The Chinese Dream and Ordinary Chinese People [1st ed. 2021] 9789813349513, 9789813349520, 9813349514

Table of contents :
Preface
I. From Ideals to the Chinese Dream
II. Realization of the Chinese Dream
III. Two Exciting Datasets
IV. Relation Between Dream and Reality
Contents
Introduction
1 Two Dreams
2 “The Chinese Dream of Ordinary Chinese People” Project Team
The Generation Born in the 1930s
1 From a Child Bride to a Blossoming Family Tree
The Generation Born in the 1940s
1 Different Lives
2 I’m a Product of the Times
The Generation Born in the 1950s
1 A Female Veteran’s New Job
2 Aging with Dignity
3 Country Brings Safety and Stability
4 “To Be an Authentic Person”
5 To Win Honors for the Motherland
The Generation Born in the 1960s
1 The Changing Countryside
2 A Tiring Dream for the Child
3 Approaching Happiness
4 From a Village to Shenzhen
5 An Elusive Dream from the Hutong
The Generation Born in the 1970s
1 From Ordinary to Extraordinary
2 Three Generations of a Family Run a Relay Race to Fulfill the University Dream
3 Farmers and Land
4 The Bright Future of Large-Scale Agriculture
5 Become the Person You Want to Be
6 Go with the Times
The Generation Born in the 1980s
1 Shaking Off Poverty through Education
2 The American Dream
3 Being a Good Doctor
4 A Tale of Two Cities
5 I Want to Return Home Due to the Development in My Homeland
6 Working for the Next Generation
7 From a Young Migrant Worker to an E-Commerce Entrepreneur
8 The “Startup Dream” of a Delivery Guy
9 Delivering Happiness and Positive Energy
The Generation Born in the 1990s
1 All for the Next Generation
2 Soaring with a Free Spirit
3 To Own a House and a Car in His Hometown
4 Safeguarding Tender Souls at the Frontier
5 Vocational Education as an Alternative Path
6 To Become a Farmer after College
7 To Build a Kindergarten for Left-behind Children
8 Education Transforms Lives
9 To Bring the Sound of Music to His Hometown
10 To Achieve Financial Freedom
The Generation Born in the 2000s
1 Generational Differences of the Chinese Dream
2 Growing Up Amidst Changes
3 A Person’s Transformation is Priceless
Appendix
The Current Situation, Trends, and International Comparative Analysis of Intergenerational Mobility of Chinese Residents
Introduction
The Status Quo of the Intergenerational Mobility of Chinese Residents
Trend analysis of Intergenerational Mobility of Chinese Residents
International Comparison of Intergenerational Mobility of Chinese Residents
Conclusions and Policy Suggestions
References

Citation preview

Lu Mai   Editor

The Chinese Dream and Ordinary Chinese People

The Chinese Dream and Ordinary Chinese People “I believe that principles are of paramount importance. What are the principles that bind the people of a nation together and what is the national dream? This book is published at a unique time, in a unique way in exploring for China what Americans should be exploring for the United States. It explores the principles that bind Chinese together and what the Chinese Dream is.” —Ray Dalio, Co-founder of Bridgewater Associates, New York Times Bestseller “The China Development Research Foundation is an organization with long experience introducing poverty alleviation reforms in the Chinese countryside. They have also designed and carried out surveys and statistical studies of living conditions in the country. In The Chinese Dream of Ordinary Chinese People they have instead gone in depth into the lives of individuals from a wide spectrum of backgrounds and experiences. Their 40 case studies of individual’s experience and ambitions give the reader a rich view of life in China as different generations have lived it. The book is a valuable complement to works that look at life in China as told by national surveys and analyses.” —Dwight H Perkins, University Professor at Harvard University “The Chinese Dream of Ordinary Chinese People is a remarkable study of enormous interest and value for China, and indeed for the world. China is a society of remarkable talents, aspirations, and determination, and most important, a society committed to individual and national improvement in a world of cooperation. Perhaps no society has transformed more deeply or rapidly than China in the past 40 years. This research project helps us to understand the motivations and dreams of people from across society in the great efforts they have undertaken to benefit from China’s rapid development. The biographical sketches show a society in rapid change, but also a society with very deep and traditional values of family ties, commitment to education, and hopes for the nation. While the stories are mixed—some triumphant and others more difficult—the underlying common thread is that Chinese people in all walks of life are striving hard for a better future for themselves, their children, the nation, and the world.” —Jeffrey D. Sachs, University Professor at Columbia University “This fascinating book gives us the stories of ordinary Chinese people—their aspirations, successes, struggles and disappointments—in a way that foreigners would otherwise find quite inaccessible. These stories show what tough lives so many of today’s Chinese people have lived (and still live). They show how strong the bonds of family continue to be. They show how much has changed over the last nine decades or so. They show, not least, how much all human beings share.” —Martin Wolf, Chief Economics Commentator, Financial Times “China’s rapid economic and social progress in the past century is unprecedented in the human history. This book through interviews of 100 ordinary Chinese people from all walks in different age cohorts provides a rare window to see how they realized their personal pursuits of better life and contributed to the realization of national rejuvenation and how the national visions shaped their personal aspirations and provides opportunities for realizing their personal dreams. A must read for understanding the impacts and implications of the rejuvenation of China for Chinese people.” —Justin Yifu Lin, Professor and Dean, the Institute of New Structural Economics, and Honorary Dean, National School of Development, Peking University “40 real life tells a beautiful story about how hope powers the aspiration of ordinary Chinese people, and how their experiences and extraordinary effort changes China in the past 40 years. They are the heroes of our age. I read book with tears, joy, and inspiration. Great thanks to the research team.” —Dr. Min Zhu, Chairman, National Institution of Financial Research, Tsinghua University, Former Deputy Managing Director at IMF

“The term “Chinese Dream” was first introduced by President Xi Jinping in 2012 and reflects simultaneously both its individual and collective natures. But for each generation, the content of the dream is different. In this book, the experiences of forty ordinary Chinese men and women, each pursuing his or her separate dream, are recounted. This book is definitely worth reading by anyone who is interested in understanding the vast changes in Chinese society and people during the past century.” —Lawrence J. Lau, University Professor at The Chinese University of HK “The Chinese Dream has been badly misperceived and thus politicized in the West. Politicians and scholars often regard it as China’s ambition to overtake the US’s dominant position in the world. This book by Mr Lu Mai and his research team is going to change this prevailing view. It shows that like the American dream, behind the Chinese dream are millions of ordinary men and women who endeavor to search for a better life. The 40 cases presented vividly demonstrated how these individual efforts have contributed to the collective purpose—the Chinese dream.” —Zheng Yongnian, University Professor at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen)

Lu Mai Editor

The Chinese Dream and Ordinary Chinese People

Editor Lu Mai China Development Research Foundation Beijing, China

ISBN 978-981-33-4951-3 ISBN 978-981-33-4952-0 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4952-0 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore

Preface

Since being proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping during his visit to the exhibition “The Road of Rejuvenation” on November 29, 2012, the concept of the Chinese Dream has quickly gained popularity and was broadly accepted among the members of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese people, inspiring them to embark on a glorious journey to achieve “the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation” and shape a better future for the Chinese people. The Chinese Dream reflects hopes and wants that to be shared by the Chinese nation and the Chinese people. In recent years, discussions around the Chinese Dream have become deeper and more meaningful, and related news stories have come out one after another. There was a report, for example, entitled “Officials and Experts Engage in a Heated Discussion of the Chinese Dream”. As General Secretary Xi Jinping has noted, the Chinese Dream is not only the dream of the Chinese nation, but also the dream of every Chinese. It is about having equal access to opportunities for the people to pursue their personal development, contribute to society, build a better life, and chase their dreams. Discourse on the Chinese Dream should be people-centered and cannot be separated from the specific hopes and expectations of the Chinese people. In order to thoroughly study and implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and to better reflect how the Chinese Dream powers the aspiration of individuals in China currently, the China Development Research Foundation (CDRF) launched the research project known as “The Chinese Dream of Ordinary Chinese People” at the end of 2018. This project is aimed at gaining insights into the pursuit of the Chinese Dream by the ordinary person. CDRF also aims to improve external communication and step up policy research, especially in connection with child development in poverty-stricken areas. The CDRF and Beijing Dataway Horizon Co., Ltd. (hereinafter “Dataway”) jointly put together a research team to carry out the project. The team collected information by means of questionnaires and in-depth interviews and prepared more than 100 case studies during the Spring Festival holiday period. These case studies are real-life examples of individuals embodying the Chinese Dream. From these case studies, we have selected 40 representative cases from among the sample. These cases include people of different ages and generations (ranging from those born in v

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the 1930s to those born after 2000), regions, and occupations (migrant workers, selfemployed, teachers, CEOs, civil servants, celebrity coaches, etc.). Many of them have walked different paths in life; some found success in their career and walked an easy road, while others have gone through a lot of setbacks and are still finding their way. Some look to the future with confidence and work hard to create a better life for themselves, while others are disheartened and have gotten lost along the way. These case studies showcase the journey that a common man goes through to chase his dream and also his extraordinary achievements. Delving into the case study report is a journey into a series of diverse, touching, and thought-provoking stories.

I. From Ideals to the Chinese Dream The Chinese Dream, as a concept similar to the American Dream and the European Dream, appeared quite early in academic literature. In 2012, General Secretary Xi proposed the term “Chinese Dream”, linking the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation with the aspiration of the people to live a better life. It is a broad term encompassing the past, the present, and the future, emphasizing the ties between China and the rest of the world. The Chinese Dream is both individual and collective. It reflects the hopes of the people and the purpose and mission of the CPC. I was born in the 1940s. My generation rarely spoke about dreams when we were young. What was more frequently discussed were ideas about an “ideal” future, which were largely shaped by the core values at that time. For example, there was a campaign about revolutionary ideals in my school. Most students hoped to join the army or become a teacher in the future, which were typical career choices of the time in response to the calls of the government. During the Cultural Revolution which threw China into turmoil, this idealism began to depart from reality, giving rise to the popularity of absurd slogans such as “Cut off the tail of capitalism” and “Better to grow the grass of socialism than to sow the seedlings of capitalism”. The Chinese Dream of the present proposed by General Secretary Xi inspires Chinese people to dream big for the future. To achieve this dream, it involves both the material and spiritual enrichment of ordinary people. Ultimately, all dreams require hard work in order to be fulfilled. The achievements and prosperity of China are the results of the combined effort of every Chinese who, along with contributing to society, gains the opportunity to pursue their personal development and chase their own dream. Alignment of the lofty ideals of the nation with the people’s dream of a better life is a major feature of the new era. National rejuvenation and prosperity are important prerequisites for the realization of personal dreams, while the efforts made by the Chinese for the realization of personal dreams form the most important cornerstone of national rejuvenation and prosperity.

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II. Realization of the Chinese Dream The Chinese Dream of the common Chinese people is related to their past, present, and future. Our project team interviewed more than 100 Chinese people about their dreams, as well as their actions, taken to turn their dreams into reality. During the indepth interviews, the researchers asked the interviewees questions such as what kind of dreams they had at different stages of their life, what major events had occurred during the pursuit of dreams, and what impacts these events had on them. The stories of these interviewees are truthful reflections of the profound changes that have taken place in contemporary China. Although the journey that the interviewees have taken towards their dreams are very different and most of them have different dreams according to the various stages of life, their stories all have something in common. All interviewees said they had achieved their dreams according to a certain stage of life or were still working towards their dreams. They all believe that their standard of living, social status, and financial condition have improved and are in the midst of moving up the hierarchy of needs. When the reform and opening-up policy was introduced, home and car ownership was a common dream of Chinese people, which many have achieved already. It was found that different generations of people have strikingly different dreams. For example, young people are more concerned about education, employment, entrepreneurship, and income, while middle-aged and older people are more concerned about health, stability, and their children’s education. Regardless of age, self-fulfillment is found to be the common dream of Chinese people. Individual dreams are closely related to the development of the country. As Chinese people pursue their dreams, our country has undergone earth-shaking changes. The Chinese people have witnessed the establishment of a socialist market economy, fast economic growth, and remarkable social progress. The prosperity of the country paves the way for the achievement of personal dreams. Today, Chinese people are accustomed to having the right to free choice when it comes to education, employment, housing, migration, career, and travel. But before the adoption of the reform and opening-up policy, almost every aspect of a citizen’s life was linked to the institution that employed the citizen. Work institutions played a major part in their life, influencing the housing options, career, education, and welfare of their employees. Individuals rarely had the right to free choice. The socialist market economy gives Chinese people more opportunities and autonomy, as well as the right to make their own decisions. The improved socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics enables individuals to reasonably anticipate the consequences of their own actions, laying the foundation for the maintenance of social order. China has also increased investment in the public sector, including public infrastructure and basic public services, to create a favorable environment where everyone can chase their dreams. Our analysis of information collected through in-depth interviews shows that access to education or better education have created a turning point in the journey to chase their dream for most interviewees. Education empowers people to take

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life into their own hands and follow their own dreams. For our interviewees, the changes in China’s national education system, such as the resumption of the national college entrance examination in 1977 and the establishment of the secondary vocational education system in the 1990s, have had the profound impacts on their life and vertical social mobility. Even now, the college entrance examination is still considered by many Chinese people as the most important test in their life. In addition to education, every major institutional change on other fronts, including those related to nonagricultural employment, movement of the population from rural to urban areas, self-employment, and entrepreneurship, as well as the adoption of the reform and opening-up policy, has also had profound impacts on ordinary Chinese people’s lives. We found that autonomy, self-awareness, and hard work are the most fundamental internal driving forces in taking control of one’s own life and achieving his/her dream. This reminds me of the rural reform that farmers took the initiative to bring about. The key to the success of this reform was the recognition and protection of farmers rights, including their autonomy, property right, and democratic rights. These factors combined fueled the enthusiasm of farmers to advance the reform and led to the spread of the reformation movement from a few local areas, to cities, and eventually, the entire country. These farmers demonstrated diligence and optimism, which have always been the two most recognized qualities of Chinese people. Aside from this, what was crucial in this movement were the institutional innovations which created opportunities for people to pursue their dreams, recognize and support their hard work and determination, and unleash their wisdom, enthusiasm, and creativity. We also found that family and social support is very important to the realization of personal dreams. Many people receive support in the form of resources, information, or encouragement from family members and friends when pursuing their dreams. Such support has even led to the reshaping of the dreams of our interviewees. Kinship and family ties are very important in traditional Chinese culture. Support from family members and local communities can have a significant impact on personal development and the pursuit of dreams. As urbanization advances, most areas in China have changed from an “acquaintance-based society” to a “strangerbased society”. Does the support from family members and the local community continue to have significant impacts on the dream of an individual? We believe that, in order to maximize the effect of social capital on the Chinese Dream, we should emphasize the functions of traditional family, promote traditional virtues, and facilitate the adaption of social capital to modern society. Only by this way our tradition can continue to create great value in the future. In the interview, several interviewees from different backgrounds mentioned the book The Ordinary World and its influence on their spiritual world and life. The Ordinary World tells a story of hard work and passion, sorrows and joys, personal choices, and the destiny of a farmer in the context of urbanization. We found that, even though the interviewees’ dreams and experiences to chase these dreams are vastly different, there is something common in their stories, shaped by the impact of the major changes in the country on individuals’ life. It also shows that the future of individuals is closely linked to the future of the country. A bright future for the country means a good life for all.

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III. Two Exciting Datasets The Chinese Dream reflects people’s longing for a better life, including hopes of income growth, social equity, and upward social mobility. Professor Robert D. Putnam of Harvard University says in his new book Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis that the American dream is about ensuring all kids have a fair starting point in life. Putnam distinguishes between absolute and relative social mobility. The former refers to general intergenerational mobility, while the latter refers to the chances of kids moving to a higher rung of the ladder within society relative to their parents. Putnam is quite concerned that both absolute and relative social mobility within the United States might be low.1 Since the implementation of the reform and opening-up policy, fast economic growth and increased access to education have led to a rise in absolute intergenerational mobility within China. Most Chinese people have done much better in their lives than their parents. Although income inequality is growing rapidly, channels of social mobility have also expanded, leading to a rise in relative social mobility in China. Many cases presented in this book are evidence of rising absolute and relative social mobility. While these are typical and representative cases, they still need to be supported by quantitative and qualitative data analysis. Therefore, in addition to the case studies, the project team also conducted a survey to assess intergenerational mobility among Chinese residents. The survey analyzed the intergenerational income mobility of Chinese residents based on the data of China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) from 1989 to 2015 and the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) for 2012, 2013, and 2015. Intergenerational income mobility reflects the effects of parents’ income on children’s income. The higher the intergenerational income elasticity, the worse the social mobility. As they say: like father, like son. The results of the survey show that the intergenerational income elasticity of Chinese residents is around 0.3,2 which is better than that in the United States and Brazil, and at the same level as that in Japan and the United Kingdom. However, China still falls far behind Australia, Canada, and the Nordic countries in this regard. It should be noted that the intergenerational income mobility among Chinese residents has been on the rise since 2000, and the intergenerational income mobility of rural residents is higher than that of urban residents. The rise of China’s intergenerational income mobility since the beginning of reform and opening up is the result of a series of institutional reforms launched by the government to drive economic growth, boost employment in non-agricultural sectors, provide universal basic education, expand university enrollment, and promote entrepreneurship. China has undergone the transition from a planned economy to a socialist market economy. China has grown from a country suffering material 1 Robert D. Putnam. Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis. China University of Political Science and Law Press, 2017. 2 Yang Mo. “Intergenerational Mobility among Chinese Residents: Current Situation, Trends and Global Comparative Analysis”. Research Reference of China Development Research Foundation, 2019(1).

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deprivation to a moderately prosperous country which enjoys material abundance. The middle-income group in China is growing. Institutional reforms and resource optimization measures have contributed to the rise of social mobility and paved the way for the realization of the Chinese Dream. Along with the large-scale upward social mobility is the expansion of the middle-income group. The dreams of many Chinese people have become a reality. Of course, the reform and opening-up policy has brought different benefits to different social classes. The chance that poverty will be passed on across the generations remains high. Therefore, poverty alleviation has significant implications in the improvement of the living conditions of the poor and the vertical social mobility. It should be pointed out that, as the overall income level of Chinese people has grown significantly, getting the poor out of poverty means that the poor have the access to basic necessities—food, shelter, and clothing, but it does not necessarily mean that their position in society will change accordingly. As we can see from the case studies, children in rural areas rarely receive advice from their parents on study, life, and future planning. Most life-changing advice comes from books or people other than their parents. Therefore, extensive and in-depth studies of lowincome and vulnerable groups, especially children in poor rural areas, is of great significance for preventing the intergenerational transmission of poverty, increasing the vertical mobility of society, and providing equal opportunities for Chinese people to pursue the Chinese Dream. In general, Chinese people are confident in the future of the country. The Development Research Center (DRC) of the State Council launched an annual survey in 2011, to collect information on people’s livelihood3 in China. Each year, the DRC will conduct a survey of over 50,000 people to collect information on life satisfaction. According to the survey data, over the years, the percentage of Chinese people who are “very optimistic” or “optimistic” about the future has been about 70%, while only 10% of respondents suggest they are “pessimistic” or “very pessimistic”. The results of a foreign survey also show that, compared with respondents from other countries, Chinese citizens are more satisfied with the current situation of the country and more optimistic about the future of the country.4 In other words, nearly one billion Chinese have confidence in the future and believe that tomorrow will be even better. Support of the people is the key to good governance. It is the Chinese people who lend strong support to the Chinese government in difficult times and when facing external pressure. The Chinese government is resolutely moving toward the Chinese Dream by serving the people and deriving strength from the people.

3 Development Research Center of the State Council. Research on China’s Livelihood Index. China

Development Press. 4 According to the research report Priorities of Progress: Understanding Citizens’ Voices published

in The Economist in November 2018, 83% of Chinese respondents, the highest among the 50 surveyed countries, believe that their country is moving in the right direction. Only 38% of Americans, 12% of Italians, and 12% of Germans believe their country is moving in the right direction, 91.4% of Chinese respondents believe that the country will become a better place in the next decade, while 47% of German respondents and 44% of Japanese respondents expect changes for the worse.

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IV. Relation Between Dream and Reality The interviews have reinforced our recognition that people’s longing for a better life is the basis of and an important part of the Chinese Dream. The Chinese Dream is a dream of the whole nation, as well as of every individual. It integrates the guiding vision for the country and common aspirations of the Chinese people. The Chinese people wish for social stability, clean government, and better life for themselves and their children. To realize the Chinese Dream, we, from individuals to the government, must remain realistic in our endeavors and start with the small things. The government must listen to and take the voice of the public seriously and step up reform efforts to remove institutional barriers and problems that hinder urban-rural equality. We should first focus on accelerating urban-rural integration in key urban agglomerations, and then shift focus to other areas. The goal is to build growth pillars for employment and entrepreneurship and create a good environment in urban centers. We must address each social issue (full integration of migrant workers into cities, protection of farmers’ rights over land, poverty alleviation, environmental protection, employment of young people, care of senior citizens, etc.) individually. An interviewee said, “As long as there is improvement, people will be content.” Empowerment and capacity building of people through education are also very important. Whether one can achieve his/her personal dream is closely linked to his/her capability. People of different ages have different dreams, but hard work is the key to the realization of all dreams. People need to equip themselves with the capability required to pursue their dreams. Education is essential for skill development and personal empowerment. It provides people with more freedom of personal choice and opportunity to pursue their dreams. Education has become more important than ever as the trends of globalization, the knowledge economy, and the digital economy are reshaping the world. At the heart of empowerment and capacity building is education, including basic education, higher education, and lifelong learning for adaption to changes in society. Special attention should be paid to the development of vulnerable groups, especially children in poor areas. Professor Putnam of Harvard University points out in his book that the opportunity gap between the well-off and the poor American children and youngsters is growing. Young Americans from different backgrounds have different levels of access to the opportunity to succeed. China is also facing a similar challenge. Children in poverty-stricken areas are particularly disadvantaged. In addition to poverty, there is a high incidence of divorce, single-parent families, child neglect, domestic violence, alcoholism, and other family problems, which have serious adverse effects on the development of children. To create an institutional environment where everyone has equal opportunity to succeed, we need to place kids, especially disadvantaged kids, at a basically equal starting point. In this regard, we suggest that the government and the public should pay more attention to children in poor rural areas. To increase upward social mobility, promote equality, and

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help more people pursue the Chinese Dream, we should make proper early childhood interventions for low-income preschool children. Last but not least, it should also be noted that this research project is still at a nascent stage, and there is plenty of room for improvement on case selection, classification, and data analysis aspects. More importantly, observing and analyzing the journey to achieve the Chinese Dream of ordinary Chinese people at different points of time against the background of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation has significant implications for the solving of social problems. We hope we can continue to advance this research project and receive more support from people. The implementation of the reform and opening-up policy over the past 40 years have brought changes and hope to the vast majority of Chinese people. The dreams and aspirations of ordinary people have already become or are becoming a reality. At present, China is undergoing profound economic and social changes. A more mature system is being shaped, creating more opportunities for Chinese people. But many social problems have yet to be resolved. Most Chinese people believe that their life will be better, and China will become a better placein the future. Only by listening and understanding the voice of the people and helping them to realize their dreams can China continue in its path of rejuvenation. The alignment of the people’s personal dreams with the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is crucial to this process.

