The world’s second largest and fastest growing economy, the People’s Republic of China, has transformed itself from a near-medieval, third-world nation consisting largely of peasant farmers into the world’s largest manufacturing power on the planet. The transformation has almost occurred overnight – with many of China’s sleepy villages demolished in favor of brand new cities that seem to sprout up over night. White Horse Village is one of those villages washed away by the tidal wave of the PRC’s economic development. Destined by the Chinese Communist Party to be the site of a new modern metropolis, White Horse Village was abolished entirely and its residents, many of whom represented generations of White Horse Village residents, were given new condominiums and shops in the fresh construction that replaced their ancient, storybook village.

Development has not come without its victims and detractors. While many acknowledge their sacrifices as necessary for a better future for all of China, it is still nonetheless hard to abandon traditional ways of life and thinking. As China rises economically, will it be able to maintain social stability and fulfill the promise of the Communist Revolution?