More than 6,000 people in restive Wukan - a Guangdong fishing community where villagers have been in a stand-off with authorities for months over dodgy land grabs - cast ballots yesterday for a committee that will oversee elections for a new village chief next month.
Village-level polls have been carried out on the mainland for years, but analysts say the situation in Wukan is unique, as there was no sign of manipulation in the nominations, and every adult resident can vote.
Villagers voted yesterday for 11 out of 22 candidates to form the panel that will be responsible for supervising and organising a village committee election next month.
Amid a heavy presence of government officials from Donghai township and Lufeng city in the province's remote east, the election kicked off in the morning on the playground of a Wukan primary school.
Villagers were divided according to seven geographical groups and began filling in and casting their ballots by lining up in their assigned lanes.
'I'm very excited,' said Yang Jinlu, 43, who walked out of the voting station with a big grin, showing off a mouthful of metallic dental fillings. 'This is our village's biggest achievement in the past four decades. For me, it's a historic experience to have the first taste of democracy.'