Wukan villagers' experiment with democracy has been hard going

A year after the start of protests that led to free elections in Wukan, a fishing village in east Guangdong, the din of cement mixers and construction trucks has replaced the revolutionary songs that used to blare through loudspeakers.

Cooking smoke curls through the air, and the giant white protest banners that called for the overthrow of corrupt officials have been replaced by slogans encouraging birth control.

Life seems to have returned to normal, but the growing pains have just begun for the village's young government as it grapples with the realities of Democracy 101.

"Many of us don't understand what democracy is and we are still learning," said village committee member Zhuang Liehong . "We are in a transitional phase and need to figure it out for ourselves."

Zhuang, one of four protest leaders previously arrested for their part in the movement, is now in charge of security, mediation and encouraging cremation.

The school playground - which became a laboratory for grass-roots democracy on the mainland when villagers cast their ballots there in free elections early this year - is packed with children unaware of the significant change brought about by their parents' defiance.