Xu Duoyu, a 29-year-old writer in Hefei, Anhui province, had a successful year in 2012, with his newly published book raking in more than 300,000 yuan ($48,000).

Far Away tells the story of a family in Jinzhai county, Anhui province, during the decades before the founding of New China in 1949.

Jinzhai, Xu's hometown, was a famed revolutionary base area, but is also known for being poor.