The yellowed land contracts, rusty plows, antique tractors... On October 26, the second China (Shanxi) Specialty Agricultural Products Trade Expo is nearing its end; however, at the 'Traditional Agricultural Tools Exhibition' organized by the Shanxi Provincial Agricultural Machinery Bureau, visitors are still flocking in. It is reported that during the agricultural expo, nearly ten thousand domestic and foreign tourists have come to see traditional farming tools.FarmingToolsExhibition.This is a wheeled tractor produced in the 1940s in the United States,” said Zhou Jinlong, a staff member at the traditional agricultural tools exhibition area, pointing to an old tractor. “The first chairman of the China-U.S. Friendship Association and senior advisor to the Ministry of Agriculture, William H. Haining, participated as an observer in the land reform work in Machang Township, Changzhi City, Shanxi Province while teaching at Northern University in 1948; he gifted this agricultural power machine to the village. Its engine is a water-cooled four-cylinder gasoline engine with a rated power of 22 horsepower. Despite being 'over sixty years old', it can still be started today.”

Matt Kaveki, an official from the Economic Section of the U.S. Embassy in China, was amazed when he saw this Ford tractor and showed great interest. Kaveki stated that such old tractors are also rare in the United States and he did not expect to find such well-preserved ones in China across the ocean.

Since 2007, the Shanxi Provincial Agricultural Machinery Bureau has begun collecting and rescuing old agricultural tools and researching agricultural culture. After several years of effort, they have now collected over a thousand traditional production and living tools across 12 categories. This time, more than 200 exhibits including old horse-drawn carts, looms, and wooden seeders are on display.

Zhou Jinlong said that the history of agricultural progress is essentially a history of tool advancement. The advancement of tools has liberated human productivity and brought about leaps in agriculture. With the development of modern technology and changes in people's living standards and productivity, these items will gradually disappear from society. Today, we preserve these old agricultural tools to retain our history and civilization so that our excellent farming culture can be passed down.

Wang Liwei, director of the Shanxi Provincial Agricultural Machinery Bureau, said that in the future they will further enhance the collection and rescue of old agricultural tools as well as explore and research agricultural culture to contribute to the inheritance of farming civilization.

Wang Liwei, Director of Shanxi Provincial Agricultural Machinery Bureau, said that in the future, we will further improve the collection and rescue of ancient agricultural tools and the excavation and research of agricultural culture, making contributions to the inheritance of agricultural civilization.