来源：美国《华盛顿邮报》In Rural China, a Bitter Way OutPrograms Take Aim at High Suicide Rate Among Hinterlands' Poor, Young WivesBy Maureen FanWashington Post Foreign ServiceTuesday, May 15, 2007; Page A10

"Before, it was 30- to 50-year-olds. Now it's 15 to 34," said Xu Rong, project officer with a Beijing nonprofit group that assists rural women. "Whenever their dreams and reality don't match, if they can't solve their problems, they attempt suicide."In Zhao's case, her mother-in-law heard the argument over the TV, went outside and knocked the bottle from Zhao's lips. But the damage had been done. The family had to take out a loan to pay a hospital bill that amounted to a third of their annual income."I felt angry. I was so tired working in the fields during the day, I couldn't fall asleep," said Zhao, who asked that her first name not be used because of the stigma attached to suicide. "It's very common that in the countryside women will take pesticide when they're angry. I never thought of leaving my husband. Where else can I go?"Swallowing pesticides is a frequent method of suicide in rural China because the chemicals are so readily accessible. Studies show 58 percent of all Chinese who commit suicide use pesticides."Attempted suicides outnumber completed suicides by 10 to 1. If you have a proportion who use very lethal means, the number of completed suicides is going to go up," said Michael R. Phillips, executive director of the Beijing suicide prevention group.In recent years, authorities in Beijing have identified suicide as an important issue and set aside funds to study it, but they have yet to formulate a national plan or policy on the subject. Absent government action, a few pesticide companies have tried to make access to their products more difficult by providing farmers with small boxes and padlocks. Meanwhile, nonprofit groups are making progress in small villages such as Sanshiliugunzi and nearby Donghao, three hours northwest of Beijing.Xu's group, the Cultural Development Center for Rural Women, has identified troubled residents in the villages and brought them to Beijing, along with community leaders, to teach them how to become more active -- taking up traditional fan dancing, for example, instead of mah-jongg. The hope is that the training will give the women a sense of purpose and stave off suicidal tendencies."Several years ago, there were people committing suicide every year in this area. Now there are fewer cases, because we have more entertainment. People seem happier," said Sun Jiangbao, who lives in Sanshiliugunzi. Sun's wife, Zhao Haixia, committed suicide 10 years ago during the Spring Festival, the biggest holiday of the year and one that often brings out family conflicts.The argument between Sun and his wife had been typical. He had contracted hepatitis, he said, and Zhao wanted him to rest rather than return to his job as a porter at a Beijing railway station.