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Jin Zhuang is a small village of 4,000 people in the countryside of northeastern China.

In the fields, a middle-aged woman carrying a container of pesticide on her back sprays the fields. In the street, a group of men sit on low stools playing cards. An old woman gathers dry wood and bundles it onto her moped.

It's quiet, a world away from the authoritarian politics of Beijing.

Then the loudspeakers sound: "Focus on cultivating new people in the new era who can take the responsibility of national rejuvenation!"

The woman keeps spraying the earth. The voice of the Chinese Communist Party continues to ring out.

"Focus on the implementation of citizens' ideological and moral construction!"

Loudspeakers blasting revolutionary ideology were a fixture in the days of Chairman Mao and the cultural revolution.

Now, they're making a comeback - but as part of a very modern, very intense propaganda drive by the current regime.

The speakers are fixed on poles or on top of buildings throughout the village and ring out loudly three times a day, part of a rapidly expanding project.

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Sun Zhao, the official in charge of the project in Shijiazhuang city in Hebei province, tells Sky News: "Because the loudspeaker is more direct. It can spread the party's voice to hundreds and thousands of villagers, and bring farmers closer to the party. It's really good."

The system mainly broadcasts information about agricultural technology, at some length. But it also relays the policies of the party, local and national news, and the thought of Chinese President Xi Jinping. The term 'new era' is one tied to Mr Xi in particular.

Programmes are created at local government headquarters then broadcast over the region. Right now, around 9,000 villages form part of what's called the New Village Loudspeaker Project. By 2020, it will cover 300,000 villages.

Propaganda has a renewed importance under Xi Jinping. The party is investing massive resources in putting its messages out, whenever and however it can. Communication is a crucial part of its control.

Other tried and tested methods are making comebacks. Posters featuring Mr Xi - who else - plaster city streets throughout the country, along with motivational slogans: "Make unremitting efforts to realise the Chinese dream of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation!"

But the party is also turning to new technology.

China's hottest app this year isn't a mobile game or social network. Its name is Study Xi Strong Country. Or, if you like, the Little Red App. More than 100 million people have downloaded it, according to Chinese state media.

It features news about Xi Jinping, party policies, quizzes, and video lectures on Marxism.

"This is the Chinese Communist Party promoting its propaganda through digital means," explains Tianyu Fang, a technology writer.

"Basically, you're encouraged to share these articles on WeChat or Weibo - social media outlets in China. By doing that you get points on it.

"If you get questions right [on the quizzes], that will give you points on the app. That will show up on a scoreboard and if you work for a state organisation, like a government agency, you perhaps have a leaderboard that everyone can see."

The app is targeted at party members and isn't compulsory for the general population. But it's still proving popular. Partly, that's because the term "propaganda" doesn't have quite the same sinister connotation in China as it does in the West.

"In China, some people embrace propaganda," Mr Fang explains. "The majority of the population in China, including those not in Beijing or Shanghai, they don't necessarily resist propaganda.

"They certainly don't resist propaganda on their phones. They simply see it as a better way to learn the party's ideals and they see it as a new propaganda."

If people aren't glued to their phones, they're probably watching TV. And the party is trying to reach them there too, especially young people - part of its efforts to get millennials into Marxism.

In 2017, a game show style programme debuted on Chinese prime time. Its name - Socialism Is A Bit Cool: Studying Xi In The New Era. If that's not to your taste, there's an anime show based on the life of a young (and rather dreamy-looking) Karl Marx.

As clunky as some of these efforts might sound, they reveal both the party's priorities and its anxieties. The party thinks reviving and revitalising ideology is crucial to maintaining its power. Propaganda in this account is not just a Leninist throwback, but vital to its future.

But perhaps the biggest obstacle the party faces is the digital age itself. Like any other media outlet, its competing with thousands of rivals for people's attention. Communism must compete with cute cat videos.

We visited another village in Hebei, one the speaker project hasn't reached yet. Most people we spoke to found the idea bizarre.

One noodle maker shook his head when we asked whether he thought it was a good idea. "We all have smartphones now. With the internet, we can easily get news, we can find out all kinds of news - like Brexit!"

The Loudspeaker Project shows the lengths the party will go to establish its control. It also shows the limits of that control.