Above: A new residential area for farmers in Huaxian county, Henan province, is under construction. According to the local government, about 1.8 million farmers became city residents in the province by the end of 2012, pushing the urbanization rate up to 42.2 percent. Below: Yongliancun, once a poor village in Zhangjiagang city, Jiangsu province, has been built into a modern neighborhood community. Wang Zirui / for China Daily