Tian Xinhua went to a remote rural area in Henan, Dengfeng City, to become an educated youth, along with several other young people from Beijing, both male and female, all older than him. Life in the countryside as part of a sent-down youth team was certainly tough, but Tian Xinhua, being from a rural background himself, found the fieldwork effortless and thus managed it quite comfortably.
Because transportation was inconvenient in the countryside, what was once a weekly letter between the two turned into one every half a month. However, the thickness of the letters increased, with each letter stretching to six or seven pages before they would stop writing. If not for the fear of overweight, the pair would probably have written ten or so pages!