Beijing, China

Lu Mai

Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stephen Roach

1

The Generation Born in the 1930s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Liu Aimin

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The Generation Born in the 1940s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Zhao Chen and Ru Yu

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The Generation Born in the 1950s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gou Mengning, Zhao Chen, and Guo Silu

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The Generation Born in the 1960s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wang Jingjing, Zhao Chen, Yang Xiuna, and Gou Mengning

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The Generation Born in the 1970s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yan Xiaoxu, Yang Tingjuan, Wang Jingjing, Du Jing, and Guo Silu

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The Generation Born in the 1980s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Zhao Chen, Zhou Xiang, Wang Jingjing, and Cheng Zhaowen

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The Generation Born in the 1990s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Gou Mengning, Li Linfeng, Du Jing, Zhao Chen, Yan Xiaoxu, Liu Wanyun, and Wang Jingjing The Generation Born in the 2000s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 Du Jing, Zhao Chen, and Wang Jingjing Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

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Introduction Stephen Roach

1 Two Dreams No nation has a monopoly on its aspirational dreams. That’s true of the dreams of its people, its leaders, its educators, its scientists, and even its entrepreneurs. The dream connects, but at times, divides the human spirit. It is also shaped by context— the experiences and history that societies and nations bring to their longings for the future. As the collection of case studies that follow indicate, the modern version of the China Dream is that of a people-centric vision, a forward-looking notion of shared prosperity and national rejuvenation. It has important inward-looking implications that are very much aligned with the reforms required of the daunting development imperatives of China’s ambitious trajectory toward a moderately well-off society. And it also has critical outward-facing repercussions, as rejuvenation can be seen as underscoring the determination of a proud nation to reclaim its former stature among the world’s leading nations. The American Dream is very much a moving target. Like the China Dream it can be framed from both inward and outward-facing perspectives. The introspective implications have been shaped by the aspirations of a generational progression in living standards, an eradication of poverty and disease, and even the material trappings of homeownership and other forms of wealth. As seen from the outside looking in, the American Dream has long been couched in terms a nation that has opened its borders to immigrants from foreign lands. From either perspective, inward or outward, the American Dream has always centered on the concept and ideals of opportunity, with emphasis on fairness and equity and protection under the rule of law. The two dreams are very much a study a study in contrast. China and America are, of course, two very different nations in so many respects—political, social, and S. Roach (B) Yale University, New Haven, USA © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 L. Mai (ed.), The Chinese Dream and Ordinary Chinese People, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4952-0_1

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S. Roach

economic. The economic lens, together with a rich array of comparative metrics, is particularly well-suited to shed light on the similarities and contrasts between the two dreams. The US and Chinese economies are, of course, at very different junctures in their respective journeys on the road to prosperity. By comparison, China is still a relatively poor nation—76th out of 181 nations (after adjusting for purchasing power parity) as tabulated by the World Bank—while the US is in 11th place in the same rankings and #1 for large developed economies. Chinese GDP per capita in 2020 is only 31% of that in the United States. Yet the Dream is not a static snapshot of where nations stand today nor is it a backward looking celebration of what has been accomplished in the past—namely, America’s 15-fold increase in per capita income over the last 150 years or China’s 25-fold increase over the past 40 years. The Dream is, first and foremost, a forward looking vision of what might be possible in a tough and uncertain future. To be sure, there are well-known flaws of GDP-based metrics, both as a measure of past performance as well as a gauge of what lies ahead. The international system of national income accounts has long faced criticism for ignoring the so-called negative externalities of environmental degradation, traffic congestion, litter, worker safety, chemical and nuclear waste disposal, and the existential threat of climate change. Similarly, the aggregate GDP tells us nothing about the distribution of national product and income, thereby giving short shrift to weighty considerations of equity and equality that lie at the heart of both America’s and China’s dreams. Moreover, GDP-based metrics tend to place much greater emphasis on the quantity (i.e., the speed) of economic growth rather than on the quality of the growth experience. Notwithstanding these important drawbacks, the GDP filter sheds great light into a nation’s aspirational growth trajectory—adding the key dimensions of credibility and feasibility to the realm of possibilities of which dreams are made. On that basis, there can be no mistaking the opportunities and challenges that both nations face as they grapple individually and collectively with their national dreams. For China, it is mainly about an important new round of “reforms and opening up” that does nothing less than fundamentally transform its long powerful growth model. Four transitions are key in that regard: Shifting from export- and investmentled growth to more of a consumer-driven economy, rebalancing from manufacturing to services, moving from imported to indigenous innovation, and going from surplus saving to saving absorption and drawing on its enormous reservoir of domestic saving to fund the social safety net needed to address the financial insecurity of a rapidly aging population. If China delivers on this daunting and complex transformation, a trebling or quadrupling of per capita incomes between 2021 and 2049 could well come to pass and the centenary goal of the Great Modern Socialist Nation would well be within sight. A realization of the China Dream requires nothing less. The current version of the American Dream offers comparable opportunities and challenges. Unlike a rapidly growing developing economy like China, the growth imperatives of a wealthy and more mature US economy need to be framed in a very different context. That is especially the case in light of the recent struggles of the US economy. After 50 years of 3.7% real GDP growth from 1950 to 2000, US

Introduction

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economic growth has slowed to just 2% in the ensuing 18 years (2001–18). This has raised serious questions about the very essence of America’s dream of openended prosperity. Had the US economy stayed the course of its earlier 3.7% growth trajectory, by 2018 real GDP would have been $6.5 trillion, or 35% higher than that which actually turned out to be the case. This poses an obvious and important dilemma for the American Dream. Can it continue to be realized at the relatively subdued post-2000 growth trajectory of 2%? Or does the full throttled American Dream require a return to the heady 3.7% growth of yesteryear? Or is there an acceptable intermediate answer somewhere in between? While there is, of course, no exact answer to these questions, it seems reasonable to surmise that 2% doesn’t solve the equation for the growth imperatives of the American Dream. Lifting the longer-term growth rate of the US economy back into an intermediate range—at least somewhere in the 2.5–3% vicinity—seems like a far more acceptable outcome. The question is, How? While the answer opens up a wide range of possibilities, ultimately, it boils down to a resurrection of increasingly anemic productivity growth; labor productivity in the nonfarm business segment of the US economy has slowed to just a 0.8% average annual pace over the 2011–18 period—a marked downshift from the 2.3% pace recorded over the prior 60 years (from 1950 to 2010). Economic theory tells us that, over the long haul, workers are paid their just reward in accordance with their productivity contribution. Unfortunately, it follows that the post-2000 productivity slowdown has left American workers under mounting pressures to reap the rewards long associated with the American Dream. Economists have long debated the productivity issue. While the debate is far from settled, there is general agreement that business investment in productivityenhancing technologies is key in enabling workers to work smarter, more efficiently, and more creatively. And that shifts the focus squarely to America’s saving challenge, the wherewithal of any nation to fund its capital investments. Here is where the economic problem of the United States is basically the opposite of that which China faces: while China still saves too much—a 43% domestic saving rate in 2020, down only marginally from the 52% peak in 2008—America saves far too little— just 18.5% in 2020. In net terms, which strips out depreciation to cover the wear and tear of worn-out or antiquated capacity and is, therefore, far more relevant for assessing the potential for economic growth, the US domestic saving rate (for households, businesses, and the government sector, combined) has averaged just 2.5% of national income in the past three years (2016–18)—a dramatic shortfall from the longer-term average of 6¾% from 1950 to 2015. With chronic, and now increasingly rising government budget deficits the major culprit behind America’s domestic saving shortfall, Washington’s lack of fiscal discipline has emerged as a major threat to the American Dream. As noted earlier, economic dreams are not just about national averages. Equity and fairness matter a great deal, raising critical questions about disparities in the income and wealth distribution as potential impediments to a realization of either the Chinese or the American Dream. Inequities within national populations tend to pit one group against the other, fostering resentments and undermining harmony, with

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the potential to sow the seeds of discord that can ultimately shatter the consensus required of shared dreams. On that basis, there can be no mistaking the growing concentration of income and wealth in both the United States and China. The top decile of the Chinese income distribution accounted for fully 41.4% of total income in China in 2015 (according to the World Inequality Database). While that’s down slightly from the peak reading of 42.9% in 2011 and below the 47% share of the US in 2014, it is well above the 31% average share recorded by China’s top decile during the 1980s and 1990s. A similar skewing is evident in the wealth distribution of both nations. In 2015, the upper decile of the Chinese wealth distribution grabbed a record 67% of total wealth, a dramatic increase from the 42% average share from 1980 to 99 and not that much below the 72% wealth share of America’s upper decile in 2014. Significantly, rising inequality means something very different in a developing country like China than it does in a wealthy nation like the United States. Early-stage economic development can hardly be expected to spread its benefits evenly across all stratum of society. The initial dividends of prosperity for a nation like China can be expected to accrue disproportionately to the more highly educated, technically adept segments of a growing urban workforce concentrated in the eastern regions of the country. The hope is that the steady progress of development and poverty alleviation eventually spreads to a broader cross-section of the population. By contrast, rising inequality in a wealthy nation like the United States is actually far more disturbing. It depicts a growing bias away from a shared prosperity that can be attributed to a weakened public education system, urban and societal decay, substance abuse, and deteriorating family structures. While the evidence from developed nations hardly suggests that a rising tide of rapid economic growth lifts all boats, there can be little doubt that the post-2000 growth slowdown has exacerbated these tensions. The shifting character of the Chinese wealth distribution stands out as a hallmark of its post-1980 growth miracle. Total Chinese wealth rose to 7.1 times the pace of income generation by 2015, according to the Wealth Inequality Database. That is far in excess of the ratio of 4.8 in the United States and fully 61% higher than China’s average of 4.4 recorded during the 1980s and 1990s. A surging Chinese property market appears to have played a particularly important role in pushing the pace of wealth creation far in excess of income generation. This underscores the split character of the economic rewards associated with the China Dream. The material trappings of asset ownership associated with urbanization and land reforms have exceeded the gains in income generation stemming from increased employment and higher real wages. In this important respect, the China Dream mirrors shifts in the character of other increasingly asset-dependent economies in the developed and developing world, alike. And that, of course, raises important questions about the risks of asset and debt bubbles, as well as the development of new policy tools needed to maintain financial stability and avoid the systemic threats posed by unstable systems. While the concept of the national dream typically conveys a sense of optimism about the future, there are, of course, no guarantees that it will always turn out that

Introduction

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way. A few years ago I published a book on the US-China relationship (Unbalanced: The Codependency of America and China, Yale University Press, 2014) which argued that a shared economic rebalancing was the best way for both nations to realize their economic dreams, individually and collectively. I was hopeful that both nations would act in their best interest—specifically, that China commit to the four rebalancing transitions enumerated above and that the United States would focus on rebuilding domestic saving with aim toward boosting its longer-term competitiveness via enhanced investment in infrastructure, manufacturing capacity, and human capital. At the same time I warned that there were no guarantees it would work out all that neatly. I worried, in particular, about an “asymmetrical rebalancing”, whereby one nation would move to change its growth model while the other did not. For codependent nations such as the US and China, the risk was that such an asymmetrical outcome could put them on a worrisome collision course. Unfortunately, that is pretty much what has now happened. The shared needs of the US and Chinese economies are both a blessing and a curse. For years, the benefits far outweighed the costs, providing mutual reinforcement of their growth imperatives and foundational support to their national dreams. Just as modern China long relied on the United States as the largest source of foreign demand for its export-led growth strategy, the US turned to China as the largest foreign owners of rapidly expanding Treasury debt, as its third largest and most rapidly growing export market, and as an important source of low-cost goods that incomeconstrained American consumers needed to make ends meet. Both economies relied on the other to fulfill the growth aspirations central to their own dreams. It was a marriage of great convenience. But neither dream was durable. The problem is that codependent economic relationships are inherently reactive, leaving one partner highly vulnerable to shifts in the economic structure of the other partner. China was first to recognize that it needed a strategic realignment of its unsustainable hyper-growth model; former Premier Wen Jiabao famously warned in 2007 that while China seemed strong on the surface, beneath the surface it was increasingly “unstable, unbalanced, uncoordinated, and unsustainable.” And the Chinese leadership took decisive actions to address these “Four Uns”; the 12th and 13th Five-year Plans, in conjunction with the Third Plenum Reforms of 2013, put China on a very different course. Meanwhile, the US ignored strong signals that it needed to change—paying little heed to an unprecedented saving shortfall that gave rise to chronic current account and multilateral merchandise trade deficits (with 102 nations in 2018). And this is where asymmetrical rebalancing has posed a particularly great challenge for both nations. As it did some 30 years ago when it blamed its trade problems on Japan, the US body politic cast China in the role of the culprit and launched a trade war in 2018. In my 2014 book, I referred to such a possibility as a “bad dream”— noting, optimistically, that bad dreams rarely come true. Unfortunately, as I also warned in a fictional narrative of the bad-dream sequence, that rare exception has now come to pass. Are the Chinese and the American Dreams threated by the trade war between the two of them? Preliminary agreement on a partial truce—the so-called Phase

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I accord—is a hopeful sign that both nations recognize the need to put economic conflict aside. But to the extent that Phase I focuses largely on a narrowing of the USChina trade imbalance—in essence, attempting to orchestrate the impossible solution of a bilateral fix to America’s multilateral problem—it will solve little. That’s because it appears to duck the tough structural issues of innovation policies, intellectual property theft, forced technology transfer, and subsidies to state-owned enterprises. With conflict likely to endure on these structural issues log after a Phase I accord is signed, there is a distinct likelihood of a protracted Cold-War-like economic conflict, complete with financial and technology-led decoupling. For two codependent nations that have come to rely on the benefits of their shared prosperity as the sustenance of their national dreams, that would be a tragic outcome. In an interdependent world, the dreams of both nations can hardly be realized in a vacuum. The global dimensions of the China Dream—the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”—are well aligned with President Xi Jinping’s 2017 commitment “… to adapt to and guide economic globalization.” The Belt and Road Initiative, Xi’s signature foreign policy effort, is the most visible manifestation of the outwardfacing dimensions of the China Dream. America, by contrast, seems to be going the other way. Long the global hegemon in the aftermath of World War II, the “America First” philosophy of President Donald Trump is framed around the view that “… protection(ism) will lead to great prosperity and strength.” Trump’s tariff war with China is a direct outgrowth of that approach, as his abandonment of much of the multilateralism of the postwar era—from America’s withdrawal from the TransPacific Partnership and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change to US efforts to undermine the World Trade Organization and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Two dreams, both based on fulfilling people-centric visions of national prosperity, yet with two diametrically opposite approaches to the global context in which these dreams fit. Are these aspirational visions completely at odds with another? Or can both dreams be realized in spite of this disconnect? As always, the answers to such weighty questions are not black and white. Notwithstanding the anti-globalization mantra of America First, the United States is hardly headed down a path of autarky. Even if it wanted to sever its ties with the rest of the world, its shortfall of domestic saving will not allow it to do so without a significant sacrifice of its economic growth potential. That option is politically unacceptable to the American public and to the dreams of which it has long aspired. The Trump Administration is arguing, instead, for a change in the terms of America’s engagement with the rest of the world. It believes that it has a better chance of realizing worker- and community-centric benefits by shifting from a multilateral to a bilateral negotiating framework. While the promises of such an outcome are certainly open to great debate, this is a very different objective than isolationism. China, for its part, is clearly committed to a redefinition of its role in the world. The very concept of rejuvenation that frames the ideals of the China Dream has important historical roots for a nation whose pride was deeply wounded by a so-called century of humiliation. But China’s global connection is equally important in looking to its aspirations for the future as a Great Modern Socialist Nation. US politicians have

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expressed deepening suspicions over these intentions, lumping China with Russia as “… collective challenge(s) to American power, influence, and interests, attempting to erode American security and prosperity.” In essence, this pits one dream against the other, basically framing it as a classic Great Power struggle. That proposition is an unmistakable outgrowth of the unipolar world that the United States has long dominated. It is not, however, applicable to a multipolar global hierarchy led by more than one Great Power. In the end, it all boils down to whether the aspirations of the China Dream are at odds with the realization of the American Dream—or vice versa. The best answer to that question goes back to the core of the Dreams, themselves—the people-centric aspirations of two nations. As a once poor, now middle-income society, China still has a considerable distance to travel on the road to development and prosperity. As a wealthy nation, the United States faces considerable heavy lifting to stay the course. While the context is very different for both nations, as is the systems that govern both the growth and distribution of economic gains, they share one critical challenge in common—solving a daunting growth problem without imposing hardship on others. National dreams are cut from different cloths for different nations. The realization of one dream need not preclude the aspirations of the other.

2 “The Chinese Dream of Ordinary Chinese People” Project Team Team Leaders: Lu Mai and Yuan Yue Coordinator: Zhao Chen Team Members: China Development Research Foundation: Yang Xiuna, Du Jing, Guo Silu, Yan Xiaoxu, Wang Jingjing, Cheng Zhaowen, Zhou Xiang, Liu Aimin, Ru Yu, Yang Mo, Li Linfeng, Liu Wanyun, and Yang Tingjuan Beijing Dataway Horizon Co., Ltd.: Gou Mengning, Liu Yufang, Liu Huixian, Zhang Hui, and Zhao Lei

The Generation Born in the 1930s Liu Aimin

1 From a Child Bride to a Blossoming Family Tree Liu Aimin 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Alias: Su Hong Occupation: Farmer Domicile: Guangxi Province Employer: N/A Age: 83 Gender: Female Ethnic Group: Han Level of Education: Literate

Su Hong’s job comprises of farm work and housework, which occupies her around the clock. Every day, she carefully waters and tends each seedling and each head of bok choy, and feeds every chicken and duck. At 83 years old, day after day, year after year without fail, she is still taking care of animals and growing her own vegetables. To Su Hong, such work as a blessing from both the heavens and government benefits. She is truly grateful to the gods and the government for her family’s health and material abundance. Su Hong, born in 1936, is a farmer in a rural village on the border of the Hunan and Guangxi Provinces. In 1949, the 13-year-old Su Hong came to the Liu family as a child bride.1 She married her husband, three months her junior, to help her family as they were living 1A

Chinese girl, in olden times, who would be taken into a family and raised to become the wife of one of the family’s sons. L. Aimin (B) China Development Research Foundation, Beijing, China © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 L. Mai (ed.), The Chinese Dream and Ordinary Chinese People, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4952-0_2

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in poverty. The Liu family was comfortable at the time, and Su only needed to do housework. As the people’s communes2 developed, and in order to earn work points, she began participating in collective labor. She did just as much work as the men, but earned fewer work points, which she didn’t think was unfair. “Men should earn more; they eat more after all,” said Su. Eventually, she became the Liu family’s consistent labor contributor, doing all sorts of jobs at their production team, and never complained about the work. In fact, she even did jobs the men complained about. Her husband later became the production team’s bookkeeper to manage the work points for its farmers, and was able to earn points without doing farm work. They were able to maintain a decent lifestyle. After Su had kids, her oldest daughter became the younger siblings’ caretaker, which enabled Su to resume work soon after childbirth. Su’s oldest daughter was born in 1953 and works at a tree farm. When her oldest daughter got married at 18, Su Hong was only 35 years old. Su said their life was hard at the time, so her daughter’s early marriage helped alleviate the family’s burden. Su didn’t have a dowry for her daughter, but luckily, her son-in-law was a good man and did not give Su’s family a hard time about this matter. When Su was working outside the home, the housework and childcare became the older kids’ responsibility. Her second daughter (born in 1959, farmer) and her oldest son (born in 1963, small business owner) took care of the younger siblings. This division of labor reportedly caused discontent from Su’s oldest daughter, since she got married and left the family first, and believed she didn’t owe her family anything, since she had paid her dues by taking care of her younger siblings for many years. In this situation, Su said she had no choice as her husband Liu always considered himself the head of the family and did almost no housework or childcare. His only contribution to the family was one work point3 a day as the commune’s bookkeeper. What was more puzzling was, as her family matured, her children began to take sides. Su’s oldest son was the most tolerant and looked out for the welfare of the entire family. He had to withstand his father’s bad temper as well as resentment from his two younger brothers (second son, born in 1968, farmer; youngest son, born in 1970, migrant worker). Su believed that her oldest son was ostracized by the family because the other family members felt that he used up the impoverished family’s limited resources in order to finish high school. As a result, since he had more education, 2A

collective economic organization formed in the rural areas of China between 1958 and 1982. It was founded on the basis of advanced agricultural producers’ cooperative and on the principle of “distributing the work according to one’s ability, while each person should work to the best of their abilities”. Generally, every township had a commune which also took on political functions. After the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in 1978, the household contract responsibility system was widely introduced in China’s rural areas. People’s commune was dissolved after a constitution was enacted in 1982 stipulating the establishment of township people’s governments and village committees in rural areas. 3 A unit with which some collective economic organizations calculate individual’s work load and reward for labor.

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the others believed he should help out the family more. During that period, Su could only hope for less conflict in the family and not to relive the period of starvation and tragedy from the 1960s. Five years after her oldest daughter got married, Su’s second daughter also got married and moved to another village, and came back during the holidays or farming seasons to help out. After the “big-pot4 ” from the government was eliminated, she’d bring her husband along on these trips, and would bring back some fresh pork or home-bred chicken or duck. Within the next three years, her oldest son married the oldest daughter of the Tang family in the same village, and the Liu family home and inheritance were thoroughly divided up. The oldest son received a side room for his kitchen and one room for his bedroom. The second son and the youngest son also received similar shares. After Su’s youngest daughter (born in 1972, farmer) married a man in a village in Hunan Province, her extended family was established. Su’s second son and youngest son got along the best within the family, but both men felt resentful of the oldest son’s improved quality of life. They believed that he wouldn’t have these advantages without the sacrifices the family made to give up their family resources for his education, and often goaded their father Liu to create drama. The worst incident happened on one Chinese New Year’s Eve, when they kicked the oldest son’s family out of the house, including their barely one-year-old son. Su said she couldn’t help at all. She was hurt to see her family behaving like this but she was powerless to fix the problem. She threw herself into her farm work and housework and believed everything would eventually get better. After the reform and opening-up policy5 was adopted, Su’s husband no longer worked as the bookkeeper of the production team but he still took care of some affairs at the commune, so he continued to be considered the family’s head of household. In the 1990s, Su’s oldest son and wife returned to the village as they planned to build their own home. They were contracted to manage a mine on the other side of the town, and after toiling for 10 years, they finally had enough money. In a remote village, building a new house required bringing gravel from the river by horse to use as building material, and the actual bricks had to be made by brick masons. With the lack of transportation at the time, the project’s difficulty was daunting. But her oldest son and daughter-in-law were determined, and after a year and half of intense work, the first one-story house in the area was completed. Su knew her son was determined to live on his own and felt sorry she couldn’t help more. Luckily, he was able to build a home for his family. Of course, her oldest son’s efforts didn’t stop there; in 2012, they were able to buy a new home near the municipal government with the money they made in Guangdong Province. This 4 Regular

meals for large groups of people. The “big-pot” distribution system is a figure of speech which refers to a system where everyone enjoys the same compensation and benefits regardless of their work and contribution. 5 A Chinese policy on internal reform and external opening up adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in December 1978. Through reform and opening up, China has established its socialist market system.

