Covering the changing times of China

Li Fengcai is reunited with his wife and son in his hometown for the Spring Festival holidays in this file photo taken this year. Feng Yongbin / China Daily

Most of Li Fengcai's fellow migrant workers have already left Beijing to head back to the countryside on trains and buses, hoping to avoid China's annual travel peak.

The 45-year-old decided to stay a few extra days to collect his wages. He has also promised to wire the cash his co-workers are owed by the boss.

"It's already very cold in Beijing and working at the construction site is difficult at this temperature," he said, "but I'll stay through (until January) to wait for the money."

As a bricklayer in Beijing for 10 years, the most important thing for Li is getting back to his wife and children at Spring Festival, the annual Lunar New Year holiday. During the year, he can only call his family every two or three days.

"My 3-year-old son already knows how to say, 'Daddy take care'. My wife must have taught the children to say sweet things," he said. Every year, Li travels home with about 50 kilograms of luggage. This year, the heaviest item will be a secondhand laptop, which he bought from a company going out of business.

"My children can use the computer to study and play games. My daughter is very excited. It will be our family's first computer."

Li's father-in-law retired from working in construction this year when he turned 61. "Construction companies don't hire people over 60," explained Li, who added that the fact reminds him that, with no healthcare or social security available for retired migrant workers, the only thing he can do is save as much as he can now.

On the upside, however, "as I work 11 hours a day and the construction company provides us with food and accommodation, inflation has not really affected me".

Duan Yan

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