Wu Township is hollowing out. Our most capable sons and daughters have long since uprooted from their birthplace on the central plains to fuel China’s economic miracle. The ancient trees now sit in the shade of a modern aqueduct, funnelling even our precious water to the metropolises beyond.

From the marketplace where gossip is traded to the long-abandoned execution grounds, ordinary life carries on. For we who remain, feuds between neighbours compound the burdens shared by increasingly ageing shoulders. But If you know where to look, you’ll find the town still clings to its customs and dreams.

Let me show you around. If we’re lucky, we’ll run into the benevolent doctor or beauty store owner, and if we’re not, the corrupt local official, perhaps even the souls of executed ancestors. Why do you want to visit? To see it before it’s all gone… of course.