Notes in People's Road

People's Road 1

Notes:

Wang Keying, male, was born in 1964 in Hunan Province. After he graduated middle school at age 16, he went to Zhuhai and Shenzhen to find work. In 1995, he returned to his hometown to open a liquor factory, but in the countryside making fake liquor is too common. If you are honest and do not adulterate the liquor, you do not make any money. At the end of 2005, he was in debt and had to close the factory. He came to Changsha after the Spring Festival in 2006 to work in construction, and he has lived in a 4.6 square meter room at No. 790 People’s Middle Road ever since. He works about 25 days, or 250 hours, per month. His monthly salary is usually 4,000 to 5,000 RMB. In May 2011, his wife came to Changsha to work at a bathhouse, earning 1,000 RMB per month. The couple’s monthly expenses are 2,200 RMB. They hope to find a room that is 15 to 20 square meters for 400 RMB a month. They are enrolled in rural cooperative healthcare and life insurance. Wang said, “When you’re working away from home, health is most important. Most rural families now only have one son. He’ll have to support his own family, and look after both his parents and his parents-in-law. His burden will be very heavy. We save a little bit of money every month, but when we’re old our only security is the ability to return home and farm.”

People's Road 2

Notes:

Hu Nanqiao, male, was born in 1968 in Jinzhai County, Anhui Province. In 1992, he was demobilized and returned to his hometown to become a militia battalion commander. In this role, he frequently participated in punishments related to family planning. He did not like this part of his job, so in 1993, he left his hometown to work in Foshan, Guangdong Province. There, he met his wife Chen Xiaoyuan. When they married in 1997, they settled in Yiyang, Hunan Province and now have a son and a daughter. At the beginning of 2008, with a friend’s introduction, he brought his wife and son to Changsha and he became a jackhammer operator for renovations. His daughter was left with his mother-in-law’s family to start the second grade. He maintained his honest, conscientious, and responsible nature from his military days, and his older clients often gave him further renovation and demolition work. He lives at No. 790 People’s Road in Yangjiashan, renting a seven square-meter room. Although there is little sunlight and a lot of noise in the small space, they became accustomed to it after living there for a while. When there were difficulties, they solved them amicably. When business was bad and they could not pay the rent, the landlord did not harass them even if they were two weeks late. He works an average of 20 days a month, and makes between 4,000 and 5,000 RMB per month. For a family of four, they spend more than 4,000 RMB each month in living expenses. Currently, he does not have any savings, and he does not have great hopes for the future. He just wants to find work in Changsha, support his two children, and provide them with a better education so that they can find good jobs.

People's Road 3

Notes:

Fan Jianguo, male, was born in 1954 in Yiyang South County. He was originally a worker at South County Sanxian Lake Construction Company. In early 2004, he arrived in Changsha to work in construction as a jackhammer operator. His wife, Zeng Zhiqun, is back in his hometown working as a primary school teacher. His son currently works in a Guangdong hotel as a liquor salesman. Fan said, “Changsha is experiencing a construction and development boom, so there are a lot of opportunities to find work. It’s just that I’m getting older and can’t do a lot of heavy manual labor. This August, I hurt my foot operating a jackhammer for the Subway Construction Company. I spent more than 2,000 RMB on a three-day stay in the hospital. Workers from the countryside like me can’t be reimbursed for medical expenses incurred in Changsha. When I was hurt no one from the recruitment company cared. In my hometown, I have a spacious and well-lit 150 square meter house, but to save money, I live in a small, dark 4.8 square meter room. The room is near the labor market, so it’s convenient to find work. However, there isn’t work every day, and the workers call waiting under the overpass for work ‘fishing.’ Because I’m getting older, it won’t be long before I have to return home. My biggest hope right now is to find work in Changsha and live in peace.”

People's Road 4

Notes:

Zhang Yunhua, male, was born in 1956 in Yiyangnan County. He has a primary school education. In 1992, he left home to find work. He has three children; his two daughters are already married and his son graduated from college and now works at a company in Shenzhen. All of his savings from twenty years of work have been used to send his children to school. In 2003, he returned to Changsha to work as a bricklayer. He rented a 4.8 square meter room on People’s Road, and his rent is 290 RMB per month. He has 1,200 to 1,500 RMB in living expenses, but because he makes 3,000 to 4,000 RMB per month, he has some savings. Last year, he built a 250 square meter house in his hometown. His wife lives in the house, taking care of their two grandsons. Their ten mu of farmland has been planted by others for the last eight years. He often cannot sleep while he’s working away from home, so he has covered the walls at both ends of the bed in black plastic. He has hung up maps of China and the world, so that he can look at the maps while lying in bed. He tries to find places he has been, and when he is tired he looks at the black plastic and falls asleep.

