Profile of a Chinese Worker

To expand on my previous post, I want to paint a picture of what a typical Chinese migrant worker's life is like from my perspective. I mentioned previously that we occasionally have clothes made by a husband and wife team (actually I just do it occasionally, my wife does it regularly). We talk to them when we see them and have somewhat of an idea of what their life is like.

I took some video clips of their environment. The first footage that I took are of the exterior and the second footage is of the interior of their home/shop. They are located in an older part of Shanghai called Dongjiadu. It is not too far from the Huangpu River so I think it is a matter of time when this area gets leveled for high rise waterfront apartments. Their home is located within a labyrinth like area. If you don't know the area your are likely to get lost. What struck me when I first entered their home/shop is how small it was. I think the space is probably around 100 sq ft. If you look at the footage you will see that most of the space are for work. They built a make shift bed that is elevated above one of their work tables. There is no bathroom in the space so they use communal bathrooms located down the street. Their sole source of entertainment in this kind of environment is the TV set placed on a table between their workbenches that is always on when I have been there. They have two sewing machines and two workbenches. The makeshift kitchen is in a separate space and it is entered from the exterior.





This couple is from Jiangsu province and the town that they are from is an 8 hour train ride from Shanghai. The reason they came to Shanghai is because they can make more money here than their village. There is a deep economic and social chasm between large urban areas like Shanghai and the rural areas. The couple left their son who is now a teenager back in the village where his grandparents are caring for him. They work 7 days a week and each day they work long hours to make as much money as possible. Therefore, there is no time to go see their son except for the Chinese New Year period. This is a period of time not unlike Thanksgiving and Christmas rolled into one. Most migrant workers in China will stop working for one to three weeks to go home and visit family and friends. Unfortunately for many this is the only time they get to go home and see their immediate family members. It is not uncommon for a family of three to live apart and see each other on Chinese New Year. The father and mother may be working in different cities while the child is cared for by the grandparents back in their village.

Back to our couple. Most of their business come from owners of small clothing shops scattered throughout the Shanghai. They also have a client who sells clothes via the Internet and target Koreans since they can pay more for these clothes than the Shanghaiese. So these tailors are at the bottom of the food chain.

This couple rarely has any leisure time. Its not only because they are so busy trying to make money but also the little money they make will not go far in Shanghai where costs are much higher than where they are from. Also since they are outsiders in Shanghai, they are treated differently than the local Shanghaiese. This is a typical story of the migrant workers who come from rural areas to the urban centers of China to seek a better opportunity. In Shanghai, I would say that vast majority of the menial work is done by these migrant workers.

It is difficult to imagine such a life where I am from.