Suzhou has been a pioneering region in China's market-oriented economic reform and growth since the 1980s. Though the city is now best known for its manufacturing industry and cultural and tourist attractions, it still retains a key part of its agricultural heritage in the northwest suburb. The area, called Wangting, is home to sprawling paddy fields, stretching far and wide. But the scene before our eyes shatters our impressions of traditional rice farming, which usually involves farmers using cattle pulling a plough to till a small plot of land.