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allowed his family to be considered city residents. Su could not help but smile at her son’s progress. Su’s own job was still consisted of the ongoing farm work and housework. She took care of one and half acre worth of fields, and grew seasonal vegetables on the backside of the mountain. She also raised two pigs, various chickens and ducks, all of which was work that occupied her daily life for decades. Su Hong’s job comprises of farm work and housework, which occupies her around the clock. Every day, she carefully waters and tends each seedling and each head of bok choy, and feeds every chicken and duck. At 83 years old, day after day, year after year without fail, she is still taking care of animals and growing her own vegetables. To Su Hong, such work as a blessing from both the heavens and government benefits. She is truly grateful to the gods and the government for her family’s health and material abundance. Su believes that grandchildren represent the growth and development of generations in a family. Among her three sons, two are married. Her oldest son had two sons, while her youngest son had two daughters. Her grandchildren made her proud, especially her oldest grandson, who placed at the top of his class since preschool. While other kids played after school, he would study and tell grown-ups he wanted to go to Tsinghua University. Even without his parents nearby, he was self-disciplined, and became the Liu family’s first college student, at the elite university. “This is a great example for his younger cousins,” said Su. Her family’s education level had risen with three grandkids in college. Su said, “The central government’s policies really helped us put our grandchildren in college. Previously, we had to pay farming tax, three withdrawals and retentions and five overall arrangements,6 and after we paid off everything, we didn’t have enough grains to eat for the year. After the abolishment of the agricultural tax,7 we actually received subsistence allowance.8 These are the good times.” 6 It refers to the three village-level withdrawals & retentions and five township-level overall arrange-

ments. It is a generic term for the fees collected by the village-level economic organizations from the farmers’ agricultural production income in accordance with relevant stipulations for village-level maintenance and expanded reproduction, public programs for public good and daily management. It consists of an accumulation fund, public welfare fund and management fee. Township-level overall arrangements refer to the fees collected by a township (town) cooperative economic organizations from their affiliated units (including township enterprises, village-run enterprises and joint-farmer enterprises) and farmer households according to the law. The funds are then used for the township and running the village school (namely to pay for the additional charges for education in rural areas), family planning, social special care, militia training, and road building in rural areas. It was cancelled when the agricultural tax was abolished in 2006. 7 Commonly known as “grain delivered to the state”, agricultural tax was a tax levied by the government on any unit and individual engaging in agricultural production and earning agricultural income. China has begun to reform its agricultural system since 1992 and abolished the agricultural tax in 2006. This abolishment of this tax, which had a history of over 2,600 years, indicates that the country has entered a new era of transformation of reform and opening up. 8 The subsistence allowance system is for urban and rural residents, to grant urban people living in poverty with a scheduled relief fund and to allow them to enjoy fee reduction or exemption in some aspects. It is a part of the social assistance system of the social security system. By the end of September 1999, the subsistence allowance welfare system had been established in all of the towns

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Su’s husband eventually became bedridden and was unable to care for himself. During the three-plus years, she continued her regular work while taking care of him. She even raised a pig for the Spring Festival. She believes that a real Chinese New Year meant eating the meat you raised yourself. “Nothing you buy compares to the things you grow at home,” said Su. Unfortunately, tragedy struck one early spring. Her husband died from a fire caused by his smoking in bed. “When our second son found him, the fire was raging and there was nothing we could do to save him,” Su cried while remembering this incident. Her oldest son and daughter-in-law are good to her; so are her two grandsons who visit every Chinese New Year holiday. Her youngest son, who lives in a separate house near the family home, would never contribute to her pantry or share their resources with her (meat, nutritional foods, etc.), and would instead ask her granddaughter to get food from Su’s house. “My youngest daughter-in-law is a tough woman, and my son can’t stand up to her. But it is fine as long as they’re happy together.” Su said, “I’m not going to be alive for too many years and I’ll probably see my husband again soon.” Now, she only looks forward to the holidays and celebrations when her children and grandchildren come back every year. Because she doesn’t know how to use the cell phone, she doesn’t see them during the year, and she couldn’t call them either. Some of her children and grandchildren visit on her birthday, and with their cellphones, her other grandchildren could send their well-wishes. Actually, her grandson bought her a cell phone a few years ago, but her second son said she didn’t know how to use it, so she threw it away. Su doesn’t have too many goals for the future. She said she was lucky to be born in a good era, not to want for material needs, and to have good kids and grandkids. “I feel happy about their future.” Smiling, she said her only expectation is for her grandkids to be married, and maybe she’d get to see a great-grandchild.

where the 1,638 county-level people’s governments are located, spread across 668 Chinese cities. In 2013, the number of rural residents living on subsistence allowances exceeded 53 million.

The Generation Born in the 1940s Zhao Chen and Ru Yu

1 Different Lives Zhao Chen 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Alias: Sun Yuan/Sun Jiu Occupation: Farmer/Chairman of a real estate company Domicile: Rural area in Liaoyuan City, Jilin Province/Beijing Employer: N/A/Real estate company Age: 60 (passed away in 2008)/69 Gender: Male Ethnic Group: Han Level of Education: Third grade, primary school/High school

Sun Jiu doesn’t think of himself as a successful person. Maybe he could have been considered successful at 50 years old, when he transformed himself from a rural farmer to a rich businessman by taking advantage of the reform and opening-up policy, but now that he’s close to 70 years old, he couldn’t be considered successful. He’s too anxious and has too much pressure now. “Every time I wake up, I think of the millions in interest I owe to the bank, and how I have to pay it back. Thousands of employees rely on me for their livelihoods. If I stopped, they’d be out of work. Sun Yuan and Sun Jiu are from two families in the same village, and are two years apart in age. Sun Yuan was born in 1948 and was a farmer. Sun Jiu was born in 1950 and is the chairman of a real estate company. Sun Yuan’s ancestral home is in the rural area of Liaoyuan City, Jilin Province, and Sun Jiu is from the rural Penglai area of the Shandong Province. Z. Chen (B) · R. Yu (B) China Development Research Foundation, Beijing, China © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 L. Mai (ed.), The Chinese Dream and Ordinary Chinese People, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4952-0_3

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Sun Yuan and Sun Jiu’s fathers were sworn brothers and had a long-lasting, closer than blood relationship. Sun Jiu’s father was born in 1918 and originally held the family name of Li. In Shandong Province, where they favor males over females, Sun Jiu’s paternal grandmother had six sons, with his father being the oldest. With so many kids, the family had a lot of expenses, so Sun Jiu’s paternal grandmother sent Sun Jiu’s father to Changchun to live with their relatives. When Sun Jiu’s father arrived in Changchun, he was only 10 years old. The relatives had a medicine shop in Changchun, where they also saw patients, so Sun Jiu’s father was both the apprentice and errand boy. Sun Jiu’s father had received four years of old-style private school1 education so he was literate, and could write prescriptions. In 1931, after the fall of North Eastern China,2 Changchun was in ruins. The Japanese soldiers decimated the city, and the medicine shop was also taken over by the invaders. His aunt was killed by the Japanese soldiers. Terrified, Sun Jiu’s father fled toward the mountains along with others. The winters in Changchun are very cold. With only light clothes, Sun Jiu’s father passed out from exhaustion after about three days of running. Sun Jiu’s father was rescued by Sun Yuan’s paternal grandfather and grandmother. While still alive, Sun Jiu’s father was disabled due to severe frostbite on his left arm. He could no longer use it well or do farm work. In the war-torn era, Sun Jiu’s father knew he couldn’t go back to his hometown, so he stayed with Sun Yuan’s grandfather. Sun Yuan’s grandfather and father took good care of Sun Jiu’s father, so Sun Jiu and Sun Yuan’s fathers became sworn brothers, and Sun Jiu’s father changed his last name to Sun. Since Sun Jiu’s father couldn’t do normal labor and farm work, in order to make a living, he became a country doctor3 in the village. Sun Jiu’s father got married in 1941 to a woman from a neighboring village who was three years older than him. His wife’s family had six children, and she was the third in the family. She had to take care of her eldest and second sister after they gave birth, as well as her two younger brothers, so she didn’t get married until 25 years old, which was considered quite old at the time. 1A

teaching institution established in the olden times by a family, clan or teacher. Generally, there was only one teacher, a personalized system of instruction was used, and there were no fixed textbooks or period of schooling. 2 On the night of September 18, 1931, the Japanese Kwantung army blew up the tracks of the railroad near Liutiaohu owned by the South Manchuria Railway, falsely accusing the Chinese army and bombarding the station of the Chinese army at Beidaying in Shenyang, triggering the war of aggression against China. In February 1932, the entire northeast China was occupied by the enemy, and then Japan established the puppet regime of Manchukuo in northeast China and began its 14-year colonial governance over the people in northeast China. 3 A position which first appeared in the 1950 s. Also known as a “barefoot doctor” during the period of the Cultural Revolution, it generally refers to rural medical personnel who also engage in agricultural activities. They have not received formal medical training and have an agricultural registered permanent residence. As an important part of China’s medical and health service providers, country doctors are the “protectors” of health for hundreds of millions of rural residents and an important force for developing the medical and health services in rural areas and protecting the health of rural residents.

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Sun Jiu had two older sisters. The oldest sister was born in 1943, and his parents remembered that the girl was smart and pretty, but she died at four years old from cold weather and contracting a fever. There was little medical care and nutrition at the time, so the girl died after suffering a week of high fever. Sun Jiu’s parents were heart-broken, but his mother said, “So many people died then. We were sad, but there wasn’t anything we could do, so we buried her in the mountains.” Sun Jiu said, “It was common to lose kids back then. One family in the village had 10 kids, five of whom died. The three sons they had would fight over the land. So maybe it was better to have a few kids die. At least there’s less family conflict.” Sun Jiu’s second oldest sister was born in 1947. After losing a daughter, his parents wanted a son, but they got another daughter, who was not as pretty as the first daughter, nor considered as smart, and she was treated rather coldly by his parents. In 1950, Sun Jiu was born, so his second sister’s status in the family fell even more. Sun Jiu said, “My parents would only give me the good things to eat. They’d even make her go out to do chores while feeding me.” With the families’ long history and being similar in age, Sun Yuan and Sun Jiu were very close growing up. Sun Jiu remembered, “Sun Yuan and I would play in the mountains, climb trees, play in the river, make mud in the dirt, and play in it. We grew up together.” Sun Yuan’s father was a farmer and didn’t care much about school, so Sun Yuan studied through third grade and stopped. Sun Jiu said, “Nobody cared, if you didn’t want to study. Nobody forced you. The teacher didn’t even show up sometimes.” Sun Yuan would farm after he dropped out, eventually raising pigs after policies allowed for pig farming. Sun Jiu had no interest in farming since he was a child, and his mom and second oldest sister did the farm work. His father would tell him, “If you want to go to school, you can, and the family will support you.” Sun Jiu thought that studying was easier than farming, so he kept on studying. He said, “There was not much emphasis on grades. No one in the countryside went to school, so just being able to go to school was great.” When Sun Jiu was in high school, the Cultural Revolution took place, and his father was criticized and denounced, but the movement wasn’t as radical as in the urban areas. In 1966, many Zhiqing4 arrived in rural Liaoyuan, and a few of them stayed with Sun Jiu’s family. Sun Jiu fell in love with one of the young women and would give her the best of what he had, and bring her little gifts. He said, “People back then were shyer and didn’t know how to express themselves. They’d blush just talking to a girl, not like now. The kids today dare to say and do everything.” Sun Jiu never told the woman how he felt, he just asked her if she wanted to stay in the village, and she replied, “I don’t want to stay in the village all my life. I want to go back to the city. Life here is too boring.” Sun Jiu was disappointed with her answer. In 1974, the woman returned to city.

4 Literally

it means educated youth, namely those young people who have received school education. Specifically, it refers to educated urban youths who took part in agricultural activities in the countryside or border areas in the 1960 s and 1970 s.

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In 1975, Sun Jiu married a woman from a neighboring village. His wife had stopped going to school after second grade. She is hard-working, and looked robust in health, but Sun Jiu didn’t like her. Sun Jiu’s parents liked her, believing his wife to be strong, a good worker, and able to bear them grandkids, so Sun Jiu accepted their choice. In 1979, Sun Jiu’s son was born. Sun Yuan married earlier in 1968. With a matchmaker’s help, he married a girl from the same village. His wife was illiterate and a capable person, but rather bossy. Sun Yuan’s first child was born in 1970, a girl, and his second child, a boy, was born in 1973. After the Cultural Revolution, Sun Jiu taught school in the village. Sun Jiu, with his high school education, was the most-educated person in the village. When the college entrance exam resumed in 1977, Sun Jiu wanted to sign up for the exam, but his father was not supportive. His father said, “What’s the point of college? It’s better to be a farmer and an ordinary person.” Dissuaded by his father’s remarks, Sun Jiu didn’t take the college entrance exam, which is something he still regrets. In 1987, Sun Jiu had been teaching for 12 years. He heard on the radio about all the development in the coastal areas thanks to the reform and opening-up policy and was very tempted. Sun Jiu said, “Northeastern Chinese people are not like the southerners, we tend to linger near home, and we like to drink and brag. Especially in the wintertime, when there’s nothing to do, we’d sit on the heated bed, drink, and tell tall tales. We’d feel as if we had everything we needed on this land.” Sun Jiu felt that there was no future staying in the village, where life was predictable, so he resigned his teaching position and left the area for a new life. He thought he had some Shandong tendencies in his blood. After all, his ancestors had the legacy of exploring the northeast. In the second half of 1989, he left his village, and made his first stop in Changchun. Sun Jiu said, “As soon as I left my hometown, I saw opportunities everywhere. Construction sites needed laborers; restaurants needed waiters; stores needed sales clerks, and families needed nannies.” He was very excited and felt as if his life had just begun. He got four people from his village to work on a construction site. The four men had built houses in the village before and had some experience, and Sun Jiu was the contractor.5 By 1991, Sun Jiu had made RMB 30,000, and became the wealthiest in his village. His crew also earned money and everyone was motivated by their progress. In the years which followed, the biggest headache for Sun Jiu was unpaid work. Sun Jiu mostly signed on for contracted government projects, where he was not the main contractor, but the sub-contractor or a partial sub-contractor. After the project finished, the first contractor often gave the excuse of the project not meeting standards to deduct their payment, or not even pay the rest of what was owed. Otherwise, they’d write a note telling him to ask for payment from another place, but it’d be incredibly difficult to find the person in charge of their payment. In addition, some government agencies would sometimes be late in their payment, claiming that the 5A

person who takes over the construction work from a developer or an outsourcer and hire people to do it.

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money had not arrived and they couldn’t settle the bill. They’d try to reassure him by saying that the government agencies couldn’t run away and not to worry. Sun Jiu felt it was hard to work with government agencies or big businesses, because they often ignored small businesses like his for projects which they considered more important. Sun Jiu remembered that in those days, there was less information available to him and he didn’t know what to do with his hard-earned money. Even though he was a contractor, he lived no better than a laborer. He’d stay on-site in a makeshift room, in squalid conditions, and return to the village when he had time. He’d buy his wife some clothes, or buy a motorcycle to ride home, but never thought of moving his family to the town. In 1995, the real estate industry grew at a rapid pace everywhere. Sun Jiu saw the opportunity in this industry. Since 1989, he had developed a network, especially amongst some government agencies, and planned to be a real estate developer. In 1996, he formed his own construction company by borrowing RMB 600 million from the bank using collateral and a guarantor. He bought a piece of land of around 160,000 m2 , which is located 35 km away from downtown Changchun. Sun Jiu wanted to build apartments. He read about the construction model in Hong Kong, where the first through the third floors were commercial units and apartments were on higher floors, and he wanted to build similar buildings. After the buildings were completed, they were very popular. He gave 150 apartments to the local government and saved two apartments for his family. His father had already passed away then, so he moved his mom to the town, and gave the other unit to his wife and son. This was Sun Jiu’s first windfall. Later, he developed more real estate in Changchun and Jilin, and his business was continued to do well. With his busy career, Sun Jiu didn’t spend much time with his son, especially with his school work. As a result, his son’s grades were too poor to make it into high school. After Sun Jiu moved his whole family to Changchun, his son needed to enter high school. He donated RMB 100,000 to a good local school and his son was enrolled. However, with lack of preparation, his son didn’t understand nor was able to learn, and was only messing around at school. The teachers knew his son’s background and didn’t bother to help him. In the end, his son scored only around 100 on his college entrance exam and no colleges accepted him, so he joined his father to help with the business. For years, Sun Yuan was raising pigs in his village. His family didn’t have many kids, and they had enough food from the land and to generate some spare income too. Both of Sun Yuan’s kids stopped attending school after elementary school. Since Sun Jiu worked in the town, he’d ask Sun Yuan to help out and make some money, but Sun Yuan always said they had enough from farming, and he knew nothing aside from farming and couldn’t help. Sun Yuan claimed life outside the village was too hard, and felt it was easier to live locally with his family. In 1993, Sun Yuan’s son was getting married, and his in-laws wanted an RMB 5,000 dowry to build a two-room house. Sun Yuan couldn’t afford it and tried to borrow money from other villagers. After Sun Jiu heard, he gave Sun Yuan the money, and found the materials and laborers to build the house, too.

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Sun Jiu tried to persuade Sun Yuan, “Don’t let your son get married so early. Explore the world with him. There’s a lot more out there. Just being a farmer is not enough, and you’ll be left behind.” Sun Yuan didn’t agree. He liked staying in the village with his family and having a simple life. Sun Yuan’s son didn’t show any desire to leave his hometown either. Sun Jiu said, “A lack of education made them afraid and unable to understand competition.” After this disagreement, Sun Yuan and Sun Jiu grew apart. Sun Yuan felt that Sun Jiu had changed and looked down on them. In 2000, Sun Jiu came to Beijing to grow his business. He got a piece of land between the Fourth Ring Road and the Fifth Ring Road, and developed an all-glass building for both commercial and residential purposes. At the time, the area was more rural and surrounded by dirt, and many people thought it was a bad idea to build anything there and that no one would go there. But Sun Jiu’s gamble paid off. This was the peak of his real estate development career, and this project made Sun Jiu a lot of money. These six buildings were right next to the future Central Business District (CBD). In 2002, Sun Jiu bought 12 homes in the Dongsi Shitiao area of Beijing, and converted them into a traditional courtyard home of around 700 m2 for his family. After construction and renovation, the home cost a total of RMB 30 million. Sun Jiu moved his mom and wife to Beijing, to live in the luxurious courtyard home, while he lived in his own apartment, and his son lived on his own, too. Sun Jiu and his wife were distant. On the one hand, there wasn’t much emotional connection to begin with; on the other hand, his wife, being a rural farmer, couldn’t help him with his career and couldn’t really communicate with him. Sun Jiu and his wife were in fact separated. However, his wife took care of his elderly mother, for which Sun Jiu was grateful. After earning his fortune, Sun Jiu didn’t forget about his home village, a place which saved his father’s life and gave him a happy childhood. Sun Jiu donated RMB 20 million to the village, which helped renovate the roads from the town to the village and all the village roads as well. Sun Jiu’s son was a disappointment to him. His son didn’t do well in school, nor had any business sense. Sun Jiu felt that this was a problem. He just had one son. If his son couldn’t inherit his business, what was he working for then? He decided to send his son to Britain. First, Sun Jiu hired two tutors for his son, one Chinese tutor, and one foreign tutor, so they could do immersion training for his son. Then, he hired an expensive intermediary agency, where the cost for sending someone abroad was around RMB 200,000, but it could supposedly help provide all the records for his son’s schooling. In 2004, Sun Jiu’s son went to Britain, to study at a well-known college for an MBA. His son spent around RMB 2 million a year in Britain, which was not cheap, but Sun Jiu thought it was tolerable, since his son enjoyed watching games, horse-racing, traveling, and designer products. Compared to the high expenses, two issues were more troubling for Sun Jiu. The first was that Sun Jiu’s son smoked pot. While there was no physiological addiction, he had a physical addiction to the substance. The other issue was that his son failed

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too many classes and couldn’t graduate. After partying for three years in Britain, Sun Jiu’s son returned home at his father’s demand. His son continued to work for him in the family business, with the only thing gained from his time in Britain, his improved English skills. Sun Jiu said he had no idea how fierce the competition was until he arrived in Beijing. There were too many big real estate developers, and too many people with money and connections. After 2005, Sun Jiu’s biggest challenge was that his business couldn’t get the land for development, and without land, he couldn’t be a real estate developer. In 2007, after a lot of preparation and seeking a lot of help, Sun Jiu got a piece of land of around 60,000 m2 near Qianmen. But due to the high cost of the land, the construction was limited by city planning, environmental requirements, etc., and Sun Jiu would need an RMB 30 billion loan. The high cost meant his company couldn’t afford this kind of debt. After all, his company was not a major real estate developer. After much consideration, Sun Jiu decided to collaborate with other developers or transfer the land, but he couldn’t find any partner nor anyone to buy this land, although there were some people interested in buying his company. Thus, the plans for the land were left up in the air. Sun Jiu knew this was not a solution. Growing the company in Beijing was getting harder and harder, as the fierce competition was really a competition between people, and he realized he wasn’t able to compete. He kept the company’s headquarters in Beijing and turned to development in second- and third-tier cities like Sanya, Hangzhou, Wenzhou, Suzhou, Kunshan, etc., because Beijing was still the best place for information and resources. By 2015, Sun Jiu returned to Beijing to develop the land which had sat vacant for eight years, and this ultimately cost him RMB 3 billion. In 2006, Sun Yuan contracted a severe heart condition which the county hospital couldn’t treat, and he needed to go the Number One People’s Hospital in Liaoyuan City, to receive a bypass surgery. In rural areas, the medical insurance system wasn’t comprehensive, and the high cost was more than Sun Yuan’s family could afford. In Liaoyuan, such surgeries were not their expertise and overall, the situation was very troubling. Sun Yuan’s son borrowed RMB 20,000 from various sources and made the surgery possible for him. In order to return the debt, Sun Yuan’s son decided to leave the countryside and work in town. With no education nor skills, he worked as a janitor on the streets and earned around RMB 1,000 a month. He only spent RMB 200 on his monthly expenses and sent the remaining RMB 800 home. After Sun Jiu heard about the situation, he visited Sun Yuan in the village. Sun Jiu was worried and sat with Sun Yuan for a long time, but neither of them said much. When Sun Jiu was about to leave, he said, “Brother, get well soon. We’ll always be brothers.” Sun Yuan cried upon hearing this and held Sun Jiu’s hand while saying, “Could you please help my son and grandson? Help my grandson to have a good life.” Sun Jiu arranged a full-time job at the reception of a government agency for Sun Yuan’s son. In 2008, Sun Yuan passed away after a heart attack. Sun Jiu was really devastated. He moved Sun Yuan’s son’s family to Liaoyuan City, and helped Sun Yuan’s grandson to get into the best local middle school. Sun Jiu said, “This is the

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fate of a farmer. If there’s no outside impact, you may be able to live an uneventful life. If the outside world changed and you haven’t, you’d be forced into a corner. You can’t be a farmer in China.” Sun Jiu doesn’t think of himself as a successful person. Maybe he could have been considered successful at 50 years old, when he transformed himself from a rural farmer to a rich businessman by taking advantage of the reform and opening-up policy, but now that he’s close to 70 years old, he couldn’t be considered successful. He’s too anxious and has too much pressure now. “Every time I wake up, I think of the millions in interest I owe to the bank, and how I have to pay it back. Thousands of employees rely on me for their livelihoods. If I stopped, they’d be out of work. The worst is the fact that I have no heirs. My son is 40 years old. He is not married, has no steady girlfriend, and only knows how to have fun.” Sun Jiu is elderly and doesn’t expect much of his son now. He does value his wife though. While he thought she was not good enough before; but now, he sees that only she knows how to take care of him, and he realized that there’s no place like home.

2 I’m a Product of the Times Ru Yu 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Alias: Li Mengfan Occupation: Researcher Domicile: Dongcheng District, Beijing Employer: Central government agency (retired) Age: 75 Gender: Female Ethnic Group: Han Level of Education: Master’s degree

To do something well, you need the stars to align. This can be made up of a combination of the right opportunities in life, one’s own personal strengths and other support factors that work together in your favor. The right opportunities refer to development opportunities brought about by the reform and opening-up policy. One’s personal strengths refer to the inclusion and growth one’s personal platform can bring. The other factors can refer to one’s community. A community that concentrates on helping and inspiring each other, to support someone to continue their studies on an academic path. Li Mengfan was born in 1944 to a scholarly family in Chongqing. She was the fifth child in the family. Her paternal grandfather was a Xiu Cai6 in the Qing Dynasty and the Chief of Bureau of Education for a county in Hubei Province. Her maternal 6 It

generally refers to scholars during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

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grandfather had a law doctorate from the Waseda University of Japan. Her father was an expert of metallurgy and iron-making, with a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in the United States, while her mother graduated from Nankai University. Li said she didn’t seem to have a talent for studying in the beginning. During high school, she became very interested in math and used all of her free time to do math questions. She said her older brother and sister’s admission to the University of Science and Technology of China and Nankai University galvanized her, and she vowed that she’d get into a good university, too. In 1962, she was accepted by the Math Department of Peking University, which was also the year with the lowest acceptance rate for college applications (27.43%). During her undergraduate years, endless political movements took place. Due to the “Four Cleanups” Movement7 and the Cultural Revolution, she was forced to stop her studies. She said, “There was nothing for me to do, and no classes to go to. I only had three years of college and felt as if I didn’t learn enough.” In 1968, Li graduated from college, and was assigned to the People’s Liberation Army’s farm in Shulan County of Jilin Province to perform labor for a year. She said she quickly adjusted to farm life, as she went about farming, raising pigs, etc., and didn’t feel as if she suffered. She even took on additional work. In the following year, she was assigned to work as a teacher at a high school in Shenyang City, teaching various subjects including math, physics, chemistry, political science, etc. Li said life wasn’t easy; she had to walk for miles with her infant to catch the bus and slept on a hardwood bed. Her husband also worked in the same city, though they had to live apart due to a lack of housing. But the biggest frustration was that she had nowhere to use her knowledge. She said her dream was to return to Peking University to study again, “Every day, I fantasized about how great it’d be to be back on campus.” In 1978, Chinese colleges and universities resumed their graduate enrolment.8 Li thought her “dream of returning to campus” would finally come true. In spite of being away from college for 10 years, having a child who was not yet one, and having plenty of household chores to do, she was determined to take the graduate school entrance exam. During her free time from teaching and caring for her child, she worked hard to learn what she had missed in the last ten years. In September that year, she was accepted by the math graduate program at Peking University. Li said 7 It

refers to the national socialist education movement carried out by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China between 1963 and the first half of 1966, involving “cleanups of work points, accounts, warehouses and properties” in rural areas in its early stage and “cleanups of thinking, politics, organization and economy” in rural and urban areas in its later stage. 8 In September 1977, China’s Ministry of Education held the National Work Conference on College Enrolment. The Ministry decided to resume the national college entrance examination that had been suspended for the preceding 10 years, so as to select talents using a system of unified examination and merit-based enrollment. It is a turning point for China’s college enrolment, raising the threshold of China’s higher education (between 1966 and 1976, college students are recommended by workers, farmers and soldiers) and aimed to enroll workers, farmers, educated urban youths who went to the mountainous areas and the countryside and those who had returned to their home, demobilized soldiers, officials and high school fresh graduates.