People's Road 5

Notes:

Li Guihua, male, was born in 1973 in Yiyang South County. His mother raised her six children by herself. Li is the eldest and only completed primary school. In early 2006, he arrived in Changsha to find work. He now primarily does painting and plastering work for renovations. People are honest but disdaining with regard to his unfortunate family circumstances, so, at age 38, he is still unmarried. He has lived in a four square meter room on People’s Middle Road for three years. His monthly rent is 260 RMB, and he has used newspapers to decorate his dark, damp room. He said, “My salary is usually less than 3,000 RMB per month, and because of this, I am very lonely lying in this small space by myself.” People's Road 6 Notes: Lü Xiyuan, female, was born in 1971 in Yiyang South County. In 2006, she opened a clothing store with her husband in South County. Due to high rents and taxes, they had not made a profit in three years. In early 2010, they came to Changsha to work. She became a cleaning lady for a supermarket, with a salary of 1,000 RMB per month. Her husband was a jackhammer operator for a construction crew. Their combined income is 4,000 RMB. Every month, they spend 2,100 RMB in living expenses in Changsha. She liked to dance, sing, and play cards, but now she does not have time for those things. Her biggest hope is to see her husband go happily off to work and come back in the evening for dinner. Once they have enough money, they will go back to South County and find new work.

People's Road 7

Notes:

Huang Peijun was born in 1975 in Yiyang South County. He came to Changsha in 2005 and he lives in a four square meter room on People’s Road. Changsha is blazing hot in the summer, but summer is also the best season for the construction business. This summer, his wife and son came to Changsha to see him. He has had a lot of work lately, and he has not had time to go to the park or go shopping with his family, so he feels very guilty. Fortunately, his wife is reasonable and understands. Every night she prepares a tasty meal and cold beer and waits for him to come home for dinner. His son often sits in the corner by himself watching TV. At that time, he was working on a sculpture assembly project for a Changsha middle school. After the project was finished, he went to buy presents for his family before they went home. He did not go to get paid on time, and he found that the contractor had fled, and so Huang never received the more than 1,000 RMB he was owed.

People's Road 8

Notes:

Wang Zhengliang, male, was born in 1975 in Yiyang South County. In 2007, he came to Changsha with his wife. His wife works as a cleaning lady for a bank. He installs water and electricity lines and lays bricks, and business has always been fine. His son comes to stay with them during the holidays sometimes. In a year, Wang makes about 60,000 RMB. Apart from normal expenses, he saves a considerable amount each year. He is young and skilled so if he stays in Chang Sha for a few years without incident, he will have saved up some money. He is waiting for an opportunity to do business in some of the more remote places in Guizhou. The key is staying healthy and avoiding workplace accidents.

People's Road 9

Notes:

Yuan Qifeng, male, born in 1970 in Yiyang South County. He has a primary school education. His son is six years old and in the first grade. His wife is home, farming and caring for his parents. In early 2007 he came to Changsha to work in construction with a monthly income of 4,000 to 5,000 RMB. He rents a 4.7 square meter room on People’s Road for 260 RMB and spends around 1,300 RMB per month. “What is most important is accumulating experience and saving money so that I will have more opportunities when I go home,” he said.

People's Road 10

Notes:

He Wenbing, male, was born in 1971 in Yiyang South County. When he was 17, he began to learn carpentry. He has two children, a daughter who is in her first year of high school, and a son in the fourth grade. He came to Changsha in 2001 as a woodworker on a construction crew. He is shrewd, capable, and skilled, so many construction companies have work for him. He rents a seven square meter room on People’s Road. He said, “If you have skills, it’s rather easy to make a living and save money in Changsha. If you don’t have money or connections, you won’t get rich, but it’s much easier to support a family from here than it is in the countryside in Yiyang.”

