Beijing's Migrant workers

The case of Shi Yulong

By Tanja Houwerzijl

A common sight in the outskirts of Beijing, lined up white barracks adorned with a blue line. These portable containers are Migrant worker 'villages', the workers who stay there, nicknamed "Mingong" are the unrecognised force behind the country's modernisation. 38- year old Sichuan native, Shi Yulong, used to be a peasant but because the crops were disappointing for many years in a row, he left his village to work in the city. He left his young son and wife behind in search of economic opportunity. He sends most of his earnings back home apart from a small amount he keeps for cigarettes, beer, his phone and a bit of 'play', meaning the card games he plays with his worker friends at night. He works 12 hours a day, 6 days a week and shares his 'container' dorm room with 7 men of various ages. On the bare concrete floor are various collections of thermoses, hardhats, shoes, plastic tubs, beer bottles and rubber sandals. Clothes are hung to dry in random places, windows are covered from inside with makeshift curtains made of rice bags or fabric pieces. The bunk beds have wooden boards instead of mattresses and are covered with a mix of colourful sheets and dirty blankets to keep the workers warm at night. There are about 300 men working on this site, they have bought into the fairy tale of economic success and opportunities but have come to experience very difficult living and working conditions. There is no health insurance or social protection for these workers and the hardest thing to accept is that there is no access to the city's health and educational system for their families who have therefore chosen to stay behind in remote parts of Sichuan. Shi Yulong's story is not unique but one of millions who have migrated to the urban areas of China, these are the stories of the modernisation of a country.