Brighter Prospects

By YU NAN

Ten years ago, Hou Yuzhi and her husbandearned their daily income by selling homemadenoodles and other items in a smallshop in rural Tongwei, in northwest ChinasGansu Province. They struggled to make endsmeet with an annual income of 5,000 yuan ($735)and could barely even afford to pay school fees fortheir three children.