Through the lens of Qixing Village, A Hundred Stories is a documentary photography project which investigates China’s rural economic scene among left-behind villages. As a small village located two miles from a major city in southeastern China, Qixing suffered from population decline. In 1989, the Jiaxing government passed a new Housing Relocation Policy to support urbanization by demolishing village housing. Under the policy, more than 2000 rural dwellers in Qixing villages migrated into metropolitan areas. However, many residents stayed and continued their old ways of living.

Shot over months and relayed through a combination of landscape photographs and portraits, A Hundred Stories seeks to tell the stories of places that are decaying, yet full of life. By closely interacting with local Qixing dwellers who work in manufacturing and agriculture-based small enterprises, I try to reveal the tension between individual agency and the cultural and physical limitations imposed upon this derelict landscape.