In 1972, after graduating from high school, the 18-year-old Zheng was sent to Antu county in Northeast China's Jilin province, because of the late Chairman Mao Zedong's call for urban youth to experience rural labor.

Life during this period was tough, and he had no time to pursue photography.

But Zheng got to revisit his interest after he was appointed as the secretary of the county government. Due to the nature of his duties, he had spare time to use the rudimentary wooden camera obscura that his father had made. He also acquired chemicals to fix and develop films from Shanghai.

During this period, his photography subjects were mostly the locals of Antu. After developing the images, he would cut decorative edges around the photos before giving them as presents to the locals. This made him very popular in the community.