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she really treasured the opportunity, which she had waited for 10 years. In 1981, Li finished her graduate program. After graduation, a research center within the State Council was being formed and was looking for graduate students with a math and science background, and she was recruited. Li said while transferring from pure math to an economic background was challenging, she believed that she could do something in applied math. By using her robust math background, she won honors such as the First Prize in the National Applied Computing Exhibition and the National Technology Advancement Awards. Li felt that her knowledge in the area of economics was still lacking, so she continued to study by using her evenings and weekends to audit economics classes at Peking University and listen to seminars at other research departments. In 1987, Li was sent to an American city by her workplace to work as a visiting scholar. She had only studied Russian as her second language in her high school, college, and graduate school years. English was her third language, and she rarely practiced it. In order to break through her language barrier, before going abroad, she took English classes weekly and listened to English radio whenever she could. After arriving in America, she insisted on talking to her coworkers in English and read a large volume of newspapers and academic papers. When she was 45 years old, she took the GRE. Li said she had wanted to pursue a doctorate in America but gave up on the idea due to family obligations. In the early 1990s, Li had begun to work on China’s medium- to long-term development strategy and development planning for the next century, and she realized the importance of quantitative models. However, there was not enough development in this area in China at the time. Li spent a lot of time talking to Chinese and international research organizations, looking for collaborations, and hoping to build a localized CGE model. Li said after much back and forth, she was able to build her own research team with the help of OECD, the World Bank, and many other organizations. She said, “Maybe it’s because of my family background and my time at Peking University, bur I want to do everything well. My bottom line for research is to make everything clear for myself.” Li really values training students in her area, and has recruited over a dozen graduate students to her program, and taught related classes at various colleges and universities. In order to make her students really grasp core knowledge and skills, she organizes training sessions, seminars, forums, discussion groups, international conferences, etc., for her students. In addition, she has compiled her 20-plus years of research into a book. “With this book, newcomers to this subject wouldn’t need to spend so much time trying to break in,” she said. This work really gratifies her. When it comes to educating her child, Li and her husband always tell him, “You need to rely on yourself and to look for opportunities, we can’t really help you.” She used her own independence and dedication to influence her offspring. Her son has excelled, in spite of not going to an elite high school. He was accepted by the Material Sciences Department at Tsinghua University in 1995. After college, Li’s son was accepted by an elite graduate school in the United States. After repeated visa rejections, however, he went to Singapore for graduate

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school. He didn’t give up and kept applying. In 2003, he was finally able to go to America for graduate school. He worked at a major American automaker after graduation, and eventually returned to China in 2012. He currently works for a large automaker in China. Reflecting on her achievement, Li said frankly, “To do something well, you need the stars to align. This can be made up of a combination of the right opportunities in life, one’s own personal strengths and other support factors that work together in your favor. The right opportunities refer to development opportunities brought about by the reform and opening-up policy, which gave motivated people educational opportunities and provided basic living standards. Whether it is China’s economic volume or rapid development, it has created a lot of opportunities for those engaged in research to understand the problems we are exploring and challenging questions. One’s personal strengths refer to the inclusion and growth one’s personal platform can bring. The platform needs to provide comprehensive, strategic, all-included and future-oriented solutions to challenges. Working on such a platform can help people broaden their horizons and knowledge. The other factors can refer to one’s community. A community that concentrates on helping and inspiring each other, to support someone to continue their studies on an academic path.” When it comes to happiness, she has mentioned how the goals and concept of happiness are different in different stages of life. In high school, life was hard and she only had “double-steamed rice9 ” to eat, and schools only held classes for half a day to reduce expenses. Happiness back then was having enough to eat, and having a piece of candy was a luxury. During her graduate school years, resources were still scarce; in order to save money on transportation, she’d ride the bicycle for an hour to get home from school. Later when she earned a 5-yuan bus ticket from tutoring math, and received a 56-yuan monthly salary, she felt very satisfied with her achievement. During her visiting scholar years, she’d scrimp and save in order to buy appliances for her family back home. Now that she’s retired, happiness for her is to keep on conducting research and doing what she wants to do. Li believes that the progress she has made is due to the fact that she has always kept a forward-thinking mentality, and kept on challenging herself. Li said, “Life is short. You have to do something that’s really valuable.”

9 It

is a self-deceiving invention during the great famine of China and a method for increasing the volume of food. It is watery rice. Those who eat the food may be quickly stuffed and later go hungry. It caused many people to suffer from edema and even shortened their life.

The Generation Born in the 1950s Gou Mengning, Zhao Chen, and Guo Silu

1 A Female Veteran’s New Job Gou Mengning 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Alias: Wang Xiaoxian Occupation: Tour guide Domicile: Shenyang City, Liaoning Province Employer: Travel agency Age: 64 Gender: Female Ethnic Group: Han Level of Education: College diploma

As a female veteran who continued to work after retirement, Wang Xiaoxian believes that money is not important to her. “People’s comments about you matter more. If the comments are great, I would feel proud.” Wang Xiaoxian: female, married, has one son. Unlike most people, she found her dream job after retirement. Her retirement days are more interesting than ever. She believes dreams can come true. She graduated from high school in the 1970s. From 1972 to 1976, in order to respond to the government’s call for the “Four Orientations” (facing the countryside, factories, borders, and the grassroots), she was selected as an elite to join the military to learn Russian. Then, she was sent to the border area along Heilongjiang River to work as a translator. In 1978, when the college entrance exam resumed, she was G. Mengning (B) Beijing Dataway Horizon Co., Ltd., Beijing, China Z. Chen · G. Silu China Development Research Foundation, Beijing, China © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 L. Mai (ed.), The Chinese Dream and Ordinary Chinese People, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4952-0_4

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already working in the military, and she said she was “too honest,” and didn’t do the exams, even though “people whose grades weren’t as good as mine became college professors after taking the exams.” She didn’t regret her decision. In 1984, when the government issued diplomas, Wang obtained a junior college degree from People’s Liberation Army’s University of International Relations in Nanjing. When it came to her younger years, Wang lived with her parents, two younger brothers and a sister. Her mom passed away at 29 years of age, when Wang was only six years old. One of her younger brothers was born of the same biological mother as Wang, and the other half brother and half sister were born of her step-mother. Both her father and step-mom were professors at Shenyang University. The first brother is now 59 years old, used to work in the countryside, and now works in logistics at a governmental organization. Her younger half-brother is 56 years old, who enrolled at a military academy in 1981, and then became a director at China National Petroleum Corporation in Shenyang. Her younger half-sister is 47 years old and works as a cashier after graduating from high school. Wang left home to join the military, the year after her half-sister was born, so she is not close with her. She feels that her younger sister “didn’t do well in life,” is divorced and due to their age gap, did not keep in touch with her frequently. When Wang retired, she was considered a regiment-level official and received five to six thousand RMB in retirement income. After retirement, she got to do her dream job: being a tour guide. At the time, her friends asked her to help with tour groups visiting Beijing from Russia. Most of the tourists Wang helped with were government officials or other VIPS. Her fluency in Russian helped her greatly, and her reputation as a tour guide grew. Wang said, “I liked the job, it was easy to make money, and I felt happy.” She said the job gave her endless satisfaction and new experiences, since the tourists were different every day. Even more importantly, people praised her service consistently. Her old comrades and classmates envied her and said, “You’re still able to show off your best self after retirement and you’re still contributing to society. The tourists all say you’re the best tour guide in their feedback.” Wang believes that money is not important to her. “People’s comments about you matter more. If the comments are great, I would feel proud.” In the 15 years she has worked as a tour guide, Wang has traveled all over Beijing and seen the city’s constant changes. For the first three years, she didn’t like Beijing, and would feel at ease only when she returned to Shenyang. But after the 2008 Olympics which were hosted in Beijing, she felt more at home because “the city became better, and people’s attitudes became better too.” She also led a lot of tour groups abroad, and would even feel at home when she returned to Beijing. One time, when a Shenyang taxi driver asked where Wang was from, she said, “I’m from Beijing.” When Wang talks about her future, she said she would return to Shenyang, where her roots are from. Her parents, relatives, friends, and husband are all in Shenyang. Her biggest regret is not buying real estate in Beijing. In the beginning, she had no idea she would stay in Beijing for 15 years and go back to Shenyang only every two to three months.

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The new career that Wang created after her retirement has left her with very few regrets. One regret she has is that her son remains unmarried. He is close to 40 years of age, dating a 34-year-old girlfriend, and the two don’t have plans to get married soon, as they claim they’re not ready. Wang’s hope for her family is for her son to be married and have a grandson, since one of her reasons of not returning to Shenyang is a lack of things to do at home. Wang believes that for the country overall wellbeing, that social development is important for realizing the country’s national prosperity, people’s happiness and social harmony. In her trips abroad, she has seen the discipline Singapore has regulated for littering and tax evasion, and the well-rounded development of the Russians, so she has realized the need of raising the level of civility of the Chinese for enabling the country to advance further.

2 Aging with Dignity Gou Mengning 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Alias: Ling Bo Occupation: Worker (before retirement) Domicile: Beijing Employer: Beijing Power Plant (before retirement) Age: 61 Gender: Male Ethnic Group: Han Level of Education: College diploma

Ling Bo is a senior who’s afraid of being sick. “When you get sick, you lay in bed, and you’re not yourself anymore. To be honest, there’s not much dignity, and then you die. My dream is to live healthily, live longer, and die peacefully.” Ling Bo: male, married, and holds a university degree. His dream is to “have hope.” Even if this dream didn’t come true, it gives you something to think about and hold onto. His biggest dream is to live and leave this life with dignity and to have a right to choose to live or die. Ling’s father was in the navy. Before he was six years old, Ling lived with his father in the military camp which was stationed in Zhejiang Province. Later on, his father changed jobs to work at the Beijing Auto Factory and he went to Beijing to start 3rd grade. Most of his elementary and middle school years took place during the Cultural Revolution, and he spent his days marching, with little time to study. He also had two younger sisters. While his family was not financially well-off, they had a very good relationship. Ling’s father had the biggest influence on him growing up. His father was a Party member and also a military man, who was serious but well-tempered. In 1975, Ling graduated from high school, and was assigned to work at the Beijing Thermal Power

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Plant, where he started as an apprentice and eventually became a power technician. In the 1990s, the reform of state-owned enterprises1 didn’t affect his workplace, so Ling continued to work there until his retirement, and his salary and bonus before retirement was as much as RMB 6,000–7,000 a month. Ling lives in Beijing, where he owns a house and a car. The house is assigned to him as one of his benefits from the power plant. He thinks of his lifestyle as middle-class in Beijing, and it would be good to keep up this standard after retirement as there’s not much possibility of improvement. In the last few years, the biggest changes in his family to occur are his retirement and his son’s marriage. His son is an automotive engineer, and would call and visit him regularly, so life is good. The people Ling are in touch with the most often are his primary school friends and coworkers. They’d spend time chatting but usually don’t share their troubles with each. Ling said he is a person who takes cares of his own difficulties. He said, “If you’re sick, you shouldn’t tell people. When I spend time with my friends, I don’t want to tell them what I’m suffering from. I’d bear it myself and see the doctor.” He thinks his health is suboptimal, his wife doesn’t like to exercise and is not in great health either. His retirement plan is to travel a few times a year, spend the rest of the time watching TV or cooking at home, and to exercise daily. In spite of having a house and car, and having RMB 5,000 per month in retirement income, Ling is still worried about getting sick and getting old. He hopes the government could introduce new policies to care for the elderly. He has seen some cases where the elderly got sick, spent a lot of money on medical care, and caused ruin to the family’s financial situation. To Ling, this is living without dignity. “When you get sick, you lay in bed, and you’re not yourself anymore. To be honest, there’s not much dignity, and then you die.” He hopes the government could issue a policy to grant euthanasia. That is, “If you get sick, and you wanted to end the pain, you should have the right to do so.” Ling has also considered the option of going to a retirement home to live if he got sick and his child was under too much pressure to take care of him, or hiring a caretaker help at home, but he said his current retirement income wasn’t enough for this lifestyle. “My dream is to live healthily, live longer, and die peacefully.” Ling said achieving this dream requires medical measures, government policies, and other social factors. He said just increasing retirement income and having medical insurance for major illnesses wasn’t as useful. He acknowledges the purpose of medical insurance but doubts its function for major illnesses. Ling believes that while the country’s development is going well, there’s a large income gap. Some of his old coworkers are suffering from poverty again. Ling said, “some families have gone through some drastic events, or some family issues, and as a result they suffered financially. Some co-workers of mine who got sick would spend everything they had to get better; they had to sell their home or land.” He thinks the government should issue more retirement income to the elderly. 1 It

is a major strategic move for China’s central government to implement the principle of making state-owned enterprises stronger and to grow bigger. It is conducive to maintaining and increasing the value of state-owned assets, increasing the competitiveness of state-owned economy and enhancing the functions of state capital.

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3 Country Brings Safety and Stability Zhao Chen 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Alias: Mr. Jin Occupation: Senior public servant Domicile: Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province Employer: A central government organization Age: 64 Gender: Male Ethnic Group: Han Level of Education: Bachelor’s degree

Mr. Jin’s son lives and works in Shanghai, so he has helped his son to purchase a home there, easing the pressure and providing more financial freedom for his son. Many of those born in the 1980s like his son, after going to elite colleges, would try to continue living in first-tier cities, and wouldn’t want their children to be less well-off than themselves, so they’d try very hard to buy a house in a good school district.2 Mr. Jin is from Shijiazhuang of Hebei Province. He was born in the countryside in 1955. He has three siblings: an elder sister, a younger brother and a younger sister. His parents were farmers and his family situation was stable. When he was a child, his family was poor, and farmers in his province were all poor. They could only grow and farm corn and wheat, and never had enough to eat, much less have any other income. When he was 14 years old, he went to a nearby town, and found that even though the countryside and the city were not far from each other, but people’s lives were very different. He thought life in town was convenient and clean, everyone looked neat, and there were even newspapers to read. He was so envious of the city life and wanted to live there. His dream was to be “a city person”, to live a more respectable life, and not to have to farm anymore. Life in the countryside was very monotonous; one worked in the fields all day and had nothing to do at dusk. One went to bed early and got up early, and rarely even had the chance to listen to the radio. Jin liked to read, because reading was more interesting than doing nothing. There were few books available back then, so he found some revolutionary books and the Four Great Classical Novels3 to read. He loved reading the books and would read them over and over again, and after a 2 It refers to the housing properties in a rare school district. It is a derivative term from the real estate

market, and the result of class solidification caused by a monopoly of educational resources. Its existence reflects the drawbacks of the current educational system. If the distribution of educational resources is very unbalanced, it will create some “better” middle and primary schools. Additionally, it reflects the unfairness of the education system, and shows that not all children going through compulsory education can gain access to the high-quality education. 3 Four great full-length classical novels of China, namely Outlaws of the Marsh, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West and Dream of the Red Chamber (listed in the order of which

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while, he could almost recite Dream of the Red Chamber.4 At night, he didn’t sleep and would read the books under the quilt by kerosene light. This was a luxury as the kerosene lamp was something people used frugally. Jin said, “reading these books was very helpful to me. I learned a lot of Chinese characters and improved my writing ability. Eventually, I could help villagers read and write letters, and felt very happy I could help.” It was because of reading that Jin could become a teacher in the village. When the Cultural Revolution ended, Jin took the college entrance exam and was accepted to the language studies department at Hebei Normal University. Going to college at the time meant one’s family had to provide support, so Jin’s family sacrificed all of their resources to help him go to school. He also lived frugally at college and only ate two plain buns and drank water every day. After graduating from college, Jin was assigned to work at the city government of Shijiazhuang, where he was the secretary to the leader. Jin said, “I am independent and didn’t like rules, so the job didn’t really suit me. But I wrote well, knew how to analyze problems and find solutions, so the leader valued me. I didn’t follow my leader after work like other secretaries, I could leave work even when he was still at the office. It was easy to be a secretary, as long as you had a good relationship with your leader, helped him solve problems, and didn’t make trouble, you were fine.” After he took on this good job, Jin’s biggest hope was to improve his family’s life, to help his elder sister, younger sister and brother live well. His family made his younger brother drop out after middle school in order to support Jin in college, so after Jin started working, he supported his brother to continue school until his brother finished college. After college, his brother was assigned to work at the county government. Jin’s elder sister has been working as a farmer and she has one son and one daughter. She didn’t want to leave the village. Both of her kids went to college and now work in state-owned enterprises. Jin’s younger sister didn’t want to stay in the village, so he found her a job at a clothing factory. When the factory closed at the end of the 1980s, Jin found her another job at a state-owned enterprise, where she worked until her retirement. His younger sister now lives in Shijiazhuang, and his nephew works for the state water agency. It was around 1989 that Jin was assigned to work at a central government agency. He started as a secretary and then became a supervisor of officials. He said, “I don’t have a lot of ambition, I don’t like competing with people. I like to do things fairly. Most of my work at the agency is to evaluate officials, and dismiss them if needed. they were written). They are classic works in the history of Chinese literature and contribute to some of the valuable cultural heritage in the world. 4 As a full-length serial novel, it is known as the best one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. It is generally considered written by Cao Xueqin, a writer in the Qing dynasty. With the rise and decline of the four eminent families of Jia, Shi, Wang and Xue as its background and from the perspective of Jia Baoyu, a man from a noble family, the book offers a detailed rendering of the vicissitudes of life of a number of beautiful and talented women, showing the true beauty of human nature and tragedy. It is considered an epic showing the feminine charms and offers insights into the Chinese ancient society from a variety of aspects.

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The evaluation is used as a reference. Most processes in this world are fundamentally the same as they’re decided by the leaders. The leaders in foreign countries also use the people they think are capable or put their trusted followers in their cabinets, and it’s the same for Chinese officials.” “At the central government agency, the organization has a lot of rules, but I got to know a lot of people. Some of the people became good friends of mine, some of them I didn’t like and I only dealt with them when I had to. I didn’t think my job was that important, but others didn’t think so, and they’d come see me every day. I like people who are hard-working, steadfast, and not anxious, so it didn’t matter to me if they came to seek my help. Although my comments for the officials had no decisive power, if I vetoed someone, there was a little bit of influence.” Jin has one son, he was born in 1984 and has always lived with him. His son’s grades weren’t exceptional but not terrible either, and he finished college in England. Jin said, “I’ve never forced my kid to study hard, grades are not the only thing which matter. I believe that family support, connections, and personal ability combine into a holistic package. There’s no shortage of people who will have knowledge in the future.” “Childhood nutrition makes a huge difference. I was poor growing up, and only reached 174 cm, while my son did not suffer much since young and has reached 185 cm. He works at a central government agency, and his wife was born in the 1990s.” Jin believes a job with connections to the government means stability and growth, especially jobs at higher levels. Working at international companies means a higher income, but one lacks a sense of belonging, and the working environment and culture do not suit the Chinese either. So Jin has his son working at a central government agency and his son is doing well there. Mr. Jin’s son lives and works in Shanghai, so he has helped his son to purchase a home there, easing the pressure on his son and providing more financial freedom for him. Many of his son’s coworkers, while earning the same but without having the same family support, could only rent a home or pay mortgage to buy a home in Shanghai, and even then, many couldn’t afford to buy a house with the location, size, and layout they like. Once the families have kids, there’s a new challenge with their housing situation, which is being able to afford a house in a good school district. Many of those born in the 1980s, after going to elite colleges, would try to continue living in first-tier cities, and wouldn’t want their children to be less well-off than themselves, so they’d try very hard to buy a house in a good school district. Jin is satisfied about his life and the prospective generation. His current dream is “take photos, and have some grandchildren”. Photography is another way for Jin to express himself in life. He likes natural scenery and animals and enjoys their natural beauty. Because he’s a senior public servant, he has a lot of access to resources, such as being able to learn from the most renowned photographer in China, and going into secluded areas to take photos. Education and studying have changed Jin’s life path, and enabled him to realize his dream. Studying not only gave Jin necessary skills, but has shaped his ability, personality, and helped him in dealing with people.

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4 “To Be an Authentic Person” Guo Silu 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Alias: Mr. Zhang Occupation: Executive at Fortune 500 company Domicile: Beijing Employer: Bombardier Inc. of Canada Gender: Male Ethnic Group: Han Level of education: Ph.D.

At Zhang’s 20th work anniversary at Bombardier, a dinner with only senior management and board members was held in Montreal, Canada. The chairman invited Zhang to the stage, praising him for his leadership in helping Bombardier China to become the most successful foreign company in Chinese railway and transportation, as well as giving him a 20th anniversary service medal. Zhang walked to the podium and said, “Here, you think I’m Chinese, and in China, people think I’m a foreigner. But the most important label to me is, I’m someone who gets things done.” Zhang is a senior executive at a Fortune 500 company. “The times make the person” is a good way to describe the first half of Zhang’s life. No matter the era, “to be an authentic person” has been Zhang’s dream. For him, “an authentic person” has different definitions at different times. When Zhang was in high school, the country was in the middle of the Cultural Revolution. Going to the countryside was the most popular choice, so Zhang answered the government’s call and arrived at a commune in Shandong. At that time, “an authentic person” meant being all you can be in the rural villages, becoming a “revolutionary and professional” person, to “ignore one’s own needs and to serve the people.” This was a youthful Zhang’s understanding of the term. At the commune, it was asked that a guideline of selecting “a combination of the old, the middle-aged and the young in the leadership” be followed in selecting Party officials, so the 19year-old Zhang was appointed as the member of the standing committee of the Party and the Party secretary of the Youth League Committee. At first, at every meeting of the party committee, the committee members would race to make speeches, while Zhang had no idea what to say, since he “didn’t know anything.” At the commune, since he was the youngest, the Party secretary gave him a beret and taught him to smoke to look more mature. He’s smoked since then, for more than 40 years, and still hasn’t quit the habit. Zhang gradually became a leader who could talk for hours without a script. He could talk passionately for three, four hours with just using a brief outline. The content would be about the Party’s planning and policies, but he made the speech vivid and exciting.

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Going to the countryside and working at the commune has left an unforgettable imprint on Zhang’s youth, and it is an experience he marvels about to this day. As a member of the standing committee of the Party and the Party secretary of the Youth League Committee, Zhang was in charge of education at the commune, including recommending workers, peasants, and soldiers for college, but he has never thought of going to college himself. In 1978, when the first college entrance exam resumed after the Cultural Revolution, the notice for Zhang to take the exams arrived at the commune. Since it was a government directive, Zhang, being a Party secretary, had the responsibility to answer the call to take the nation-wide exams. He thought that he wouldn’t go to college even if he passed. Surprisingly, scores for his math and science subjects were actually more than 85 points (out of 100), with a 93.5 in chemistry. Since he had no plan on going to college, he didn’t care about the results. But when he received the acceptance letter from the internal combustion department at Tianjin University, he hesitated. His father, who worked at a university, persuaded him, so he reluctantly gave up his leadership position at the commune and went to college. At college, he was elected to be the class leader for four years in a row, and was also the student council president. Initially, he still held onto his dream of being “revolutionary and professional.” During large lectures of several hundred students, he would chant “stand up” when the teacher arrived, and he’d sit very straight in his seat and look intently at the teacher throughout the lecture. Students commented, “See, the class leader is so focused”, but only Zhang knew he was thinking about his podium at the commune. He’d looked at the teacher in class but his mind was on making speeches at the commune’s big rallies. After a hard semester of adjusting to college life, he gradually got used to the new lifestyle. 1982 was a turning point in Zhang’s life. As the class leader, he always stepped aside to give the merit student5 awards to other students, and when the college realized what he’s done, they recommended him to compete for the college’s merit student awards, the city’s merit student awards, and even the national merit student awards. In February 1982, he went to Beijing for the first “National awards for merit students and excellent students and student leaders,” and was received by national leaders. TV stations actually went to his college to film him. It was near college graduation time, and both the Central and Tianjin government agencies offered him jobs. The college wanted him to stay to work in the administration, but Zhang insisted on staying to teach, so he could go to graduate school in two years. Zhang joked that he didn’t change his mind easily; he initially wanted to be a commune leader, and went to college reluctantly, and once at college, he wanted to focus on academia instead of being an administrator. Finally, the college agreed to let him stay to teach, and to take the graduate school exams in two years; if he didn’t pass the exams, he would go into school administration.

