"I am already homesick," said Liang Wentong, 38, a farmer from Congjiang county in Guizhou province, when interviewed on March 5, the first day of the annual session of the National People's Congress.

It was the first time that Liang had been to Beijing.

"I am quite concerned about whether the pigs raised on my farm will be sick or whether my wife can take good care of them," said Liang, who is from the Dong ethnic group.