According to a survey by Oriental Outlook on what male migrant workers do for entertainment during their spare time: 67% have nothing to do; 40% chat with fellow workers; 19% like to play poker and majiang; 19% call their families; 11% have a drink; 5% admit they seek prostitutes. When answering the question “how do you feel working in the city?” many migrant workers say “lonely and empty.”
The following video illustates that Beijing’s rural-migrant construction workers and their life off the clock, shot by presspoem and carried by Youtube:
[Click the title to see photos and more contents]
Photo: The colorful city life does not belong to migrant workers. What they can do is just watch the busy crowds come and go. Their night life is lonely – shabby dorms, a few fellow workers, a fan and several cigarettes, nothing else:
Few employers offer entertainment for migrant workers like radio, TV or some events. As for books, few workers read valuable ones and a lot of migrant workers cannot afford them so they buy cheap blue books or magazines and read in turn.
Photo: A migrant worker reading Zizhi Tongjian (资治通鉴) in bed to kill time:
A young man reading General George S. Patton (巴顿将军):
Two workers reading blue magazines.
– Chinese text and photo sources: It is not my fault I read blue books, Migrant workers’ spiritual life and Paowang.com
– Below are previous posts with videos and photos about migrant workers via CDT:
Video: Crazed Migrant Workers
Photo Series: Who Is Gonna Take Responsibility for 150 Million Unpaid Migrant Workers?