5 It is an honorary title given by a school to selected excellent students. It means students with good

moral character, good academic accomplishments and good physical conditions. The selection of merit students is evaluated at a fixed ratio, based on similar standards and widely implemented in colleges, universities, middle schools and primary schools across China.

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In 1984, Zhang applied to be a graduate student for Professor Shi Shaoxi, a worldrenowned expert in internal combustion and the President of Tianjin University. But his grades weren’t the best, and he was afraid he wouldn’t be accepted. Around this time, the Ministry of Education was recruiting graduate students to study management overseas among the young teachers at Tianjin University, and was selecting the candidates among young teachers who had already passed the graduate school exams. In order to keep studying, and to not be put into administration, in addition to his anxiety about not being accepted to the internal combustion graduate program, Zhang applied to the program, and was accepted. In order to study for the MBA in Canada, it was asked that everyone takes the English exams for Canadian universities. The MBA program required a score of 4.5 out of 5 for reading, speaking, listening, and writing English, and people rarely reached an average score of more than 4.5. Canadian universities also asked that anyone who scored an average of 4 to work as a visiting scholar for a year in Canada. Zhang got an average score of 4, which gave him a new choice. He refused to be a visiting scholar in Canada and insisted on taking the English exams again, to try to get into the MBA program, but his college asked him to go work in administration once more. Just as he was feeling frustrated, Canada universities notified him that any young teachers with an average score of 4 could also study French. If they passed the French exams, they could study for the MBA in French. Without hesitation, Zhang chose to study French at Shanghai International Studies University’s overseas training center. After six months, Zhang passed the French exams hosted by the President of University of Montreal’s HEC business school. Finally, he could study for admission into the MBA. In 1987, after staying at his college for five years after graduation, Zhang got on the plane to Canada. In 1990, in the last year of Zhang’s MBA degree, he was accepted by several universities to continue studying a Ph.D. in management, and he also had a job offer from the United Nations HQ in Geneva. He chose the former. By 1995, when he was defending his Ph.D. thesis, he received several large companies’ job offers, including Bombardier, but he didn’t take any of them, since his dream was to research and teach at a university. However, he soon realized that work experience at a big company was important to his work at the university, so he accepted the job offer from Bombardier when they invited him to work with them again. What surprised the company was how Zhang didn’t have any conditions, who told them, “I’m fine with a few months’ work” and “I do not have other requirements.” Zhang had planned to work for a few months at Bombardier, get some management experience at a large company, and then return to the university for research and teaching. Bombardier eventually gave him a one-year work contract, which he accepted. And now, he’s been at Bombardier for 24 years! In the first three years at Bombardier, he rose quickly from manager, to GM, and then VP. In 1999, Bombardier decided to send Zhang back to China to explore the Chinese market.

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At the time, many people told Zhang, you can go anywhere but China. “If you went to China, you wouldn’t be trusted. The company knows you’re Chinese, and thinks you wouldn’t be loyal to the company.” Regardless of his feelings, he had to accept the company’s decision. Twelve years after starting at Bombardier, he held the title global senior VP at the company. With this move, his newest position became Chairman at Bombardier China. His goal is to make the company develop along with China’s development. It wasn’t easy to fulfill this principle. While he has had a combination of Eastern and Western education, he is ultimately Chinese, and his speech and behavior are deeply imprinted into the Chinese culture. Through years of experience in dealing with cultural clashes, his belief “to be an authentic person,” and with sheer determination, he has succeeded and earned the acknowledgement and respect from both China and Canada. Zhang has had to return to the Bombardier HQ more than once to defend his decisions, where he has to explain, argue, and rationalize his choices, as well as selflessly forgo his personal gains in the process. The frequent changes in CEOs and other senior management at the company meant that Zhang needed to learn to adapt to different management styles. After being with Bombardier for 24 years, and with 21 years in the Chinese market, he has used his dedication, matter-of-fact attitude, and honesty to earn the trust and respect from his clients and partners. His awareness of the Chinese economy and culture, rich experience in dealing with complex situations, and sense of ownership has helped him produce rich results for Bombardier in China, and helped make significant contributions to the Chinese railway and rail transit industry. At Zhang’s 20th work anniversary at Bombardier, a dinner with only senior management and board members was held in Montreal, Canada. The chairman invited Zhang to the stage, praising him for his leadership in helping Bombardier China to become the most successful foreign company in Chinese railway and transportation, as well as giving him a 20th anniversary service medal. Zhang walked to the podium and said, “Here, you think I’m Chinese, and in China, people think I’m a foreigner. But the most important label to me is, I’m someone who gets things done.” (Zhang dislikes people who only talk and don’t work.) After Zhang sat down in his seat, he put the medal on the table. A board member at his table asked him, “why aren’t you wearing the medal?” to which he replied, “there’s still a few months.” (He meant maybe he would be fired before reaching the actual 20th anniversary.) His 24 years’ experience at an international company has shaped Zhang into a person who navigates easily between international management, Chinese officials, and industries. Looking at his life, Zhang thinks he was very lucky to be in right place and right life stage for each era. In the 1960s, he was brought “up to the mountains and down to the villages6 ”; in the 1970s, he was among the second generation of 6 On

October 25, 1956, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China released China’s National Program for Agricultural Development between 1956 and 1967 (Revision), putting forward for the first time the concept of “Bringing educated urban youths up to

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college students after the Cultural Revolution; in the 1980s, he went abroad to study; and in the 21st century, he made it back in time for China’s rapid development and returned to China to work. Many people have said that if the young Party secretary wasn’t influenced by Deng Xiaoping’s call to “science and technology constitute a primary productive force,7 ” if the “national merit student” didn’t go abroad to study, if the Ph.D. graduate didn’t work for an international company but went back to China, perhaps he would have had a bigger job, but he said, perhaps he would otherwise be in prison. He often says that, do not think you’re incredible just because of some past achievement, or that you’ll always be successful after some initial victory. It takes one wrong decision to go the wrong way, it’s important to always be on guard, to remind oneself to be aware, and to never forget “to be an authentic person.” He said he is a person who was “pushed by the times,” but in fact, he has always chased the times.

5 To Win Honors for the Motherland Guo Silu 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Alias: Coach Lang Occupation: Volleyball coach Domicile: Beijing Employer: National volleyball team Age: 59 Gender: Female Ethnic Group: Han Level of education: Master’s degree

Being a winner means more than getting the gold medal, it represents the spirit of the nation, and encourages people in all walks of life. She felt gratified but also very pressured, since “she can only succeed and not fail”. Coach Lang was born in 1960, in an era with very limited material resources. Her dream when she was a child was to own a ball; the ball didn’t need to be leather, she just needed a ball to be happy. the mountains and down to the villages”. From 1968 onward, the Chinese government mobilized and sent a large number of educated urban youths to rural villages and border areas to form settlements and to produce labor. From 1979 onward, the vast majority of the educated urban youths returned to the cities where they previously lived in, marking the end of the movement. 7 In September 1988, Deng Xiaoping, in accordance with the trends and situation of the contemporary scientific and technological development, put forward the statement “science and technology constitute a primary productive force” at the National Science Conference, reflecting the theory of productive force and scientific outlook of Marxism. It is an important feature of modern scientific & technological development and the inevitable outcome of scientific & technological development.

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She remembers that her family had no TV or cassette player. There was very little contact with the outside world. In April 1973, 13-year-old Lang joined the volleyball class at the Beijing Workers’ Stadium Athlete School to learn volleyball. Since she started the sport later than others, most of the time she was on the bench. Back then, her dream was to be a main player on the court. The team had 14 players, only six of whom could be on the court. Sitting off-court, Lang only had one thought, and that is to play on the court. In 1978, Lang turned 18 years old. She was picked to be on the national team and for the first time, she wore the uniform with the word “China” on it. When she saw the uniform, her first reaction was, the word “China” on the uniform is really big; and she felt that she represented China, which was an ultimate honor. For the dream of winning the gold medal for China, one opportunity was the Asia Games in 1978 when the Chinese team faced off against Japan. Lang played the game, but they lost to Japan. Lang felt that it was because of her lack of skills that they lost the gold medal and felt guilty. Ever since then, Lang vowed that she would win the gold medal for her country. For Lang, she felt that she represented her country in everything she did. She told herself to be aware of how she acted, whether it was going to the cafeteria or walking on the street. In the 1980s, China was still not well-off. As a player on the national team, Lang enjoyed more material resources compared to the average person. She could tell that food in the training hall was much better than that in other workplaces’ cafeterias. She thought that given all the support the country provided her as an athlete, she had the obligation to train diligently every day and to get the gold medal. In 1981, the Chinese women’s volleyball team won the world championship for the first time, and Lang had a clear dream, and that was to win the gold medal at the Olympics. Among all sports competitions, Lang felt the Olympics was the most renowned and the biggest, and she hoped to secure a win three times in a row. From 1981 to 1984, Lang thought hard every day about how to win three times in a row, and how to get the gold at the Olympics. In 1984, Chinese women’s volleyball won the gold at the Olympics. For Lang, this was a dream come true. Lang and the players pinched themselves, asking each other, “Is this real?” For the next few days, Lang slept for two days straight, as that was the first time she was able to relax since reaching her dream. Lang has her own understanding of the spirit of women’s volleyball. She believes that, as a team sport, there are many things one doesn’t see outside the games. Injured athletes, stalled skills; a myriad of other problems appear every day. How to overcome obstacles in this kind of work and training environment is very challenging. To Lang, women’s volleyball in the 1980s comprised of team spirit, strong collaboration, the lack of fear for any obstacles, and the overcoming of challenges. These elements represented the spirit of the sport. As women’s volleyball won gold at the Olympics, the world continued to change. China in the 1980s was eager to tell the world that “We can do it, while our economy is still not good, we’re still capable.” When women’s volleyball won gold during this era, it created a special kind of impact and reinforced this message.

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After winning the Olympics, Lang was surprised to see a big crowd at the Beijing Airport. According to news reports, the women’s volleyball team received over 30 thousand congratulatory letters, with over 3,000 letters addressed to Lang. Some students also sent over a banner which read “Revival of China,” there were even victory marches on the street. She realized that being a winner represents more than getting the gold medal. It represents the spirit of the nation, and encourages people in all walks of life. She felt gratified but also very pressured, since “she can only succeed and not fail.” In 1986, Lang announced her retirement at 26 years old. Her dream during this time was to study overseas, since she had already done all she could on the court—winning five times in a row—and it was time to start her own life. Lang said her dream was not very clear at that time. She didn’t choose to be a coach, she wanted to study first, to both gain knowledge and to learn about life, to adjust to a new society, and think about what she could do. This was a shift from a national dream to a personal dream. Lang hoped that she could learn to improve her personal life. In 1994, when Chinese women’s volleyball was in trouble, leaders at the Sports Administration looked for Lang, who was living abroad, hoping she will be the volleyball coach for the national team again. They talked to her three times, and Lang refused the first two times, since her daughter was still young, and Lang also felt unsure whether her teaching was good enough to lead the best Chinese team to victory. But the third time they asked, after many conversations with various departments at the national level, Lang accepted the job. To her, this was a mission and a responsibility. The motherland needed her, and the country needed her, so she had to overcome the obstacles, whatever they may be. Lang said she has always been deeply passionate about her volleyball career. When the country needed her, she was willing to make some sacrifices with her family in order to achieve results for the country. In the 1990s, Lang returned to teach volleyball in China. After being away for years, she saw the rapid progress in her motherland. The evolving generations of athletes also have new ideas and beliefs about the sport, and volleyball itself is always changing and innovating. As a coach, Lang pushed herself to keep learning and to adapt to the times. She wanted to understand the new athletes of the 1990s. The women’s volleyball team under her direction were allowed the use of mobile phone since Lang wanted her team to be able to watch movies, play games, or video chat with their families. As long as they were focused during the games, these diversions were okay. Lang’s dream now is the same as when she was an athlete herself, and that is to win. She said her dream for volleyball has never changed. For this year and the next, Lang will be more focused on training and competitions. The 2020 Olympics is the biggest mission for her team right now.

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After the Olympics, Lang hopes to return to retirement. She said she has worked hard all her life and wanted some time for things like traveling, cooking, fishing, and to improve her health. Lang’s daughter is now grown-up, while she hasn’t had all of her mom’s time, she understands her mom is dedicated to her career, and has learned the importance of being dedicated and responsible. Lang is grateful for her daughter’s support, and hopes she will be a happy and good person in life.

The Generation Born in the 1960s Wang Jingjing, Zhao Chen, Yang Xiuna, and Gou Mengning

1 The Changing Countryside Wang Jingjing 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Alias: Lao Wang Occupation: Farmer and retired factory director Domicile: Wuzhi County, Jiaozuo City, Henan Province Employer: Leather factory Age: 58 Gender: Male Ethnic Group: Hui Level of Education: Junior high school

Lao Wang only wants to stay in the countryside. He used to like city life, but now he thinks it is actually pretty nice to live in the rural areas. Lao Wang always tells his friends that his hometown has changed so much. People’s living standards have improved, and the changes are happening so fast it’s like they are changing at the speed of light. Lao Wang, aged 58, is a farmer in Wuzhi County, Jiaozuo City, Henan Province. He is a well-known figure in the village. He started as an entry-level employee of a private enterprise and worked his way up to the deputy director of a small factory. He also founded a leather factory. An eloquent person, he is nicknamed “Metal-mouth Wang”. He was a buddy of the local business “big-shots” and was once the celebrity of his hometown. W. Jingjing (B) · Z. Chen · Y. Xiuna China Development Research Foundation, Beijing, China G. Mengning Beijing Dataway Horizon Co., Ltd., Beijing, China © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 L. Mai (ed.), The Chinese Dream and Ordinary Chinese People, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4952-0_5

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Lao Wang’s father (1921–2010) was a gentleman with a few years of private schooling. At the age of 14, he started working as a bookkeeping apprentice at the local big business. He had always worked as a bookkeeper. As the political situation in China changed, he also worked for different employers. The father was good at calligraphy but was a man of very few words. He was a well-known “good guy” with good reputation among the locals. He never cursed in his life. The marriage between his mother and his father was her mother’s second marriage (1916–1998). With his mother, Lao Wang felt that he was always treated like just a child. Although illiterate, the mother was capable of anything. All she needed was just a little tip and some pointers. Her death was devastating to Lao Wang, who was then middle-aged. His respect of learning and knowledge was strongly influenced by his father and his business mind was sharpened by his mother. Lao Wang dropped out of school shortly after he started junior high school. Although he was smart, his academic performance was average. His school days happened to concur with the Cultural Revolution and the rise of the Gang of Four, which instigated the rallies against private capitals and Confucius. At that time, many role models and propaganda messages promoted the cease of learning, for example, one of the messages said, “It is not necessarily to have basic knowledge to be the national leader”. After dropping out of school, Lao Wang began to work for work points in the village. Only 16 years old and underfed, he was short and thin. He earned about the same as what women made, around 16 and 17 personal points, which was inadequate for a full labor voucher. Therefore, his family was always short of food. Being ambitious, Lao Wang felt shameful that he was not making enough money. So he did yard work at the paper factory of a production team. The work required intensive labor but gave higher compensation. Besides, the job adopted the contract wage system.1 Whoever worked hard could earn as many as 200 points in a month and soon earn work points that would ensure that the family had food with normal share of grain and vegetables. Lao Wang was born with a business mind. He started conducting small business from a young age, and gradually improved the living standards of his family. The array of his side jobs was fascinating. He worked as truck driver, dining room manager, clothes salesman, bus-line contractor, coal transporter, apple grower, duck keeper, and more. Although he never made big money, he enriched his personal life and earned enough money to cover his household’s expenditure. Lao Wang got married at the age of 21, and at the time, the financial status of his family was just getting by. After marriage, he continued farming activities while engaging in some side jobs. At that time, family planning2 was a foreign idea in the rural areas. Following the traditional thoughts of the older patriarchs, he had four children: three girls and one boy. Having so many children increased the financial 1 It

is a salary system by which a contract is signed to assign production or operation (or job) tasks to individuals or a collective, which covers the time for completion, product quality requirements, economic and technical indicators as well as the stipulated wage that should be paid after the completion of contract. The wage shall be paid in accordance with the fulfillment of the contract, regardless of the use of labor. 2 Plan for giving birth through scientific methods so as to control population increase.

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pressure for a family. At that time, to support children to go to school was quite a burden. The tens of dollars of needed for the tuition fee was a big expense that could not be covered by agricultural production alone and the farmers had to find ways to make money. At the age of 27, Lao Wang worked at the Central Plains Leather Factory, which was first run by the Mosque and then transferred to a private owner. Lao Wang worked for the Factory for more than ten years, starting from the labor-intensive positions to the position of deputy director, serving as the right-hand man for the director. Lao Wang had a sharp mind. He knew that he couldn’t just make money with physical labor. After he joined the factory, he began to learn techniques. After becoming a technician, he felt the work became easier and he had the opportunity to become a manager. His time at the factory can actually be regarded as the most important turning point in his life. Here, he gained knowledge, broadened his vision, learned technical skills, and gained work experience. His most memorable experience was with David, an American designer and buyer who came to the leather factory for sheepskin. David did not speak Chinese but brought with him a Chinese translator to supervise the work in the factory for many months. Many factory employees did not dare to talk to this “foreign devil”, much less the villagers. However, Lao Wang was brave enough to interact with David, from whom he learned how to design and draw. David liked this “apprentice” very much and felt he was smart and clever. He planned to have Lao Wang work for his own company back in the United States and assigned him an assistant, Lisa. Although strongly incentivized, Lao Wang couldn’t leave the elders and the children back home and eventually gave up the opportunity. However, since then, Lao Wang had a solid grasp of the drawing techniques of a design. Increasingly, factory director also began to hold him in high regard. In the end, they even became close confidants for each other. Working at the leather factory and conducting some small businesses on the side gradually improved his family life. Lao Wang found the right approach: start with a startup in a family style workshop, followed by an expansion to a rented factory and finally to move onto major production line at a custom-built factory. As the sheepskin seat cushion became increasingly popular, Lao Wang’s business and life got better and better. His factory specialized in processing and producing sheepskin car seat cushion. First, the raw material was imported from Australia and after processing at his factories, derived the final product, which were the sheepskin car seat cushions. About seven or eight years ago, China began to give attention to environmental protection and a number of leather factories were shut down by the county governments. Coupled with the rapid decline of the sheepskin price in Australia and the increase of substitutes, the demand for the sheepskin cushion dropped sharply. Lao Wang was aware of the situation and sold the factory six months before the Environment Bureau shut down leather factories. Although he suffered a major loss, at least he retained the initial capital. Lao Wang is very supportive and understanding of China’s current environmental protection policy. Previously, since he was not well-educated and just wanted to make money, he never cared about the chemicals used in the production. He was also physically exposed to these chemicals. But now he is really worried that the village

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would be seriously polluted or suffer environmental damage if the nation does not regulate the leather factories, and future generations will be affected by the mistake of this generation. Talking about the environment, Lao Wang believes that the current weather conditions are really a drastic change from the previous conditions when one could see the blue sky and white clouds. However, when the water quality can be restored after the pollution continues to remain uncertain. Now, tens of or even hundreds of meters of underground water are polluted. A few deep-water wells were dug in the village with the funding from the state government. After the environmental advocacy started, everyone is now willing to protect the environment and without just being forced by the national policy. The ethos is very different now. Lao Wang likes to play table tennis and basketball, and enjoys square dancing in his past time. He is famous in the village for his square dances. He also likes listening to music, watching ball games, and cooking. He played harmonica when he was young, loves painting and longs for a literary lifestyle. He can play songs simply by listening to the music but never learned how to read music. Lao Wang has four children. His eldest daughter is 37 years old. She did not finish high school but went to Iran to study Persian. The eldest daughter is a family-oriented and business-minded person. When she was a teenager, she brought small accessories with her to sell in Iran. She also worked as a translator and sent home the money she made. After returning from Iran, she first worked in a foreign trade company and established her own company at the age of 24. She currently lives in Guangzhou; she has two daughters, her own house and a car. Lao Wang’ son is 36 years old. He was a good student in high school. However, back then, the family was not very well off but still supported him to study Persian in Iran. He currently runs a masonry export company in Iran and also owns a house and a car in Guangzhou. He has a daughter and two sons. Wang’s third daughter is 33 years old and works in her eldest sister’s company. Her income is enough to get by. She also bought a house in Guangzhou. The fourth daughter is 26-years-old; Lao Wang is most proud of her for being admitted to a major national university. Of course, it was the improved family financial conditions that made it possible for Lao Wang to support her to attend a private school. Now, she has received an offer from an overseas school and will study abroad in September this year. The most depressing aspect of Lao Wang’s life was facing his wife’s illness and death, as well as the failed marriages of his eldest daughter and his son, which occurred during the four years when his wife was ill. Lao Wang’s wife, Lao Mai, was 3 years older than Lao Wang. She grew up in town and her family was much better off than Lao Wang’s. She had always been an outstanding student and was among the top few at her high school. Because the college entrance exam had not been restored when she graduated from high school, she didn’t have the chance to take the exam and got engaged to Lao Wang instead, which became her biggest regret. Taking the college entrance exam might have changed the path of her life. Because the marriage was arranged by the two sets of parents, Lao Mai did not like Lao Wang at the beginning of their marriage. Two years later, Lao Mai gradually discovered the Lao Wang’s strengths, and they enjoyed decades of happy marriage.