People's Road 11

Notes:

Wang Erwu, male, was born in 1952. He has a primary school education. His wife He Erlian will be 53 this year, and both husband and wife are from Loudi in Hunan. In the 1990s, he was a coal miner in Jiangxi. He has three children, and his two daughters are already married. After his son got married, he opened a local car repair shop. In early 2011, the couple moved to Changsha to find work. Because he is older and his health is not good, he can only work as a warehouse worker at the supermarket where his wife as a cleaning lady. They go to work every day at 5:00 a.m. and do not get off work until 7:30 p.m. The two make a combined monthly income of 2,400 to 2,600 RMB. Outside of work, they gather trash to supplement their incomes. He said, “We are country people, able to bear unfair treatment, so it doesn’t matter. Over the long term, other people will trust and help us. You look at us, and we’re always wearing the store’s red work uniforms that no one else wants to wear. The electric rice cooker and electric wok were given to us by our boss. We painted our little room green to make it more pleasant. Right now, our greatest hope is that the store will buy us social security and medical insurance. If we have 500 RMB every month as a pension when we get old, we’ll be satisfied.”

People's Road 12

Notes:

Liu Jiezhang, male, At 15, he left to find work. He worked on an assembly line at a Guangdong factory for eight years, and then ran his own business for two years. He lost more than 100,000 RMB and still owes a lot of money to relatives in his hometown. In summer 2008, he arrived in Changsha; together with friends, he learned to install water and electricity lines, operate a jackhammer, lay bricks, and install beams. He will do anything that pays. If he takes a day off, he does not sleep well. After all, he has three children to support. He feels very guilty when he talks about educating his children. He said, “In recent years, because I’ve been busy working, saving money, raising a family, and repaying old debts, I very rarely go home. My eight year-old son is in second grade, but I’ve only seen him six times. I haven’t seen my middle child since sending him to my brother’s house. When we miss each other, we can only call. The kids don’t say much on the phone, and they don’t really call us ‘Dad’ and ‘Mom.’ Kids who feel unloved by their parents end up with strange or extreme personalities. I feel really guilty! This year during summer vacation, he was reunited with his eldest to their humble four square meter home. In summer, Changsha is a furnace, the numerous cars on the street are really unsafe, and our son could only stay inside watching TV. Every night I dragged my exhausted body home to see them, tired but happy. At night they slept, and my wife and I calculated how much we still needed for autumn school fees and living expenses for our three children.”

People's Road 13

Notes:

Li Xiaoliang, male, was born in 1966 in Yiyang South County. He has a primary school education. In spring 2007, he came to Changsha to work in construction, as a bricklayer and jackhammer operator. He lives with his wife in a four square meter room on People’s Road, which they rent for 290 RMB per month. His family’s five mu of land is being farmed by other people. In summer 2009, his son finished middle school and went with some friends to open a small wholesale shop in Kashi, Xinjiang. He gave his son many years to savings to open the shop, in the hopes that his son will do well in Western China. Now, the couple together saves more than 2,000 RMB per month. They hope that they can stop working away from home at age 50, return to their hometown to open a small shop, and live calm and easy lives.

People's Road 14

Notes:

Li Jianming, male, was born in 1966 in Yiyang South County. At age 13, he began to learn construction-related trades. After he got married, he moved from the countryside to Maocao Road in South County; he gave up his land to become a city resident. In 2004, he came to Changsha to find work. Although he was familiar with construction projects and had been a foundation construction inspector, his primary school education has prevented him from receiving professional credentials. Now, he can only contract workers. He has lived at People’s Road for two years, and he earns 4,000 to 5,000 RMB per month. Early this year, his wife and 21-year-old daughter opened a beauty salon in town, and business is very good. His life is difficult; he dislikes being idle and does not want to give up the chance to make money in Changsha; he just wants the occasional chance to rest, play cards, sing, and dance.

People's Road 15

Notes:

Cai Jiashun, male, was born in 1979. He came to find work in Changsha in 2006. He is a jackhammer operator and a bricklayer. In early 2011, someone from his hometown introduced him to the 3.9 square meter room on People’s Road, which he rents for 270 RMB per month. His wife has come to Changsha, but does not work outside the home. She does household chores and cooks. He said, “It’s really difficult to find such a cheap place to rent in the Changsha city center. They want to renovate this building, and the rents will increase to 1,200 RMB per month. At those prices, migrant workers like us, who do manual labor and need to save money, will not be returning to rent. We’ve always hoped to bring our daughter to Changsha to go to school here; the quality of education here in the provincial capital than in our hometown. In August, I hurt my foot, and seeing a doctor cost more than 800 RMB. I also had to rest for five days, which made the month financially difficult. When working in Changsha, good health and cheap housing are most important.”

