This is Jonah Kessel reporting with Andrew Jacobs for the New York Times in China.
It was nearing nightfall when we arrived in Loduan Village, a rural and dirt poor place
just 180 miles from Beijing.
Lately, the residents here have been getting a lot of attention from the outside world.
A few weeks ago, China's new Communist Party leader Xi Jinping stopped in for a surprise
visit.
State media was there to document everything.
Villagers tell the tale with great pride.
While many in China live modern lifestyles, in Loduan, you won't find many cars, internet
connections, or even widespread electricity.
Residents here say the biggest change in recent memory has been an increase in the availability
of food and clothing.
Mr. Xi's visit set China's propaganda machine into motion.
Just hours after he left, more news cameras showed up at the door of Mr. Rong Bing.
Then photos and video clips began to circulate online, offering up a vision of the country's
new leader as a man of the people, focused on the plight of the rural poor.
The average annual income in Loduan is just $160, well below the poverty line in China.
Many experts say the wealth gap is a huge threat to this nation's future stability.
Following Xi's visit, the villagers started receiving gifts from the outside world.
Local Party Secretary Gu Rongjing invited us to dinner and told us that since the images
spread across the Chinese internet, the villagers received close to $50,000 in donations.
While the village is still poor by any standard, the influx of gifts has put this fact out
of sight, at least in the short term.
During his visit here, Mr. Xi warned local officials that embezzlement of poverty reduction
funds is an intolerable crime.
The party has now promised $40 million to rural outposts across China.
But given the country's rampant corruption, how much will actually trickle down to places
like Loduan remains to be seen?
We'll be back.