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Lao Wang loves his deceased wife dearly. When recounting his wife’s death, even though it was four years ago, tears came to his eyes. Lao Wang’s achievements in life are inseparable from his wife’s insights and wisdom. She was diagnosed with diabetes in her 30 s but sometimes skipped medication just to save money. In 2010, his wife had the first cerebral infarction. Since then, she suffered from poor eyesight and brain atrophy, and her temperament changed drastically. She was not the mild and gentle wife she used to be. Bedridden because of the brain atrophy and paralysis, she became quick-tempered and mentally unstable. Lao Wang, unwilling to increase the burden on the children, who strived to make a living outside their hometown, sold the factory and stayed home to take care of his ailing wife. He took care of all the house chores, which he never had to do in the past, and later even became a good cook. When his wife was first struck by paralysis, Lao Wang drove 40 km every day to take her to Xinxiang for acupuncture treatment. He took her to see all doctors specialized in either Chinese or western medicine. He even invented a set of rehabilitation equipment at home, helping his wife exercise every day in hope of her recovery. However, the miracle he hoped for did not happen. Lao Wang’s wife had been in critical condition for three or four times during the four years. In 2012, when the wife was in emergency room, the doctor suggested to stop treatment because the cost was way too high. Lao Wang told the doctor to save her at all cost. The wife’s medical expense cost not only his entire savings but also his health. In 2013, Lao Wang suffered from sudden cerebral infarction, which, according to the doctors, was possibly triggered by overwork. Lao Wang, who had been strong and independent all his life, was still unwilling to add any burden to his children so he silently kept all the stress to himself. At the end of 2014, his wife passed away. Since then, Lao Wang has been a different person. He is quieter and less ambitious, instead, living a simple life on the money he makes from small business. The broken marriages of his eldest daughter and his son also contributed to Lao Wang’s depression. Since his eldest daughter is more capable than her husband (the daughter is the boss of a company while her husband is unemployed), the husband betrayed her after 7 years of marriage, and stole most of her daughter’s assets. His son and daughter-in-law got divorced then married again to each other, and continue to fight with each other, which also concerns Lao Wang a lot. Lao Wang is a patriot. Like most people in his village, Lao Wang is very happy with the recent reform in the nation and his hometown. He believes that most people desire a prosperous country and peaceful society. In recent years, the construction of New Socialist Rural Area and the ever-changing development have kept Lao Wang very busy. He always takes his old friends and the family members who have moved to another town to see the newly built stadium, the new roads, and newly installed street lamps, offering his personal thoughts on the changes like an eloquent tour guide. At present, Lao Wang’s dream is to renovate his house. When he was financially capable, he didn’t have time for this task. After that, he was fully occupied by his ailing wife. Now he only wants a nice yard as a reward to a life’s hard work. He only wants to stay in the countryside. He used to like city life, but now he feels that living

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in rural areas is also very nice. Lao Wang always tells his friends that his hometown has changed so much. People’s living standards have improved, and the changes are happening so fast it’s like they are changing at the speed of light. However, he also has to accept the reality of getting old, as he struggles with the use of some new technologies and new products that he never used before, such as WeChat videos, or using mobile phones to send out red packets.3 Lao Wang said that he would like to thank the country and the Party. He is speaking from the heart. He is also a cultured person. He reads the news, praises the national policies, and comments on the current leaders, who are really doing things for the people. These make him feel optimistic about the future of the country. Lao Wang is very supportive of the policies of the state and central government, and is very satisfied with the village officials. However, when it comes to the views about the county, Lao Wang feels that the local authorities have not properly implemented the instructions of the central government and leave the people in disadvantaged situation. First problem he sees is with the irrigation system. The village water system built 20 years ago used to bring in the water from the Yellow River for irrigation. The village’s saline-alkali land became fertile and the agricultural output doubled from three to four hundred kilograms per acre to seven or eight hundred kilograms per acre, which made the farmers really happy. Later, the water system was in disrepair, and the water from Yellow River could not reach the farm land. The central government and Henan provincial government have allocated funds for agricultural projects with a focus on the irrigation. The county authorities spent a lot of money on drilling wells, building motor-pumped wells, and laying pipes. However, after the inspections, no one takes care of them. A good well was spoiled because of the lack of supporting facilities and mismanagement and was blocked by sand at the wellhead. Other facilities are also thus deteriorated and broken beyond repair. The farmers reported the problems, which have since been passed on to the next person without any solution. Lao Wang hopes that when the officials of the central government conduct the inspection next time, they would talk to the farmers to understand the situation. Otherwise, the state’s resources will be wasted; as the local government doesnwhen he grew up. He’t act on the problem and the people can only feel sorry and powerless. It is even difficult for the village officials, who truly want to do something to benefit the locals but are not empowered. The village head has made a lot of contributions to the beautiful village, including field trips and training, using his personal expense. The villagers are very grateful to him. Second, he feels the needs of crime crackdown.4 To maintain peace in the countryside, it is necessary to crack down on all criminal acts. The villagers are very 3 A red packet or a red envelope is a monetary gift which is given during holidays or special occasions

such as weddings, graduation or the birth of a baby. Here, it refers to the digital red packets. The mobile instant messaging service WeChat introduced the ability to distribute virtual red envelopes of money to contacts and groups via its mobile payment platform. 4 It refers to the crackdown on crime, which is a scar on a peaceful society. Crime not only harms the lives and property of the people, but also affects the prosperity and stability of the whole society. Waging a crime crackdown campaign can ensure a peaceful society.

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supportive of this policy from the central government, and a small number of criminals have been seized, which pacifies the villagers somewhat. However, some issues surface during the crackdown, as many criminals have their own brand of protection and escape with the help of an informer. Those who are put under arrest are some middle-aged villagers who were involved in some gang fights in their 20s and 30s but no longer have any affiliations with any criminal activities, but instead were put in prison in the place of real criminals. Even when lawyers launched an investigation, the authorities explained someone has to take the place of the bad guys in the detention center. Ultimately, innocent people end up taking the blame. During the harvest season this fall, most of the men in the village left the town for their own safety; only the elders and women stay behind to work in the fields. Third, Lao Wang sees the need for medical insurance. Lao Wang had previously purchased commercial insurance for his wife, but when they really needed it, the reimbursement could not cover the premium cost, which made Lao Wang very disappointed. The state medical insurance is good, but the local referral system is very strict. Unless the patients are almost dying, they will not be referred to other offices. When the elderly seek local treatment while visiting children out of town, their medical bill cannot be reimbursed because they have no referrals. Overall, Lao Wang is satisfied with the improvements of his hometown and the economic situation in recent years. He sincerely hopes that the country will get better and better, and that all challenges are temporary. At present, the village where Lao Wang lives is “building beautiful countryside5 ”, which gives the farmers much hope and pride. According to Lao Wang, his current goal of life is to stay healthy and not to become his children’s burden. The children are all grown-up now, so his only worry is for his youngest daughter, who is still a student and has no boyfriend nor a full-time job. The elderly only hope that their children can live a peaceful and blessed life. Besides that, they hope not to become a burden to their children. Lao Wang has two elder brothers, aged 75 and 67, respectively. They both work in Zhengzhou. Their ages are quite far apart. The eldest brother used to work in the design department of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications; he also worked as a soldier, an administrator and a logistics manager. Later, he worked as an administrative manager and at retirement, was the chief of the department. He has been retired for more than ten years. His retirement income pays RMB 4,000 per month; in addition to his wife’s RMB 2,000 retirement income, the couple currently receives RMB 6,000 income per month. His elder brother also retired from work 10 years ago, and now receives a retirement income of RMB 3,000 per month. He also works as a doorman at a government building and receives a possible additional income of RMB 2,000 per month. Lao Wang is envious of the way his brothers live. 5 In 2013, the central government put forward in its No.1 document for the first time to build a “beau-

tiful countryside”; namely intensifying efforts to making ecological progress in rural areas, environmental protection and comprehensive improvement. China’s Ministry of Agriculture launched a campaign to build a “beautiful countryside” in the same year and officially released the top 10 models for building a beautiful countryside in February 2014, setting an example for creating beautiful countryside areas across the country.

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Currently, the retirement income in the countryside is about RMB 100 per month. There is really a huge gap between their retirement incomes. He thinks that the state should find a way to raise the farmers’ retirement income to somewhere between RMB 500 and RMB 600, which is barely enough to support the lifestyle in his old age. Lao Wang’s biggest expense is the electricity bill, which costs him up to RMB 200 per month. If the air-conditioner is on in summer and winter, the bill can reach RMB 1,000 per month, which is expensive. An average household’s annual expenditure is about RMB 50,000 to cover basic expenses. The United States’ sanction against Iran creates a negative impact on his children’s foreign trade business. His youngest daughter is still in school and has plans to study abroad. This is the time when the family is under the greatest financial pressure. But Lao Wang is still full of hope for the future. His dream is that the country can become richer and stronger, and the children stay safe and healthy.

2 A Tiring Dream for the Child Zhao Chen 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Alias: Mr. Yu Occupation: No stable job Domicile: Dalian City, Liaoning Province Employer: N/A Age: 58 Gender: Male Ethnic Group: Han Level of education: Primary school

Mr. Yu does not know what a dream is, because he has drifted along in his life to this day and always accepted things that happened to him passively. Now, he sees that his daughter studying hard every day and knows of her desire to go to college, thus he now has some dreams. One dream is that his daughter can go to a university and to have a good future; the other dream is that he hopes to be the one amongst his siblings to inherit the house where he lives with his over 90 years old father after he passes away, because Mr. Yu has five brothers and sisters and their father has only one housing property. He has no housing for himself. If everyone competes for the house, he might have nowhere to live. Mr. Yu, a native of Dalian, was born in 1960. He has five siblings, including three brothers and two sisters. He is the youngest child. His family situation is stable. Before the founding of People’s Republic of China, his parents went from Shandong to live with their relatives in Dalian and continued to stay there afterwards. Mr. Yu’s father studied at an old-style private school for a very short time as a child, so he was not very educated. He was very honest, tolerant, and discerning. His mother did not go to school, so she could not write or read, but she was very smart and shrewd. Dalian was once invaded and occupied by the Japanese army. The city had

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an industrial heritage. Mr. Yu’s father worked at a crane factory, and his mother did some part-time jobs, even if they were dirty and tiring. She once unloaded cargo at the dock, carried sacks, swept streets, operated boilers and wove gloves. At that time, life was really difficult, his parents earned a low income and there were many children in the family. Fortunately, they managed to survive with the help of relatives. It was a common occurrence that they did not have enough food and clothes and could not afford education. Shortly after Mr. Yu graduated from elementary school, the Cultural Revolution started, so he did not continue school afterwards. Mr. Yu said that at that time, people didn’t have any self-awareness. They didn’t think about what they wanted to do and just followed others blindly. Whatever was promoted on radio programs, they would follow. Later, he joined the army by pulling some strings and stayed in the army for two years. Demobilization should have been his turning point in life, but the choices open to him lead to a life full of frustrations. When Mr. Yu was demobilized, he had two choices. One was to be a policeman, and the other was to take over his father’s job at the factory. Mr. Yu thought it over and discussed with his family. They agreed that it was too dangerous to be a policeman who risked his life all the time. They thought that being a worker was better, because at that time working at a factory was a stable job with glory. Therefore, Mr. Yu went to work at the factory where his father worked. In the first few years, with a decent salary, he was able to support himself. However, in the late 1980s, the factory basically had no profits, and defaulted on their wage payment every month, so he became short of money. At that time, marriage was usually arranged by parents and matchmakers, and Mr. Yu was of a marriageable age. His elder third brother was not married either, so they all lived in the twobedroom apartment together. Due to his poor economic condition and crowded living environment, no girls wanted to marry him. Life got worse. The factory where Mr. Yu worked closed down, and he was out of work. Mr. Yu was very depressed then. He didn’t know what to do in the future. He was already thirty years old and still unmarried. He didn’t want to be an “old bachelor”. Later, some relatives and friends introduced Mr. Yu to some part-time work to support himself. A year later, someone introduced Mr. Yu to a rural girl from Yimeng, Shandong Province. The matchmaker said although the girl was not good-looking, she was very simple and hardworking. She did housework well and could bear hardships, so she was a good choice to live with. The girl was quite young. She just wanted to leave her village in Yimeng. Mr. Yu was 31 years old then. He met the girl and indeed, did not find her attractive. But after thinking it over, Mr. Yu agreed to marry her. In 1992, Mr. Yu’s daughter was born. Later, by pulling some strings, Mr. Yu entered Dalian Locomotive Works as a mechanic. Before long, an unfortunate thing happened to him. Mr. Yu accidentally cut two fingers off when he was operating the machine. Because he didn’t receive timely medical treatment and the medical conditions were not good enough, he lost his fingers. Based on medical assessment, Mr. Yu’s condition was considered a second-degree disability and he was eligible to receive social security. The factory’s

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profits got worse. Mr. Yu was unemployed again after being bought off the service years6 from the factory. After that, Mr. Yu did not work at a factory again. He only took part-time jobs, such as being a security guard for school dormitories and working as the night watches at plants. Now he serves as a security guard at a residential community and earns about RMB 2,500 per month. Mr. Yu did not have social security at the beginning. Later, a relative said that if you don’t pay social security, you will have no income when you are old; if you pay the minimum social security every month, you can get monthly payment from the neighborhood committee after you reach 60 years of age. Mr. Yu calculated that he had not paid social security for 10 years so he needed to pay more than RMB 10,000 if he wanted to fill in gap. He did not have enough money. His elder third brother was facing the same problem. His brother decided not to pay, saying that he would depend on his children when he gets old. Mr. Yu did not want to pay at first, but he was finally convinced by his relatives to supplement the social security amount. Mr. Yu’s wife came from the countryside and is uneducated. She has always worked temporary jobs such as a hotel waitress and cleaner of office buildings, she had tried nearly everything. Mr. Yu’s daughter is now in the third year of senior high school. She is very good at studying, and she is among the best in a second-tier key high school, so it should be no problem for her to enter one of the second-tier universities. Mr. Yu’s daughter is not smart, but she is fed up with the inconvenience and discrimination her family has brought to her. She knows clearly that receiving good education is the only way out for her. When she returns home, she seldom talks with her parents. She just writes at the table, eats, and sleeps. She never asks for anything because she knows that the parents cannot help her. She almost has no new clothes. Nearly all of her clothes are given to her by her relatives. Her parents do not know if their daughter has a good time at school, if she has any friends or if she is bullied by classmates. Every time they went to the parents’ meeting, her teacher would say the same thing, “Your child studies very hard. If she tries harder, she might even be recruited by a first-tier university. She has no problem to enter a second-tier university.” One of Mr. Yu’s brothers works in a state-owned power enterprise. In order to pursue good prospects for employment for their children, they discussed that their children should major in power engineering, so after graduation, the children can work at the state-owned enterprises. Earlier this year, Mr. Yu’s elder third brother died. He had been laid off years ago. Because he was poor, he did not have social security and no money for medical treatment. His wife, who came from a rural area in Hunan, also left him. His child studied at a professional high school. The child had a good score in the college 6 Buying off the service years is a measure taken by some state-owned enterprises in the initial stage

of reform and opening up in order to lay off redundant staff in the process of reform. Based on the various factors such as the employees’ years of service, their salary level and job post, etc., as well as the actual situation of the enterprise, the enterprise consults with its employees, makes a one-time payment to the employees after getting approval from relevant departments, thereby terminating the contract between enterprise and its surplus staff and integrating them back to society.

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entrance exam, but did not know how to fill out the application form and his parents did not know either. The exam score was high enough, but the child was not recruited by an appropriate college. The elder third brother always felt slightly unwell, but he did not know what disease he had. Some relatives couldn’t get in touch with him for several days, so they broke into his home and found that there was blood all over his body, and that he had already died. The forensic identification showed that he suffered late stage cirrhosis, and the direct cause of his death was asphyxia. After this incident, Mr. Yu felt that fortunately, he has social security. If he is sick, he can still be guaranteed. He will be 60 years old next year, so he can receive the monthly pension of about RMB 2,200. If he works at some part-time jobs, life will be even better. Mr. Yu does not know what a dream is, because he has drifted along in his life to this day and always accepted things that happened to him passively. Now, he sees that his daughter studying hard every day and knows of her desire to go to college, thus he now has some dreams. One dream is that his daughter can go to a university and to have a good future; the other dream is that he hopes to be the one amongst his siblings to inherit the house where he lives with his over 90 years old father after he passes away, because Mr. Yu has five brothers and sisters and their father has only one housing property. He has no housing for himself. If everyone competes for the house, he might have nowhere to live. His father wants to give the apartment to Mr. Yu, but one of his brothers does not agree. Mr. Yu has no dreams for himself; now he has dreams for his child and the house.

3 Approaching Happiness Yang Xiuna 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Alias: Mr. Yang Occupation: Driver Domicile: Xinxiang County, Xinxiang City, Henan Province Employer: A driver of a privately-owned transport company Age: 55 Gender: Male Ethnic Group: Han Level of education: Senior high school

In the past, materials goods were in short supply. He remembers that he envied his elder second brother who had a watch at that time and Mr. Yang thought it was quite fancy. He felt very happy to be able to wear the old clothes of his elder third brother. His dream when he was a child was to drive a car, a train, or fly a plane when he grew up. He said, “I really didn’t expect to have my own car.” Mr. Yang, 55-year-old, is from Xinxiang County, Xinxiang City, Henan Province. He has finished high school. Now he is a driver in a local private transportation company.

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His monthly income is about RMB 10,000, and he expects his income to double in the future. His father, who has passed away, used to be a veteran cadre for the national postal system. His mother used to be an ordinary housewife and is 96 years old this year. Because she had to take care of many kids and complete heavy family chores, his mother has never gone out to work. Since he is the youngest among the seven children in the family, he was spoiled by his parents, brothers and sisters. He didn’t suffer many hardships. Now, he is married and has a child. His wife is a math teacher at a primary school in Xinxiang City. His son is now studying in a university in Shanghai. Mr. Yang recalled that when he was a child, he was very naughty and did not study hard. His grades in elementary school, junior high school and senior high school were average. When he was about to graduate from senior high school, his father had just retired from the postal system, thus he took over for his father to work in the postal organization. Back then, when one’s father retired, he could “pass” the job to his child. But he didn’t expect that the organization would close down a few years later. He was out of the postal system and found a job as a driver using his driving skill. Mr. Yang also recalled that when he was a child, they lived a poor and hard life. He remembered that once he stole a steamed bun (mantou) to eat and was punished by his mother. Back then, rural areas haven’t adopted the household-based production system7 and was collectively operated by production teams.8 When he was in the production team, he was quite simple-minded. No matter what he did, he was very active and pursued self-improvement. Even though they lived in poverty, they felt very happy. In the past, materials goods were in short supply. He remembers that he envied his elder second brother who had a watch at that time and Mr. Yang thought it was quite fancy. He felt very happy to be able to wear the old clothes of his elder third brother. His dream when he was a child was to drive a car, a train, or fly a plane when he grew up. He said, “I really didn’t expect to have my own car.” To be honest, in the past, although people were not financially rich, they were very simple and happy, with high political awareness. Nowadays, people have ample 7 It is another phrase for the household-based contract system and is the main form of China’s house-

hold contract responsibility system. The farmers have the rights of land operation and management, but the land ownership belongs to the state. In accordance with relevant contracts on relevant rights, responsibilities and interests of the signing parties, farmers have the rights to arrange their production activities, and own all the products they yield. In return, they are responsible for paying the agricultural tax to the government, the accumulation taxes and other fees to the collective. The system was used again at Xiaogang Village, Fengyang County, Anhui Province, after the Cultural Revolution. It produced notable effects and was promoted across China. 8 Production team is an organizational form in China’s socialist agricultural economy. In state-owned farms, it is the basic unit of labor organization. In the countryside, it is a cooperative economy of collective ownership and adopts a system of independent accounting and taking full responsibilities for one’s profits and losses. The production materials such as land of the production team belong to them. According to national plans, the team has the right to develop a production plan according to the current situation, work out measures for increasing production, and develop measures for operation and management. The production team also has the right to allocate their products and cash. Upon the condition of completing the task of the state, the production team has the right to dispose of and sell redundant agricultural and sideline products according to China’s policies.

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food and clothing. They can buy anything they would like to, but he always feels that people do not have the same noble thoughts as before. Mr. Yang said that the older generation, such as the generation of his father, were born in the Republic of China era, and experienced the War of Resistance against Japan and the War of Liberation. They witnessed the founding of the People’s Republic of China, experienced the Cultural Revolution and the Great Chinese Famine.9 They lived through all kinds of hardships, but they never pursued their own personal interests at all. Their biggest dream was to contribute to the country and do good deeds without leaving their names. Fame and money were not their goals. Just like Lei Feng,10 they seldom considered themselves, as long as they had the most basic food and clothing. For the people of his generation, it seems that they lack the patriotic feelings for the country and the ambition of contributing to state affairs. They would rather live a happy life with their families. He is now in his 50 s. He has known that what was pre-decided by fate is not within his reach and has accepted many things. His biggest dream now is that his child can achieve academic success, become a useful talent for the country, and treat his parents with filial respect. He also hopes his mother can be healthy and happy in her later years. Speaking of his elderly mother, Mr. Yang is very proud. Mr. Yang said that his elderly mother is 96 years old, but she still reads books every day with the help of a pair of presbyopia glasses. She still has good hearing and eyesight. As the saying goes, “Elders are the treasures of a family.” “My elder mother is the biggest treasure of our family,” Mr. Yang said, with great pleasure. In addition, regarding himself, Mr. Yang said that he hopes that he can be healthy and be taken care of when he is old. He will do his best to educate his child and support his parents, be kind to the people around him and make them feel warm. He would be content if others think him a good man. Although he is not as rich as a millionaire, he lives a rather happy life. He is looking forward to his son finding a girlfriend after graduation from college, getting married and having children. He says these are the tasks he wants to accomplish in life. He can only truly enjoy his old age if he finishes these tasks. As far as the country is concerned, Mr. Yang sincerely hopes that our country will be prosperous, powerful and not get bullied by foreign countries. He also likes to watch CCTV news and keep abreast of the state affairs. He is sincerely happy to see the country become stronger day by day. Mr. Yang considers it necessary to carry out anti-corruption campaigns in recent years, which has been promoted by President Xi Jinping. He thinks that central government officials should travel incognito, which will help them truly understand 9 Refers to the nationwide shortage of grains and non-staple food between 1959 and 1961 due to the

Great Leap Forward Movement and the policies for industrial development at the cost of agricultural development. 10 Lei Feng was a soldier in the People’s Liberation Army and is a communist legend in China. After his death, Lei was characterized as a selfless and modest person devoted to the Communist Party, Mao Zedong, and the people of China.

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the actual life of common people and caution local officials to accept supervision and do practical things for the people. In addition, he hoped that when the government develops relevant policies, they would make them more down-to-earth, more people-oriented, and more realistic. Mr. Yang spoke about a matter from his own experience. In recent years, the government has adopted a series of environmental protection measures to control smog and improve air quality, including setting up bars to limit the height on many sections of highways so as to prohibit heavy trucks carrying goods from going into the town. However, many destinations for delivery are in urban areas, so the heavy trucks have to enter the city. Therefore, many truck drivers have to travel over 20 km out of the way in order to transport the goods to the destinations requested by customers within the specified time and to detour past the highway height limit bars set up by the government. For example, the destination is only about ten minutes’ drive away, but it takes the truck three to four hours to get there due to the height limit bars on highways. This not only goes against the purpose of the height limit bars, but also wastes the driver’s time and energy and consumes more fuel, which causes more air pollution. This is neither economic nor efficient. It does not achieve the original intention of controlling smog, but also brings unnecessary troubles to truck drivers. Moreover, it generates more air pollution sources from burning more gasoline. He hopes that when the government formulates similar policies in the future, they could consider in a comprehensive way and be more down-to-earth. Furthermore, he hopes that the government’s policies could be fairer so that every resident can enjoy the most fundamental benefits and welfare. For example, retired cadres of state-owned enterprises and government-sponsored institutions enjoy high retirement pensions. Because they already own houses and cars, they don’t have to spend much on basic living, and they are reimbursed for medical treatments. On the contrary, common farmers and ordinary people do not enjoy enough benefits and have to work even when they are old. Mr. Yang said in the end, “On the whole, our country is prosperous and people are living in peace. People live a much richer life than before. The society has been progressing. I believe that China will get better in the future.”

4 From a Village to Shenzhen Zhao Chen 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Alias: Ms. Zhang Occupation: Partner of a kindergarten Domicile: Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province Employer: Kindergarten Age: 52 Gender: Female Ethnic Group: Miao Level of education: College diploma

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From a rural teacher to the owner of 12 kindergartens in a first-tier city, after decades of efforts in preschool education, Ms. Zhang has experienced a lot about the fickleness of human nature and thus is full of hope for a kinder and thoughtful society. She believes that her pursuit of dreams is a constantly changing process which continues to go upward as her personal strength increases. From “hoping to be an urban resident”, to “trying to put an end to poverty”, and “developing a preschool education career at hometown”, Ms. Zhang took advantage of the opportunities offered by the times through her hard work and strived to protect the humanistic aspects of society. Ms. Zhang was born in 1967 in the rural area of Jiangyong County, Hunan Province. She is of Miao ethnic group. Her husband Mr. Zhang, born in 1966, came from the same county as her. He is also of the Miao ethnic group. Their only son was born in 1993. Their family structure is stable. Ms. Zhang graduated from a junior teaching college and studied preschool education. Her husband graduated from a secondary school with a major in education. They got to know each other at work and later got married. Ms. Zhang now has 12 kindergartens in Shenzhen, of which 6 are wholly selfowned and 6 are co-owned with her friends. Ms. Zhang left her hometown, a rural area of Hunan and went to Shenzhen in 1995. Ms. Zhang said, “I didn’t feel tired when I fought for my career in Shenzhen. But it was very hard for my husband. He came to Shenzhen in 1991.” Mr. Zhang used to be the headmaster of a rural primary school. The school had about 60 children. Work in the education sector in the countryside was not easy at that time. The headmaster had to do a lot of things for the education department, and the wage payment was often delayed. Ms. Zhang recalled, “The longest delay was for nearly two years without any wage payment. Our life was very difficult.” Back then, Ms. Zhang was a teacher of a kindergarten run by the town government. Her wage payment was not stable either, because the town government often said that there was no money to pay the wages. Mr. Zhang felt that the job was hopeless, so he decided to quit the job and went to Shenzhen to find further development. When he first arrived in Shenzhen, he didn’t know what job he should seek. First, he worked in a supermarket. He didn’t have any place to live in, so he slept in the supermarket. Because there were many Hunan people in Shenzhen with a strong sense of camaraderie, he quickly found a fellow-townsman organization. A townsman heard that he used to be a schoolmaster and introduced him to a school for children of migrant workers. Mr. Zhang was a good teacher and had school management experience, and he eventually became the headmaster of the school with a monthly salary over RMB 800. So, he rented a 10 m2 room. After he settled down, he asked Ms. Zhang to come over. Ms. Zhang found it difficult to make up her mind about whether or not to bring their son to Shenzhen. The boy was only two-years-old. If they left the child with his grandparents at hometown, life would be easier for the couple, but the child would suffer. Ms. Zhang had studied preschool education and knew the importance of early education, so she finally decided to bring her son to Shenzhen. In 1995, the whole family lived in a 10 m2 room in Shenzhen.

