Love, freedom and resignation: the chronicles of a Chinese village poet

Han Shimei is a 52-year-old woman living in a rural community in China's central province of Henan. Trapped in an unhappy arranged marriage for 30 years, Han found comfort by writing short poems about her life and her longing for a genuine romantic relationship. Her work, which started as a hobby, soon became an online sensation after she posted her poems on the Chinese short-video-sharing app Kuaishou.