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Reuters
Reuters
Business
By Eduardo Baptista and Farah Master

RARE PHOTOS: Rust belt province got old before it got rich as much of china will | Rare Historical Photos

Farmer Wang Zhanling sits next to his wife in their house in Quansheng village, Heilongjiang Province, China, February 8, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Wang Fengqin suffered from hunger in her youth, when Mao Zedong was running China, so it brings her joy to cook a nice dinner whenever her sons visit her in the rapidly depopulating northeastern village of Wudaogang.

"Come home to eat, mum can still afford to make you this meal," the 70-year-old retired farmer said, recalling how their phone calls usually start, as she took a break from chopping cabbage in her wood-fired kitchen.

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