A migrant life

With the establishment of Shenzhen as the country's first special economic zone, the Pearl River Delta witnessed the first influx of foreign joint ventures and the first generation of rural laborers.

"Even though I had imagined it thousands of times before I came here, I still felt shocked when I first saw Shekou (district in southwest Shenzhen). No highway, no trees, no flowers, and everywhere everything was under construction. Isn't it countryside?" In a Shenzhen Economic Daily column about the first generation of female migrant workers, Zheng Yanping recalled her early working experience in the Kaida Toy Factory located in the Shekou district of Shenzhen in 1982.

Many young people aged around 18 to 20, came to Shenzhen at the beginning of the 1980s. In 1996, the total population of Shenzhen was 3.45 million, while the number of original residents was 880,000, which means more than two thirds of the "citizens" were migrant workers. Of these, 68 percent were female who worked in manufacturing factories. Their average age was 23.

"The wages were good and mine was 80 yuan per month, more than my mother who had 20 years' working experience," Zheng recalled. The salary was partly paid in yuan and partly in Hong Kong dollars, and some were paid with foreign exchange coupons, which they could trade for imported goods, such as Hitachi TVs, rice cookers and name brand toothpaste, all of which were "luxuries" for most Chinese people at the time.

Though the good pay encouraged many young people such as Zhen to work hard, it took its toll. In order to finish the mounting orders from overseas, the toy factories often forced laborers to work overtime. They had to sacrifice their Sundays, and some had to work until 4 to 6 am before getting a brief sleep and returning to work again.