Pingtan, an island off the coast of Fujian Province (Chinese mainland's closest point to Taiwan Island) and China's second international tourism island after Hainan, is steeped in rural traditions. Nowhere is this clearer than in Xianxia Village, which welcomed a golden rice harvest in early autumn 2025.

Xianxia's vast rice fields—dotted with a colorful "rainbow path"—glow like a "giant sheet of gold," with heavy rice ears bending under their weight. This year's harvest has shifted sharply to modern efficiency: instead of farmers using sickles in muddy water, tracked harvesters cruise through fields, cutting stalks swiftly and leaving only short stumps.

Local farmer Wei Wenhe put it simply: "Mechanical harvesting is much more convenient than before." He noted the machines have drastically reduced physical labor and time, a big change from when adults used hand tools and children tied rice bundles.

The harvest has also drawn outsiders. Jiangsu-based photographer Liu Xinwen traveled to Xianxia specifically to shoot the scenery. "I never thought I'd see such beautiful swaying grains on an island," he said, framing the fields with his camera.

Freshly harvested rice is quickly sent to a local workshop run by Chen Jizhi and his wife. Two rice polishers hum nonstop there, cleaning and hulling raw paddy into "shiny, pearl-like white rice." Recent weeks have seen farmers streaming into the busy workshop, where Chen and his wife greet visitors warmly.

"Regulars chat happily about the harvest while waiting," Chen said. The workshop also attracts outside buyers like Fang Jianping, who returns yearly: "I buy dozens of catties each time—this rice is wonderfully sticky and tastes delicious; nothing beats it."

Chen, a retired worker with a stable pension and successful children, keeps running the workshop and growing rice out of a deep attachment to his village."Rice fed our villagers for generations; it's part of Xianxia's roots," he said. As the day ends, the workshop's lights stay on a little longer, processing the last autumn rice batches as farmers' laughter mixes with machine hum.