People's Road 16

Notes:

Yi Bin, male, was born in 1971 in Yiyang South County. His father died when he was 16, and his family was in a lot of debt. He had not finished middle school by the time he left home to find work. He went south to Shenzhen and north to Xinjiang; he has been all over China. During Spring Festival in 2001, he was thrown in jail for three months after his ID card was stolen at the Guangzhou train station. When he was released, he returned to his hometown to learn skills in construction and civil engineering. In 2011, he brought his family of three to Changsha to live on People’s Road. Yi is a jackhammer operator and painter with construction crews. His wife is a cleaning lady at a hotel. His son has entered a technical school to learn excavator repair. He hopes that after a few years they can return home, build a new house, and buy an excavator to rent out.

People's Road 17

Notes:

Huang Aiguo, male, born in 1961 in Yiyangnan County. In 2003, he came to Changsha as a construction worker. He has lived on People’s Road for five years, and his wife is a cleaning lady at China Citic Bank. In his years working away from his hometown, his 17 year-old and 5 year-old sons have died. Now, he has a 4 year-old son in a private kindergarten. He says, “My decade of work and my numerous misfortunes at home could fill a very moving book. Currently, my family in Changsha pays 3,000 RMB per month in living expenses, and in difficult months we don’t save much money. Working a day saves a day, and not working a day is a loss. I imagine that I’ll be sixty before my boy goes to high school, and sending him to college will be a huge problem.”

People's Road 18

Notes:

Deng Yanbo, male, was born in 1974 in Yiyang South County. At age 16, he went to Shenzhen to work as a section chief at a large factory. In 2001, he returned to his hometown to get married and never went back to Shenzhen. At home, he has built a 130 square meter house and usually works as a contractor for private house construction projects. His family of three has a fairly comfortable life. With his child growing up, Deng wants to send him to board at the county town middle school, so he was forced to go to Changsha to make some money to send home. It is easy to get from Changsha to South County on the expressway; it only takes two hours. He has lived in this four square meter room on People’s Road for three years. He realizes that his living conditions are poor, but everyone gets along well, like a big family. When he heard that the building was about to be demolished, he knew that that large family would scatter. Frankly, it will be very difficult for him to find another room to rent at a similar price.

People's Road 19

Notes:

Luo Yueming, male, was born in 1964 in Yiyang South County. He has a middle school education. At age 18, he began learning bricklaying. Two years after he got married, he went to Shenzhen and Hubei to work. He came to Changsha in 2001, as a bricklayer and water and electricity technician. He works 20 days per month and 10 hours per day; he makes 4,500 RMB per month. His oldest daughter has a high school education and is married. His younger daughter finished middle school and then left home to find work. He said, “While working, I most fear getting hurt or sick. In April, I was careless and hurt my foot. I spent five days in the hospital and more than 3,000 RMB, which meant that a month of work had been wasted. My wife came to Changsha to take care of me, and every day when I leave the house, she repeatedly reminds me to be careful. Sometimes, when the weather is bad, she even calls me to tell me to be even more careful.” He hopes that the government will add migrant workers to the city pension and medical insurance plans, because they have worked in the cities for so long and contributed so much to society. This would solve his problems later in life.

People's Road 20

Notes:

Huang Jianmin, male, was born in 1962 in Yiyang South County. In the 1980s, he came to Changsha to work in construction. In April 2009, he moved into a four square meter rented apartment on People’s Middle Road. He is primarily a contract worker for construction. His eight mu of land at home has been con-tracted out to other people. He said, “When I came to Changsha in the 1980s, I worked for a construction company and my monthly salary was 80 RMB. In the 1990s, when I worked in a friend’s construction company as a manager, I made 500 RMB per month. Now, I’m working for myself and I make 5,000 RMB per month. From the numbers, it would seem like my income has increased significantly, but when you look at actual prices relative to my income, it is not a huge increase. After thirty years of work, I haven’t struck it rich. Currently, I’m most afraid of not being paid after completing a job, which means that I need to pay the workers from my hometown out of my own pocket.”