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Ms. Zhang worked at a private kindergarten as a teacher and brought her son to the kindergarten too. During this period they moved twice. The first time, they moved into a bigger room to improve their living conditions. The second time, they moved for their son’s education, hoping the boy could go to a better school. At the beginning of 2003, the owner of the kindergarten where Ms. Zhang worked did not want to run a kindergarten and planned to sell it to Ms. Zhang for about RMB 500,000. Ms. Zhang took over the kindergarten using RMB 200,000 of her own money and RMB 300,000 that she borrowed from others. Since then, she has been the owner and the head of the kindergarten. Ms. Zhang said, “Shenzhen has a large non-native population and a complex occupational structure. There are high-end technical talents and also many migrant workers. I have skills, but I am also a migrant from a rural area to Shenzhen.” Shenzhen used to be a small fishing village. In 1995, there were more than 4 million people. By 2017, the number of permanent residents exceeded 12 million. The basic public services in Shenzhen are not sufficient for the rapid increase of population. There are less than 200 public kindergartens in the whole city, while a total of 1,200 kindergartens are needed. Therefore, there is a huge market for private kindergartens. The Shenzhen Municipal Government places great importance on education and public services, supports the development of private kindergartens, and promotes the transition of private kindergartens to inclusive kindergartens. Since 2015, the government has increased subsidies for pre-school children and for private kindergartens. The general subsidy is RMB 60,000–80,000 per class, and the private kindergartens are allowed to charge according to the standard rates of pre-school education institutions in Shenzhen. For a kindergarten with 12 classes, the subsidy provided by the government is RMB 0.72 to RMB 0.96 million per year, and the tuition fee for each child is RMB 800 to RMB 2,000 per month, so a kindergarten’s annual revenue is RMB 4–5 million. All costs deducted, the net profit per year is about RMB 1.5 million. Shenzhen government also provides pre-school education subsidies for families with a registered residence and families with financial troubles, which is about RMB 800–1200 per person per month. Ms. Zhang loves preschool education and has a good business sense. Since 2010, Ms. Zhang has expanded her kindergarten business. She is very professional in terms of conducting the teaching staff training, planning the kindergarten layout, managing human resource development and the teaching arrangements. About 100 children are enrolled each year, chosen from around 300 to 400 applicants. Ms. Zhang said that she runs the kindergartens not just to make money but also to solve the preschool education shortage problem. Therefore, her kindergartens are not franchised, but are established based on the actual needs of the local community, including medium and upscale kindergartens in middle-class and upper-class communities, kindergartens for children of migrant workers in urban fringe areas, and ones for children of factory workers in industrial areas. Kindergarten fees for children of migrant workers in the urban fringe areas are cheaper, usually not more than RMB 800. Ms. Zhang said, “The children of migrant workers are in a bad situation. Uneducated people usually live a busy and hard life. They are physically and mentally exhausted, and have an irritable mental state, so there is no time to take care of and play with their children.

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If I didn’t open kindergartens for them, these children would play only in the mud every day. There have been many cases of child trafficking in Shenzhen. Such small children easily get lost.” In terms of managing the kindergarten and its revenue, Ms. Zhang said, “There are two very important aspects to overlook, having a human touch and creating a balance for the business. Human touch is about the care and cultivation of preschool teachers which aims to inspire their love for children and assist them in continuing to learn and grow. To do so, there would be some costs of personnel training involved, but the wages can be RMB 1,000–2,000 lower than the salary of similar kindergartens. Teachers are also willing to stay because they feel happy and fulfilled. If the kindergartens want to make profit, it’s not necessary for them to follow the instructions of the education department and relevant regulations to the letter. They could be a little more flexible, for example, in class size and the teacher-student ratio, which can be slightly higher than the upper limit. Ethical tax shelters and hiring interns can also save costs, which means a balance between ensuring quality and safety and making profits.” Ms. Zhang said, “There is a different set of rules for living in different places. When I was in Hunan, I felt that I was living in society based on my connections. I had to beg people for everything, for example, wage payment, changing jobs and paying rent for the land. Now in Shenzhen, although there is also a part of society that requires connections, but it is more of a society with kindness and thought. Government officials, as administrators, will help you think, tell you about policies favorable for you or for the city and help you achieve your goals.” In 2018, Ms. Zhang and several partners opened a kindergarten in Beijing and acquired a company. Ms. Zhang said that she had never thought about her dreams. At first, she just wanted to be a city dweller. Later on, she didn’t want to live a poor life, because poverty could seriously affect her child’s development. Ms. Zhang said that she was interested in early childhood education, and that’s why she continued working in this field. Ms. Zhang left her hometown and worked hard in Shenzhen with her husband and gained some wealth. But it didn’t give her a great sense of accomplishment. Although she had so many kindergartens, she also faced huge pressure. Once the parent-teacher relationship goes sour, the kindergarten may be sued. The greatest sense of accomplishment she gets is from her son. She and her husband have the same views towards their child’s education, which is to give the child freedom, choice, respect and to support his independent development. The schools where Ms. Zhang’s son studied were good in Shenzhen, and his grades were ranked in the upper-middle level. In the second year of high school, her son suddenly wanted to go to the United States for college studies. Ms. Zhang discussed this with her husband and agreed. Later, their son was successfully admitted to the University of Southern California to study communication. In 2013, Ms. Zhang got seriously ill due to excessive fatigue. Because her son was studying in the United States, she went to the USA for medical treatment, recuperation and to keep her son company. She stayed there until she recovered. In 2016, his son was admitted to the School of Education, Harvard University to study international education consulting. Now her son has started a business in Shenzhen and has established a team to do educational quality research. The team

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spends about RMB 0.8–1 million a year and is now supported by Ms. Zhang. She said that it’s not a large amount of money and starting a business needs early investment. She hopes that her son can become a professional. Ms. Zhang’s next plan is to support her hometown in the countryside of Hunan Province based in Shenzhen. The preschool education in Shenzhen is developing very fast, has matured and the current policies are very stable, which gives a guarantee for Ms. Zhang’s income and lifestyle. However, the development of preschool education in rural areas of Hunan is still stagnant, and many places do not even have kindergartens. The difference between the quality and education of people in Shenzhen and Hunan may span as much as 20 years in development. Ms. Zhang cited an example. The director of an education bureau in Shenzhen may be a young person in his or her 20 s with a master’s degree of a prestigious university, but government department directors in her hometown are mostly people in their 50 s with a secondary school diploma. So how can the latter promote innovation and development? Ms. Zhang thinks that she has experience, skills and financial resources, so she should go back and develop the preschool education market in her hometown. Ms. Zhang is making plans for this. She feels that the major resistance to the implementation may come from the local government. Due to “skimming off the top”, the plan may not be successfully implemented.” Ms. Zhang repeated her mantra once again, “We need a society with kindness and thought, not a society based on connections.”

5 An Elusive Dream from the Hutong Gou Mengning 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Alias: Xu Ning Occupation: A retired worker and an employee of an air-conditioner company Domicile: Beijing Employer: An air-conditioner company Age: 55 Gender: Male Ethnic Group: Han Level of education: College diploma

“Talking about dreams, Xu Ning thinks that it is not feasible to make money and get married. He thinks that he has great qualities, understands different cultures, and has a good knowledge of both art and science. However, it is difficult for him to realize his dreams in the current social environment. In the past decade, he hasn’t realized any of his dreams.” Xu Ning grew up in an alley (Hutong). It was damp and dark in his room and he often caught a cold. There was a public toilet on the right side of his room, with a coal storage area in front of it, a small waterway on the left, and a small grocery

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store next to it. If there were any sounds coming from his room, people on the other side of the hutong would hear it. In his fifties, he still lives here. He thinks his living quarters are “the bottom of the barrel”. Xu Ning’s parents were both junior high school teachers. Teachers were usually lauded for their efforts in education, but Xu Ning said that he didn’t have a good relationship with his parents. “They worked hard their whole life for their students, and they rarely had time to take care of my elder sister and me. My elder sister and I failed in our college entrance exam. We were truly miserable!” Xu Ning graduated from high school in 1981, and failed the college entrance exam four years in a row. At that time, he tried so hard, hoping to be recruited by a university. He thought that “There is a way out only if one gets into a university.” However, he did not approve of China’s education system and said, “do you think outstanding talents can be educated by rote learning?” After his failure, Xu Ning waited to get a job. In 1985, he went to a technical secondary school and studied mechanics for two years. From 1987 to 1990, Xu Ning studied in a junior college at his own expense. He learned journalism at the School of Broadcasting. He felt it was a failure because people who were engaged in journalism did not even believe in themselves. Starting in 1991, Xu Ning studied elementary German for two to three years at the Goethe School of Beijing Foreign Studies University, and was able to communicate at a basic level. He spent RMB 3,000–5,000 on the studies. He said, “Only after I finished the studies, did I know what the real world was like, what world powers were, and what was considered ‘mainstream’ internationally.” After graduation, he entered the Haidian Institute of New Technology to work and study, and gradually entered a multinational company. In 1996, Xu Ning went to a German company to sell air conditioners. During this period, the company organized a one-month visit to Germany. The highspeed railways, subways, and automobiles of the Western countries greatly shocked him. Speaking of it, Xu Ning used “amazing” three times in a row. He said, “The thing that shocked me most then was that I felt China was so small.” Xu Ning has always had an attitude for learning, saying “It’s never too old to learn”. He wants to study computer science and big data. He feels that many aspects of the future society will gradually change over to unmanned management. As a Beijinger, Xu Ning has no housing property or car. He still lives in the apartment at Xisi with his mother. The apartment, owned by his mother, is less than 10 m2 , just like a prison cell. The place where Xu Ning lives has no chance of demolition for the time being. Although the living environment is unsatisfactory, he is not willing to move elsewhere, saying, “Beijingers should live downtown.” He said that he got his private car driver’s license in 1996, and had to pay an annual fee and affiliation fee11 thereafter. Because he had not paid the fee for three months, the license was revoked. Xu Ning said that Beijing is “not suitable for ordinary people. It’s not livable, and the overall system design is terrible.” However, he has not considered to live in other places. “I am born here, so I definitely have to live here. But I will visit other places if I have a chance in the future. If there are some 11 The fee an individual or institution pays for to become a subordinate or to be affiliated to another institution or organization.

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opportunities for development or cooperation, I’ll also go there and check it out. It’s in the cards.” Xu Ning said that he has not been to any other place in China so far. Xu Ning used to buy the lottery when he was young, but never won a prize. He seldom surfs on the Internet. He only contacts schoolmates via WeChat occasionally, meets with them at the end of the year or during festivals to catch up about their lives. But he said, “They all have their own families and children, and we don’t have many common topics to talk about.” His current hobbies are sports such as swimming and running. He used to be a sports player at school. Now he usually goes to an ecological park to do exercise, and is in great health. He has not had to see a doctor or to do a medical examination in the recent years. However, some of his schoolmates “are hunched and don’t look very well, as if they are malnourished. Sometimes Chinese people just don’t take care of their health and appearance.” He also suggests his schoolmates to do more exercise so that they can have more prospects in life. He believes that Europeans are much stronger because many European people keep fit with regular exercise. Among Xu Ning’s classmates, those with a good family background are living a good life now, but most of his classmates were born into middle-classed families, and were laid off in their 40s and 50s. “People who grew up in Hutongs versus those who grew up in government and military compounds are of two different classes. In a hutong near my home, several hundreds of people were all laid off. Society has been cruel to us.” During his working days, Xu Ning obtained the certificate of senior technician, but it has not helped increase his former salary and the current pension at all. Xu Ning has no one he idolizes. He thinks his life is not so great, so having idols in one’s life is fleeting and meaningless. When talking about dreams, Xu Ning said, “It is good to have a family and raise a child together, then go around the world to experience different cultures.” But he thinks that it is not possible for him to make money and get married. “In Beijing, if you don’t have your own housing property, it is very difficult to form your own company or do anything else.” He thinks he has great qualities, understands different cultures, and has a good knowledge of both arts and science. “I believe it’s no problem for me to start my own company and manufacture products. I can do much better than those excelled in the rigid education system.” Xu Ning believes that social conditions are more important than one’s personal status, but it’s difficult for him to realize his dreams in the current social condition. In the past decade, he hasn’t realized any of his dreams. In terms of marriage, Xu Ning is still unmarried. He has had a rich experience of going blind dates after reaching middle age. “I’ve been on five TV dating programs, and I’ve met at least 5,000 women.” But none of the dates succeeded, because these women wanted men who could afford apartments, cars and overseas trips. “They think they are precious and they don’t set their expectations correctly.” In terms of family, his father has passed away, so he only has his mother and sister now. His relationship with the sister is pretty good. He often visits and chats with her on holidays. However, his relationship with parents is just so-so. He thinks it’s a failure to follow his parents’ instruction to “be kind to people”.

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Xu Ning’s sister is retired. She lives in Xiaoxitian. Her husband has passed away, and her finances are barely enough to scrape by, but “it is still good enough for her to sustain herself.” When his sister was young, she went to a secondary school specializing in working with woolen textiles. Later, she learned English and wanted to enter a foreign enterprise. But she failed three times. “She was replaced by others in the role. The first time, a hairdresser took her place. The third time, she was replaced by a taxi driver’s child. It is a society based on connections. We ordinary people have few resources. It’s difficult for poor people to have opportunities for development.” Xu Ning’s pension is more than RMB 3,000 per month. Now he is working at a private air-conditioning company. He has casual dealings with the company, by selling air conditioners as a subcontractor. The company doesn’t provide training and the income is not stable. Sometimes he earns RMB 4,000–5,000, but sometimes only three thousand. “In the summer I have some business. But in winter, which is an off season, I just manage to survive. Sometimes the payments for goods were not settled. The real economy is unhealthy, with limited resources that can be utilized, so the loans cannot be recovered.” Since the 1990s, Xu Ning has been paying for social security and has no housing provident fund. He is pessimistic about the development of his current and future work. He believes that social resources are now unevenly distributed and there are few opportunities for development. “I have absolutely no chance. I’m not from the government or military compounds and I am not related to any important person by blood, so I will always be at the bottom of society.” Xu Ning said that he has nothing to regret. He thinks that his life is not satisfactory; it can even be said that he is in deep distress without a sense of accomplishment. “I hope this situation could change and people will not think that I am a complete failure.”

The Generation Born in the 1970s Yan Xiaoxu, Yang Tingjuan, Wang Jingjing, Du Jing, and Guo Silu

1 From Ordinary to Extraordinary Yan Xiaoxu 1. Alias: Bai Yi 2. Occupation: Front-line production worker in a state-owned enterprise 3. Domicile: Automotive Industry Development Zone, Changchun City, Jilin Province 4. Employer: FAW Group Co., Ltd. (formerly known as First Automotive Works) 5. Age: 47 6. Gender: Male 7. Ethnic Group: Han 8. Level of education: Bachelor’s degree I hoped to get a promotion and a salary raise at the start of my career by working harder than others, and then for becoming an expert worker after getting promoted to the senior technician. As time goes by, however, for my family to be healthy, safe and sound has become what I want the most. Bai Yi, born in 1972 and with a bachelor’s degree (he went to college after getting a job), is working at a state-owned enterprise (SOE) as a front-line production worker. His annual household income is over RMB 100,000, with his wife working at a used car trading company after being laid off by the state-owned enterprise restructuring. Born in a small town in Changchun City, Jilin Province, Bai Yi’s grandfather, grandmother, father, mother, elder brother and younger sister all live together with him. His father worked as a front-line production worker at a state-owned enterprise (SOE) and his mother a worker at a school-run collective enterprise. Y. Xiaoxu (B) · Y. Tingjuan · W. Jingjing · D. Jing · G. Silu China Development Research Foundation, Beijing, China © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 L. Mai (ed.), The Chinese Dream and Ordinary Chinese People, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4952-0_6

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When Bai Yi was in elementary school, his father decided to move their immediate family of five out of his grandparents’ home. They lived on a limited budget since the whole family was supported by his mother alone after his father suffered from an eye injury at work, and had to take sick leave with minimum sick pay. They didn’t even know where their next meal was coming from, Bai Yi said. Since they lived in the suburbs, his mother had to get up before 5:00 am to cook for the family so there would still be enough time for her to commute to work at 6 o’clock, and catch the 6:00 pm train home from work to cook dinner. Usually, his mother would return the money she borrowed last month with the current month’s salary, which meant she had to borrow money every month after receiving her salary. However, the education of the three children in the family was not affected at all, partly because the parents would not compromise on the education of their children, and partly with the help of their teachers, they qualified for a tuition-free policy for needy families. While he was glad to be able to continue his education, he often had a sense of inferiority when he saw classmates of well-off families Bai Yi said. He understood how hard his mother had been working to carry the burden of raising their family, from whom he had learned to be strong and perseverant. Bai Yi received no pre-school education before he went to elementary school at the age of eight. People of small towns always complained that “it’s just a place where a bunch of kids hang out together,” and that’s why they would not even think about sending kids to kindergarten, Bai Yi said. The policy at the time stated that students should take an entrance exam at the end of the fifth grade; those who did well in the exam would graduate from elementary school and go to junior middle school, while those who did not would go to the sixth grade and then onto junior middle school. Bai Yi passed the entrance exam and went to junior middle school, given his excellent performance in elementary school. Even though he was hard-working, he found it hard to do well there, especially in foreign languages, which 80% of the students in the class were bad at. About 10% of the students dropped out of school due to financial struggles; some students worked hard, and occasional fights could be seen in class. “We would love to help you pay the tuition if you go to college,” the parents told the three siblings, who were urged to do their homework and to listen carefully in class. Perhaps due to the upbringing of the parents, sometimes the siblings would get spanked, even though their parents did not know where the problems lay and how to improve their performance. After all, Bai Yi’s father dropped out of elementary school when was in the fifth grade due to financial struggles and Bai Yi’s mother, after the divorce of her parents, was forced to give up on education from the pressure imposed by her stepmother. He said that there were not many studious students at the time, and no one went for tutoring. Teachers did not discriminate against any students because of their family conditions, which were generally the same. While they were passionate about helping students with problems in studying, teachers would punish them for not doing well in exams, which was a common practice at that time and encouraged by many parents. Bai Yi displayed a gift for creating small objects and making toys from an early age, but regardless, he would get spanked and given a “time out” in a small shed by his father for being naughty and mischievous.

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The fact that Bai Yi failed to get admitted to senior middle school after junior middle school had upset him for a very long time, especially when some of his classmates landed good jobs. At that time, he wanted to work at a state-owned enterprise. He then sold grilled tofu skewers from home for several months, but his parents felt that this was not a long-term solution and Bai Yi himself wanted to find a real job. They decided to that he should take up the opportunity to enroll in a technical school. However, as the policy stated that small town hukou1 holders are not allowed to enter technical schools, the whole family moved to an urban area to rent a house, so Bai Yi could register as an urban resident and his younger sister could also go to school in urban areas. After achieving an excellent performance in a technical school in Changchun City for one year, he got an opportunity to work at an electrical machinery plant in Changchun after graduation. Five years later, around 1995, upon the recommendation of a relative (who was a worker there), Bai Yi was recruited as a skilled worker in Changchun First Automotive Works, where he learned technology from senior-level workers and worked very hard. After his son was born in 1996, Bai Yi worked even harder for a better career and for more subsidies to improve their life. Through self-directed learning, he took many exams and obtained the qualifications for intermediate-skilled workers, senior-level workers, technicians and senior technicians, one after another. He managed to pass all of three of them in 2011, which made him very proud of himself. Since Bai Yi started attending the technical school, he started making his own decisions, and did not rely on his family for any financial support even when he was in the midst of changing jobs, for his parents were not well-off enough to support him financially anyway. Bai Yi has never been stingy when it came to investment in his child’s education. When his wife was too busy with work to care of their son, Bai Yi decided to send his 17-month-old son Songzi to a private nursery school, where a dozen children, ranging from 17 months to seven-year olds, were all taken care of by one baby-sitter, and of course, Songzi was then the youngest. After Songzi was admitted to a standard kindergarten of the First Automotive Works at three years of age, the family moved twice for him to receive better pre-school education, and the second move was to the area of the elementary school Bai Yi had chosen for his son. Songzi got spanked often for being very naughty and not listening to his parents, after which he would have to be taught same lessons again and again. Bai Yi even threw a large amount of money into bribing the relevant people just to get his son into a better elementary school and junior middle school. Songzi began to learn painting from the age of four, and English at the age of five and a half, as well as Chinese Penmanship at the age of six and pen calligraphy at the age of seven. As 1 China’s

household registration management system. Based on each individual household, it is for population management and is divided into non-agricultural registered permanent residence and agricultural registered permanent residence according to biological inheritance and geographical location. It took shape in the 1950 s and is a fundamental system in China’s state planning system. The hukou system categorizes Chinese citizens into agricultural (rural) hukou holders and nonagricultural (urban) hukou holders.

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he was still very naughty during elementary school, parents were called to a meeting with his teachers once a week. Even after taking nine courses and getting after-school tutoring for these courses in junior middle school, Songzi eventually got admitted to a mid-tier senior middle school, and Bai Yi’s further spent some effort to get his son into a better class at the school. After-school tutoring for every course in senior middle school kept increasing in price, and Bai Yi’s wife had to stay up late till 1:00 am or 2:00 am to help Songzi with homework and go to work on time the next day, on top of taking him to afterschool tutoring on the weekend. The money spent on these lessons made up than half of the family’s total expenditure, Songzi’s mother said. Except for the school spring tours and occasional travels with his parents, taking after-school tutoring was all that Songzi spent his spare time on in elementary school and secondary school, with no other extracurricular activities and sports. Bai Yi and his wife knew that the friends of Songzi were not doing well at school, but they not bad kids. One of them was admitted to university and the others to colleges; according to Songzi, only four students in his class were admitted to universities. Some students were commonly seen fighting with each other in school, but not Songzi, who was praised for being charismatic by his teachers. Later, he was admitted to a university, and is now a senior student majoring in Urban Water Supply Engineering, set to graduate in July 2019. Songzi has not received a job offer yet, and that became the thing that Bai Yi was most anxious about. Bai Yi has an elder brother who was often hospitalized due to a long-term illness in elementary school, as well as a younger sister. This affected his brother’s studies a lot and his grades were not good. His brother used to be spanked a lot for being mischievous and doing poorly in school, while parents questioned him about he didn’t study hard in school, but never bothered to take him to after-school tutoring. Of course, there was no such thing as after-school tutoring back then. Bai Yi speaks highly of his brother’s sense of responsibility, of the efforts he made to get Bai Yi into technical school and the part he played in his younger sister’s school transfer. His brother gives him advice about his marriage and family. In the eyes of Bai Yi, his younger sister is a child who needs to be taken care of forever. She went to a technical school after junior middle school, and worked for a construction machinery company in Jilin Province. Due to the poor finances of the company a few years later, his younger sister was laid off and received lump-sum severance pay. Following this, she sold clothes and general merchandise for a living, and became a full-time housewife when she got married and had children. Bai Yi does not have special hobbies except for bottle collection, and most of the bottles he collected are from alcoholic drinks gifted by others. One of the books that had the most influence on Bai Yi is The Secret, an inspirational book that strengthens his faith when he is feeling low or in a difficult situation. Bai Yi has many dreams. He would go all out on whatever he does; he also wants to make a fortune and seek material well-being through his own efforts. He expects his son to have a bright future, and to make a difference by travelling around China and the world to enrich himself and broaden his horizons, to pursue a good quality of life, to do what he wants, as well as to help people in need.

