HARBIN, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Zhao Qinghe, a capable grain farmer from China's northeast Heilongjiang province, has lived an even happier life since he became a part time race car driver.

Zhao, 49, lives in Lihuazhan Village by the side of the Heilongjiang river. He farms more than 1,000 mu (about 67 hectares) of cultivated land and earned more than 500,000 yuan (about 78,000 U.S. dollars) last year from farmland products.

With modern agricultural machinery and tools, Zhao can finish sowing work in just a week and he picked up car racing as his leisure activity as enough money and spare time is at his disposal.

"When I drived a four-wheel tractor at a young age, I dreamed of driving a car," he said. Zhao got a driver's license in 2009 and bought a second-hand off-road vehicle five years later.

In winter, the frozen Heilongjiang River became his natural training ground. In the beginning he just practiced driving in the spare time, and gradually driving took up more of his time. After a friend's introduction, Zhao joined the Humar Condor team.

"My wife worries about my safety. When I go to other cities to compete, she will go with me together. It is like our holiday," Zhao said.

Zhao's TV cabinet is his honor wall with two trophies and several certificates of honor, one of which is the fourth place in the 2016 Huma County Stadium Fighting Competition.

"On the ice, I would like to challenge myself. I always want to get a better ranking," Zhao said car racing enriches his spiritual and cultural life.

Under Zhao's influence, his nephew Zhao Zhibo also became a rally car driver. In the Humar Condor team, there are more than 70 driver, among whom more than half are farmers.

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