural Revolution, China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Deng Xiaoping's opening up drive, and the great development and prosperity of the past 20 years.
The accounts show changes to the prices of food, farming tools, fertilizer - his major expenses - as well as clothes, transport and leisure activities - all of which he spent very little on over the years.
Wu began keeping his ledgers when he joined the military and fought in the Korean War from 1950 to 1952.
"The accounts are like my diary, I used them to kill my spare time in the neighboring country," said Wu.
Wu has been an orphan since the age of five and earned a living by begging during the early years of the country's post-liberation era.
"There was no way to live but to build an economical mind," said Wu.
His underprivileged life changed after liberation.
While China's economy began growing quickly in the 1980s, Wu's accounts show his spending didn't begin to increase greatly until 1995. During the last 10 years, however, his daily spending has more than doubles, sometimes hitting 100 yuan a day. Wu's family now spends money on a telephone, something that would have been unthinkable a few decades ago.
The biggest expenditure in his book is the 1,000 yuan (US$123) he spent on cigarettes he gave to construction workers who renovated his house in 1995.
Like many people living in his village, his renovated house is decorated with some simple furniture like wooden chairs, stools, beds and an old styled wood cupboard. Its walls are bare and the cement floor is uncovered.
Even though Wu's monthly income has increased from 36.5 yuan in the 1960s to 800 yuan currently, he and his wife still live a "long established simple life," which relies on well water and homegrown vegetables.
The couple also raised two daughters and a son on their limited income.
With the ongoing construction of Yangshan Deep-water Port and Luchaogang Town, Wu's town, however, will be renovated soon and he will have to give up his vegetable patch.
"Thanks to government subsidies and my savings, we can live a quite sufficient life even without farmland," Wu said quite optimistically.
The younger generation of the town is encouraged to gain more education and training in order to find work.