COURTSHIP, LOVE AND PREMARITAL SEX A Sketch of the Field Site This paper is based on information collected during seven fieldwork trips to Xiajia village, Heilongjiang province, between 1989 and 1999. with a population lage remains a farming community, but after decollectivization in 1983, villagers' livelihoods have been increasingly tied to the market. To gain a higher profit from farming, villagers all switched to growing a high-yield maize that is used as animal feed. They sell the commercial maize to the state and to private buyers and then purchase wheat and rice for their own consumption. Despite this market strategy, the village's heavy reliance or agriculture has been a major impediment to better living standards Since the start of rural reform, the average per capita income in Xiajia has een slightly below the national average--it was 528 yuan in 1988 and 616 6n2 bee in 1990, while the national average in these two years was 545 yuan and 62 uan, respectively. Farmers faced hard times in China during the 1990s, and the living conditions of most villagers barely improved from the 1980s. Official figures during the 1990s became less reliable as the rural economy stagnated and village cadres came under pressure to inflate their achievements. For instance Xiajia's reported per capita income in 1997 was 2, 700 yuan, a figure that even the village cadres openly admitted was false. The real average per capita income in the late 1990s, according to the calculations of several key informants, stood at about 1, 000-1, 100 yuan. Since the late 1980s, seeking a temporary job in a city has been an important means to eam a cash income for a large number of villagers. For those who were too young to receive contracted land in 1983, it is a major way to survive. In 1991, 106 Xiajia residents worked regularly outside the village for longer than three months a year. The number had increased to 167 by 1994, and this trend continued throughout the second half of the 1990s. an increasing number of unmarried young women joined the pool of temporary migrant labourers, coming For a discussion of the effects on different he lds livelihoods and status, see Y unxiang Yan, "The Impact of Rural Reform on ec and Social stratification in a Chinese Village" The Australian Journal of Chinese No 27(January 1992), pp 1-23. There was no rural industry in Xiajia village during the collective period, Several grain processing factories were established in the 1990s, all of which were small family businesses. Sidelines are important source of cash income for many villagers, particularly women. By the summer of 1999, more than 30 per cent of Xiajia families were raising dairy cows and selling milk to a joint-venture Nestle factory in the county seat, and several dozer families ran chicken or pig farms. However, these sideline businesses remain small scale 10 For a more detailed account on the history and social organization of the village, see Yunxiang Yan, The Flow of Gifts: Reciprocity and Social Networks in a Chinese village (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1996), pp. 22-42 Villagers'estimations are not accurate either, as they customarily do not consider as income their consumption of self-produced foods, such as grain, vegetables and eggsCOURTSHIP, LOVE AND PREMARITAL SEX A Sketch of the Field Site This paper is based on information collected during seven fieldwork trips to Xiajia village, Heilongjiang province, between 1989 and 1999. With a population of 1,492 in 1998, the village remains a farming community, but after decollectivization in 1983, villagers' livelihoods have been increasingly tied to the market.8 To gain a higher profit from farming, villagers all switched to growing a high-yield maize that is used as animal feed. They sell the commercial maize to the state and to private buyers and then purchase wheat and rice for their own consumption.9 Despite this market strategy, the village's heavy reliance on agriculture has been a major impediment to better living standards. Since the start of rural reform, the average per capita income in Xiajia has been slightly below the national average-it was 528 yuan in 1988 and 616 yuan in 1990, while the national average in these two years was 545 yuan and 623 yuan, respectively. Farmers faced hard times in China during the 1990s, and the living conditions of most villagers barely improved from the 1980s. Official figures during the 1990s became less reliable as the rural economy stagnated and village cadres came under pressure to inflate their achievements. For instance, Xiajia's reported per capita income in 1997 was 2,700 yuan, a figure that even the village cadres openly admitted was false.'? The real average per capita income in the late 1990s, according to the calculations of several key informants, stood at about 1,000-1,100 yuan. " Since the late 1980s, seeking a temporary job in a city has been an important means to earn a cash income for a large number of villagers. For those who were too young to receive contracted land in 1983, it is a major way to survive. In 1991, 106 Xiajia residents worked regularly outside the village for longer than three months a year. The number had increased to 167 by 1994, and this trend continued throughout the second half of the 1990s. An increasing number of unmarried young women joined the pool of temporary migrant labourers, coming 8 For a discussion of the effects on different households' livelihoods and status, see Yunxiang Yan, "The Impact of Rural Reform on Economic and Social Stratification in a Chinese Village", The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs, No. 27 (January 1992), pp. 1-23. 9 There was no rural industry in Xiajia village during the collective period. Several grain￾processing factories were established in the 1990s, all of which were small family businesses. Sidelines are important source of cash income for many villagers, particularly women. By the summer of 1999, more than 30 per cent of Xiajia families were raising dairy cows and selling milk to a joint-venture Nestle factory in the county seat, and several dozen families ran chicken or pig farms. However, these sideline businesses remain small scale. 10 For a more detailed account on the history and social organization of the village, see Yunxiang Yan, The Flow of Gifts: Reciprocity and Social Networks in a Chinese Village (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1996), pp. 22-42. " Villagers' estimations are not accurate either, as they customarily do not consider as income their consumption of self-produced foods, such as grain, vegetables and eggs. 31