Photographer Liu Feiyue travels to Gansu Province to take family photos for “left-behind children” when their parents return for the Spring Festival. Liu provides each family with one framed 12-inch picture to hang up on the wall and three 6-inch photos for the parents and the children to take with them. Liu hopes these photos will help remind them of their family’s love. CDB has published the photos and translated their captions with the permission of the photographer.
![he 70-year-old grandpa cooked for Xiamei for 6 years. Now, Xiamei finally moved on to junior high school and grandpa continues to look after her little brother who still goes to primary school. Xiamei excels at school. There are several award certificates on the wall. Her parents work at far-off places like Xinjiang. The family re-unite only during the Chinese new year.](http://chinadevelopmentbrief.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_0293.jpg)
![Juanjuan and her brother study at the town primary school and look after themselves at a rented room. The grandparents work at home as peasants to support them.](http://chinadevelopmentbrief.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_1012.jpg)
![IMG_0344](http://chinadevelopmentbrief.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_0344.jpg)
![Meifeng, 5 years old, goes to pre-school class. She and her 4-year-old brother are taken care of by their 70-year-old grandparents. Her parents work in Beijing. Before the Spring Festival, her mother just returned from Beijing, bringing new clothes for her and her brother. After the Spring Festival, her mother will go back to Beijing.](http://chinadevelopmentbrief.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_1037.jpg)
![Laoxue live with his two grandsons in a rented room, less than 8 square meters. He cooks and accompanies the two boys. The parents of the boys work in Nei Mongol and visit only once during the Spring Festival.](http://chinadevelopmentbrief.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_9887.jpg)
![The nearly 70 –year-old grandma looks after Yunyun and her two brothers. Yunyun’s mother works in Xinjiang. She says she is used to hard work at home so that she doesn’t think it is toilsome in Xinjiang. She only wants to earn more money to support her three children’s education. Yunyun’s father is a shepherd since he was 12 and has never worked outside of his hometown. Sheep didn’t sell well in 2015 and brought little profit. The New Year picture on the wall was brought in town by the father. It cost 6 RMB.](http://chinadevelopmentbrief.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_0400.jpg)
![The old man cooked for his grandson and granddaughter near the town primary school. Now, the granddaughter goes to a middle school in the county. The children’s father works in Nei Mongol to support them and the mother died of illness. The children didn’t waste the efforts and excel at school.](http://chinadevelopmentbrief.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_9900.jpg)
![Xueyan is at the fifth grade now and she is first in her class. She and her brother were looked after by their 70-year-old grandpa. Her sister is at middle school. Xueyan’s mother works in Beijing. This year, she brought 25000 RMB back after working in a restaurant for 7 months.](http://chinadevelopmentbrief.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_9945.jpg)
![Juan finally meets her parents at the Spring Festival. The grandparents look after her and her siblings and the parents work in Xinjiang. The parents come back to unite with their family for the Spring Festival.](http://chinadevelopmentbrief.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_9971.jpg)
![The little boy’s mother got sick after his birth and cannot take care of him. He studies at the town primary school and has been looked after by the grandma. His father is a local peasant.](http://chinadevelopmentbrief.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_0439.jpg)
![The child’s parents left for work only a few months after his birth. Grandma often carried the bay for walks during the last year. The parents returned for the Spring Festival and will leave for work again after the short get-together.](http://chinadevelopmentbrief.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_0423.jpg)
![The three girls sell clothes in Beijing and are normally very busy at work. The whole family only unit during the Chinese new year.](http://chinadevelopmentbrief.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_0499.jpg)
![The old couple’s two granddaughters came back to visit the family before the Spring Festival. They work in Tianjing. The eldest brought her husband and child. The three girls grew up in the mountains. But they left the mountains and have their own lives.](http://chinadevelopmentbrief.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_0541.jpg)
![Laoyu’s family get together during the Chinese New Year at their hometown. Laoyu works in Nei Mongol. His eldest son works in Lanzhou and second son works in Hubei. The youngest has been a migrant worker for the longest time since he was 26. They come back to their hometown from different provinces, and will lock the door and leave again for work.](http://chinadevelopmentbrief.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_0571.jpg)
![70-year-old man rents a house near the town primary school, 20 km from home, to accompany two grandsons. His son and daughter in law work in Xinjiang and arrived at home before the Spring Festival.](http://chinadevelopmentbrief.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_0659.jpg)
![The old man’s son works in Baotou (Nei Mongol). He returned just before the Spring Festival. The old man looks after the child. The old man’s father was a Red Army soldier and moved from Sichuan Province to here.](http://chinadevelopmentbrief.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_0675.jpg)
![Liao Yijia returned to his hometown from Xinjiang. The whole family works in Xinjiang and his son was born in Xinjiang as well. They will not return to Xinjiang after the Spring Festival and will seek for another big city to work at. When the new school term begins, the old man will bring the children to town primary school and accompany them there. But he is concerned if the school will admit the children since it is not a new academic year.](http://chinadevelopmentbrief.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_0757.jpg)
![Laoyang herds sheep in the mountrains for all his life. His wife works far-off and his two sons work in Beijing. During the year, Laoyang is alone at home and waits for family reunion during the Spring Festival. The sheep didn’t sell well and he only earned 7000 RMB this year.](http://chinadevelopmentbrief.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_0799.jpg)
![The father worked in Xinjiang seven years ago and died due to a car accident. The child’s mother left home with his two sisters. His grandpa said calmly :” Seven people become three” The old new year picture on the wall shows “together forever”.](http://chinadevelopmentbrief.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_0887.jpg)
![The elderly’s grandson and granddaughter in law work far from hometown. The four generations unite during the Spring Festival.](http://chinadevelopmentbrief.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_0908.jpg)
![Huihui and his sister finally meet their father who works in Xinjiang. Last year, when his parents left, he wrote on the wall at night “Dad, I love you and mom, I love you.”](http://chinadevelopmentbrief.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_9982.jpg)