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Bai Yi had hoped to receive a promotion and a salary raise at the start of his career by working harder than others, and then for becoming an expert worker after getting promoted to the senior technician. As time goes by, however, for his family to stay healthy, safe and sound has become what he wants the most. He understands that young people would be more stressed in today’s social environment, and believes that inequality is inherent and the next generation maybe face more unequal opportunities than his generation. While the ideal of his father’s generation was to live above subsistence level, and to eat refined grains (as a sign of wealth), Bai Yi now has different aspirations given the fact that people currently have enough to meet their basic needs of food and shelter. Bai Yi would love to make friends who are honest, trustworthy, hardworking and filial. Now he has friends who work as driving school coaches, factory workers or self-employed businessmen, and occasionally they would have a small chat over drinks, mostly about the education and work of their children.

2 Three Generations of a Family Run a Relay Race to Fulfill the University Dream Yang Tingjuan 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Alias: Mr. Yang Occupation: Managerial personnel Domicile: Xincheng District, Pingdingshan City, Henan Province Employer: Pingdingshan Tabaco Age: 46 Gender: Male Ethnic Group: Han Level of education: College diploma

My first thanks goes to the fair policies upheld in the college entrance exam in China, without which it would be neither possible for the three generations of my family to fulfill the university dream, nor for other rural children. Environment, ambition and efforts are three elements that build our dreams. Born in 1973 in Baofeng County, Henan Province, Mr. Yang went to junior college after graduating from secondary normal school. He is working at a state-owned enterprise (SOE) as one of the managerial personnel, with an annual income of RMB 100,000–120,000. His wife also works at a state-owned enterprise (SOE) and his daughter is a student of the School of International Relations, Peking University, while his elderly father is bedbound. They own two housings in the local area, which are their most important assets. Mr. Yang was born and raised in the rural areas of Henan Province, the son of a coal miner (father) and a farmer (mother). “Yitouchen” was what the local people

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describe this type of family, which means that one person in the family has a real job, while the other does farming work, and the whole family lives in rural areas. Due to one spouse being a farmer in such families, their living standards are lower than those of the two-paycheck families in urban areas, but slightly better than those of the average rural families. Mr. Yang was a good student from a young age, and the family was very supportive of him. One of the things that left a deep impression on him was that he did not achieve an optimal score on his exams in the third year of elementary school. He scored 89 points for Chinese language and 93 for mathematics, but it also meant that he did not earn a perfect score as his parents required. He therefore chose to tear up the school report to cover the truth, (which he dared not tell for a long time) but without lying. Later, when Mr. Yang finally told his parents happened after they repeated questioned, they did not criticize him harshly as he had expected. In the fifth year of elementary school, he bought a book named The Life of a Man of Character, the first social science book that he read and understood. It was the first book he read outside of comic strips and fairy tales and different from watching movies and videos. It opened up his mind, so he began to observe the social environment around him and has gradually formed the habit of thinking deeply about the world around him, which he thinks has brought him lifelong benefits. Mr. Yang has chosen two things to illustrate his perception of the Chinese Dream. One is the progress of the times, reflected through his four household registrations. The first household registration was in 1986 when Mr. Yang’s sister took over the job at the coal mine and had to report to local village police station for transfer of Hukou. On a heavy snow day, his father walked to the police station and found the director in charge of such matters by asking around, for no office of such kind was set up back then. “Sorry, Hukou relocation certificates2 have run out,” the director told him, after lazily asking for the details and taking a glance of well-prepared documents from the coal mine. “So where can we get it?” his father asked. “The County Public Security Bureau.” “Could you please tell me when you will go there?” his father asked. “Not sure yet. Not these days, anyway, and we might not get the relocation certificates.” Walking out of the police station, Mr. Yang’s father squatted on the ground for a long time, during which it occurred to him that he had an acquaintance who was working in County Public Security Bureau, so he decided to give it a try. Determined to get the job done for his daughter, Mr. Yang’s father went back and forth for more than 30 km by foot in the heavy snow, and finally got a relocation certificate before his contact got off work in the afternoon. The director of the household registration was surprised to see him back in his office, and after he heard the whole story, he made the Hukou transfer as Mr. Yang’s father wanted. In fact, his father saw a pile of relocation certificates when the director opened the drawer, and it was the same 2 It is a certificate for a citizen to immigrate to a new registered permanent residence. It is issued by

a public security organ at the place where the citizen immigrates from.

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as the one he got after rushing about for a whole day; yet the director felt no guilt about making his father run around the entire day. The second household registration was in 1989 when Mr. Yang was admitted to a secondary normal school, and his Hukou needed to be transferred as required. Mr. Yang and his father came to the village police station and met with a new staff member for household registration, only to find that they were refused again by the same excuse that they were “running out of the relocation certificates” even with well-prepared documents. Now that their contact in County Public Security Bureau retired and moved to other place, they had no other choice but return home and wait. As days went by, the fact that there was still no way out of this situation made his mother so worried about Mr. Yang might not go to school that she wept several times. Back in those days, even with good grades, students from rural areas could be easily turned down for school for some ridiculous reasons, including their height or weight, or having no knowledge of music score, or the excuse that they were “running out of the relocation certificates”, or even for no given reason. Mr. Yang has a relative who was told that he was not admitted to a secondary technical school, but wasn’t given the reason. It was a time when attending a secondary technical school and a secondary normal school meant the turning point in the destiny of some people in rural areas, Mr. Yang said. Fortunately, his teacher helped the family out when he learned about their trouble in household registration. The third household registration was in 2015 when Mr. Yang, his wife and daughter applied for cross-district transfer of Hukou, which was completed in mere half a day. The fourth household registration was in 2016 when the family transferred the Hukou of his daughter to Peking University, and it took less than half an hour to get all things done. Mr. Yang credited it to the great improvements in the system and supervision of the household registration instead of the fact that his daughter was the top scorer in the college entrance exam to Peking University, for all applicants to transfer the Hukou also benefitted from these improvements. Mr. Yang has to tell this long story to his daughter to allow her to understand how all these things happened so she can empathize with him. After all, his daughter and the other younger generation in China had not experienced the hardships in the past, and only those who had gone through dark moments to see the light know how much better life is in today’s society, and become even more confident in the future. The other is the relay race of university dream by three generations of the family. His parents, who had only gone to elementary school, gave Mr. Yang strong support growing up. The three elementary schools and two junior high schools he went to, which were located in rural areas, were decided by his parents after they did a lot of research, and the education he received was quite good compared to his peers. Parents want to be helpful in their child’s education, but sometimes nothing helpful could be done in some situations because they did not know the right way to solve problems. There was a time when Mr. Yang was affected by an infectious skin acne at school. The treatment conditions were poor, and some rural remedies were applied in his treatment, after which he repeatedly contracted the acne again in the spring for the next two years and was unable to sleep at night with the itchy skin while in boarding school. Mr. Yang had to suspend his schooling twice in the third year of junior middle

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school, as it took two months for each flare-up to get better. Therefore, he made up his mind returning to the third year of junior middle school and to not board at school. In the days that followed, Mr. Yang ran a distance of four kilometers every day from the township middle school back home after evening studies at 10:00 pm, and then got up at 4:40 am to go to school early to study. A distance of four kilometers might not be much of a problem in urban areas, but running across the open, dark countryside with farm fields, cemeteries, river valleys, railway tracks for a boy of about fourteen was not easy, especially in winter with strong northern wind and nobody in sight. One year when there was heavy snow, Mr. Yang wore a pair of knee-high rubber shoes to run to school, only to find that his feet had bled until his socks were dyed red. What’s worse, he couldn’t deal with this situation until he got home, for there was no warm water available in his school. To add to the situation, it took more than half an hour that evening at home before he took off the socks. Even with these hardships, Mr. Yang never missed class. Fortunately, Mr. Yang was not infected with acne that year, and was admitted to a secondary normal school. He had achieved third place in the township and a score of 41 points higher than the admission minimum of the number one high school in the county. After doing military training for a month, however, it suddenly occurred to Mr. Yang what it meant to graduate from a normal school—that he may be an elementary school teacher for the rest of his life. It was the first time that he had thought about his lifelong path ahead and his place in society, instead of homework or grades, which is what he thought about in the past. Mr. Yang returned home after a fortnight of emotional conflict, and discussed with parents about going to university, before deciding he would quit the normal school to enter a senior middle school. He did not want a preset life of being a normal school student, being an elementary school teacher and working until retirement. However, his parents persuaded him to rethink this choice rather than being simply supportive this time, saying “Be a good boy, go back the normal school and soon you can find a good job”. The fact was that his parents simply wanted him to live a stable life and leave the rural area forever, Mr. Yang said. Coincidentally, it was the time when his father had an accident at work and had his arm severely broken, which was undoubtedly a heavy blow to a physical laborer that had a family to support. Mr. Yang returned to the normal school and felt down for more than two years. Perhaps it was God’s will, as he recalled what had happened to his family. If only his father was not in an accident, or if only he had made the decision to change to a senior middle school a month earlier. Unfortunately, his dream came to an end in the secondary normal school; Mr. Yang did not succeed in breaking through the constraints of the times and did not fulfill his own ambition. Years later, Mr. Yang had his own daughter who is the apple of his eye, and he was determined to give his daughter a comfortable and stable life and support her dreams as much as possible. To create a positive environment, he quit gambling and resolved this problem when his daughter was three-years-old. He devoted much of his life to the education of his daughter, and found the best elementary school and middle schools in their jurisdiction area for her. Since middle school, it was Mr. Yang and his wife who gently woke their daughter up in the morning to avoid the tense shrill of the alarm clock. They also would discuss problems together like friends. Twenty years passed before his daughter was admitted to Peking University in 2016.

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Speaking of the relay race towards the university dream run by three generations of his family, he is firstly thankful for the fair policies of the college entrance exam in China, without which it was impossible for children in rural areas to fulfill their university dream. Environment, ambition and efforts are three elements that build our dreams, Mr. Yang said. Both in work and life, Mr. Yang has stayed calm and composed. When asked about his life goal, he said that he should be dedicated to his work and play his role in the society. He just hopes that everything would be turn out as good as we have expected. Mr. Yang has also treated others sincerely and created a harmonious environment with the people around him. “Otherwise one would be disinterested in life in an unharmonious environment where everyone is unhappy about something,” Mr. Yang said. There are three things on Mr. Yang’s mind. One is the age and health condition of his eighty-year-old father, who has suffered from left hemiplegia for six years and needs 24 h care as he is unable to move around on his own. It is not that easy to hire other people to take care of his father. Because Mr. Yang has a job, sometimes he would feel too exhausted to do it, and that’s why he needs to make fall back arrangements. However, it is difficult to find a suitable place for his father because nursing homes are either too crowded or have poor living conditions and services. The second is about the social climate. Given the fact that some people would go all out to protect and fight for their own interests, ignoring the meaning and ethics of their actions, an air of anger and violence is spreading all around. Mr. Yang always feels concerned every time there are unexpected social incidents. It is also a cause of the current social disorder, he said, believing that social development should be so much more than economic development, both in terms of the traditions in China or the world at large. The third is about his own late years. Since most families have only child in today’s society, Mr. Yang often thinks about where his daughter would settle down and how to provide for his late years in the same city. “After all, home prices are still going up,” Mr. Yang said. Speaking of his own Chinese Dream, Mr. Yang contemplated for a long time and said, “Everyone has dreams. I used to wonder how to live a better life in China. Now I feel that one should be working hard into the future, and should never rush around or dilly dally. When asked about his expectations for the future and his dreams, he gave a summary, saying “Maybe a little bit of improvement but as long as we are happy, that is enough.”

3 Farmers and Land Wang Jingjing 1. Alias: Li Sheng 2. Occupation: A farmer and migrant worker

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Domicile: Wuzhi County, Jiaozuo City, Henan Province Employer: A private tannery Age: 42 Gender: Male Ethnic Group: Hui Level of education: Primary school

Having worked at a private tannery as a blue-collar worker for years, “I think it is better to have land in rural areas as farmers than to live in urban areas as migrant rural workers. At the end of the day, people in rural areas are used to living off the land, and still continue have sentiment for the land. It was the pressure of providing a living that I had my land contracted to others, but would be glad to return to the village to be a farmer if there were changes in national policies in the coming years and I could earn enough money for a living,” Li Sheng said frankly. Born in a rural village at Wuzhi County in Jiaozuo City, Henan Province in 1977 and having only finished elementary school, Li Sheng is working in a private tannery in the local area, with a monthly salary of RMB 3,000 and no insurance and housing fund benefits. With a 69-year-old mother and 72-year-old father to provide for, he also has a 20-year-old son and a 10-year-old daughter to raise. His wife is of the same age as him but his income has been the main source of income for his family. Parents were often summoned to communicate with teachers about the mediocre performance of their son, but without much schooling, they were incapable of giving any effective education guidance. Li Sheng dropped out of school after elementary school partly because he was not doing well in school, and partly because of the financial struggles and heavy debts held by the family, and he wanted to work and get the debts paid off as soon as possible. Today, he would envy those who have education and work as a white-collar worker instead of being farmers or blue-collar workers making their living on physical labor. Before Li Sheng turned 18, the family income came from his father who was working the land and herding sheep. Now he and his wife provide the majority of the family income, while his father cleans a mosque with a monthly salary of RMB 500–600. He had a happy childhood even if his family was financially disadvantaged, Li Sheng said. He laughed when speaking about his most interesting experience back then—stealing apples from apple orchards. Li Sheng felt that he should take up responsibility from an early age as the family was always short of money and had to borrow a lot. Therefore, he had worked as a part-timer in many places such as paper mills and canteens, as a forklift driver for several months and even nailed sheepskins in leather factories since the age of 12. It has been over 20 years since Li Sheng became a blue-collar worker at the tannery in 1996. When the county began practicing environmental protection seven or eight years ago, most of the tanneries in the village were shut down, and the income of the tannery where he worked and of the workers were affected. As Li Sheng cannot

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survive without work given the circumstances of his family, he is learning skills for self-improvement and to increase his income. Li Sheng is currently taking the test for a B1 driver’s license, and wants to increase his income by driving heavy vehicles. The income could be very considerable, up to RMB 10,000 or so every month. However, the tradition in the village is that the family would not allow their only son to drive heavy vehicles due to the high risk of accidents in dark nights and enormous hardships. Such incidents have been seen in his village almost every year. Li Sheng believes that a man of his age should be skilled in some kind of work. Regardless of any other plans and hobbies or interests he wants to pursue, more income is the only thing that he wants right now. His parents are not very supportive of his decision because they want their son to be safe and sound, and that’s why Li Sheng did not tell his parents about the driving test. Now he often feels stressed out, what with work and practicing for the driving test. Li Sheng said that the land at home (two or three acres) was contracted to other farmers, who would give him grains every harvest season, but it was barely enough for the family. “I think it is better to have land in rural areas as farmers than to live in urban areas as migrant rural workers. At the end of the day, people in rural areas are used to living off the land, and still continue have sentiment for the land. It was the pressure of providing a living that I had my land contracted to others, but would be glad to return to the village to be a farmer if there were changes in national policies in the coming years and I could earn enough money for a living,” Li Sheng said. An expected income of RMB 70,000 or 80,000 a year would make him very happy, as the family expenditure would require RMB 40,000 or 50,000 or so. While the prices of daily necessities, especially meat, eggs and vegetables have been rising, but his income and the tannery’s benefits have not. Simply speaking, he wants to make money without breaking the law. A newly built house and a deposit of more than RMB 100,000 which he has been saving for half his life are all that Li Sheng has right now, which he has prepared for his son’s marriage. In addition, the family may have to purchase a car and save more money, and that’s why Li Sheng wants to work as hard as he can. Marriage was surely the most important turning point for Li Sheng. He married in at the beginning of 1998 and his son was born at the end of the year. He feels an even heavier burden on his shoulder after his birth and has been working hard for the family. “It’s time for my son to get married,” he said, and that is his biggest wish at present. Li Sheng has some hobbies, such as playing table tennis; “It is a minor hobby and I don’t play very well,” he said. He also likes traveling and going out with other mountaineers two or three times a year to undeveloped scenic spots. They went to Songshan Mountain not long ago. Li Sheng wants to drive around to many places which is one of the reasons that is he learning to drive. He showed slight embarrassment when his mother added that he would buy lottery tickets sometimes. Many people want to make a fortune, so does Li Sheng, perhaps it’s a dream for him.

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It was also revealed that he read lots of books when he was around 15 or 16, written by Jin Yong.3 Li Sheng is glad to see the great improvements in the village, achieved through “building beautiful countryside” campaign. The roads, street lights and wells have been improved and a sports arena has been built for them to play table tennis or take a walk. The former village committee had been useless and there was potential foul play going on. It’s much better now with so many tangible benefits delivered to people, and it is what the farmers really want from the government. As a determined patriot, Li Sheng is loyal to the Communist Party of PRC and upholds collective interests over personal interests. It is thanks to the leadership of the Communist Party that Chinese people have been lifted from utter poverty to live a decent life and make a living in a peaceful environment, he said. In today’s society, the farmers no longer need to pay a grain tax and instead receive agricultural subsidies from the government. People’s living standards have improved, with a monthly pension of about RMB 90 provided for the elderly people over 60 in rural areas, and it has been proven that the government cares about farmers. As for the new rural cooperative medical insurance policies, Li Sheng spoke highly of the amount of reimbursement, with only a few small complaints on the complicated procedures. Li Sheng would like to live in the rural areas, where there are homesteads and small yards, with a stable job to support the family. Getting rich overnight is an unrealistic dream. The electric lights and telephones that Li Sheng wanted to have in his childhood have already been installed, in addition to a big color TV in the house. People now have foodstuffs made of wheat flour as they had wanted in their childhood, instead of the steamed buns made of buckwheat, sorghum and maize flour in the past. “Farmers do not know what to expect for future, and it is enough to be able to live a better life,” Li Sheng said. He expects to see a higher pension for the elderly, “It would be so much better if free medical care and free education were available.” Li Sheng does not like working in urban areas, because he feels uncomfortable with the people who look down upon migrant rural workers. He had missed a quite a few opportunities. Having thought about going into the business of cashmere car cushions a few years ago, he decided to sell the sheepskins for fear of sustaining losses. Li Sheng did not regret it as the business began to decline after a year. It was because of pollution control that the economic development in village was on a downward trend and there was less production of cashmere car cushions. Li Sheng failed to realize his childhood dream of becoming a driver because of the financial situation of his family, and even if he had achieved it, he would only get a small monthly salary of RMB 200. Now he wants to make as much money as he can without breaking the law to create a better life for his kids. Going forward, he hopes that they could live a happy life without diseases or accidents. Li Sheng feels more 3 Jin

Yong (March 10, 1924–October 30, 2018). His original name is Zha Liangyong. He was born in Haining City, Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province and moved to Hong Kong in 1948. He is a contemporary martial arts novelist, newsman, entrepreneur, publicist, and social activist. He is honored as one of “Top Gifted Scholars in Hong Kong”.

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than proud for the newly-built house, which is the most important criteria for his son to get married. Li Sheng’s good friends are from work, and work is also what they usually discuss. Even with a better life, Li Sheng is cautious about spending money. A small illness is no big deal, but he cannot afford serious diseases, which might cost the savings of his entire life and leave nobody the family can depend on. Moreover, the annual family expenditure has reached more than RMB 30,000. His parents are getting older and the kids are growing up and he really wants to see his son getting married soon, Li Sheng explained. Li Sheng’s father stopped smoking only in recent years and has been taking medicine for bronchitis, persistent coughing and small cardiovascular and cerebrovascular problems from being a smoker. His nearly 70-year-old mother who is crippled also has to take medicine for serious rheumatism and stomach illness. Li Sheng knows how hard his parents have worked in life and how great they have been to him, in particular now that he has his own children and wants to give them the best in the world. Raised by a kind mother and a demanding father, Li Sheng has been encouraged to make money. Like other traditional Chinese families, he feels that two men don’t have much to talk with and communicates more with his mother than with his father, but not about his own troubles. When asked about the studies of his daughter and son, “They are not doing very well at school. I have tried, but some kids are born this way,” Li Sheng said with a smile. He said that his son who is introverted and likes playing video games communicates more with his wife and daughter, while his daughter who is extroverted and likes painting is much closer to him. Having planned to find his son a job in a foreign trade company in Guangzhou, Li Sheng managed to send his son to Iran to study Persian for one year. However, due to the US sanctions against Iran, China’s exports to Persia had plummeted, and a large number of foreign trade companies closed down and stopped hiring. Now his son is learning auto repair at home after spending six months and RMB 5,000 in Guangzhou. Li Sheng wants his son to get a girlfriend and to get married, but the good friends of his son are almost all male. He does not spank his kids except for when his son was still a kindergarten age. His son told him that bullying in senior middle school occasional happened, but he was never involved. That his kids could find good jobs in the future is what Li Sheng hopes the most. The family’s hometown Gedangdian Village is a very rich village in Wuzhi County, where many villagers had made a fortune through the cashmere car cushions business in the past few decades. Li Sheng wants to become a heavy vehicle driver. A tough and optimistic man, though, he feels stressed and helpless sometimes, with elderly parents to provide for and a daughter to raise and educate. His wife has to take care of household affairs and take low-paying part-time jobs. Li Sheng said over and over again in the interview that he really needs to make money and cannot afford to be sick, for his monthly income of RMB 3,000 is all that supports the family.

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4 The Bright Future of Large-Scale Agriculture Du Jing 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Alias: Yong Run Occupation: Large-scale agriculture manager Domicile: Huaxian County, Anyang City, Henan Province Employer: Agricultural Machinery Cooperatives (AMC) and Planting Professional Cooperatives Age: 45 Gender: Male Ethnic Group: Han Level of education: Junior high school

Yong Run described himself as someone who “looks for a horse while riding on a mule”, meaning that he would never stop looking for better opportunities and challenging the status quo. At present, he plans to build an office building and a Farming Culture Center to show how traditional agriculture has evolved to modern agriculture in Huaxian County since the founding of the People’s Republic of China. In the long run, his ambition is to realize the modernization of larger-scale agriculture, achieve food security for China and help the dream of farmers to become rich come true. Born to a rural family in Wangu Town of the Huaxian County, Henan Province in 1974, Yong Run has three brothers and a sister who work in agriculture in their village. As the director of Agricultural Machinery Cooperatives (AMC) and Planting Professional Cooperatives, he plans to make the development of large-scale agriculture (food crops such as wheat and maize), to gain its economic benefits and increase income through exploring agricultural intelligence and mechanization. He wants to change the agricultural production pattern to one where “all the farming work only needs to be finished by farmers”. From his perspective, it is the future of Chinese agriculture, which we should endeavor to make possible. As his parents could not afford the educational costs for the siblings, they had to drop out of school and work in agriculture or find other jobs to support the whole family. Yong Run dropped out of junior middle school in 1988, which he said is the thing he regrets the most in his life. At that time, students had to bring their own food to school for lunch. However, the rural areas were so poor that the family could not have enough food to eat and money to spend, let alone have food for the kids to take to school. By the way, the class teacher had visited the family twice to persuade his parents to continue Yong Run’s education after he dropped out. From an early age, Yong Run has shown his interest in new pursuits, and learned to write poems on his own. His unremitting efforts to pursue agricultural learning won him a junior college diploma in 2013. Yong Run always tried to find ways to facilitate the engagement of agricultural training programs in the county. Bearing in mind what Chairman Mao had ever said that “you will fall behind others if you stop studying for more than three days,” he believes that we farmers are supposed to study

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as hard as they can to advance with the new era, and mentioned a mobile application named “Xuexiqiangguo (https://www.xuexi.cn/)”, from which he has benefited a lot by watching videos related to the rural areas, farmers and agriculture. Yong Run had thought about what his future would be when he dropped out. As he initially wanted to join the army, Yong Run underwent militia training in town in 1991, during which he worked so hard, never shirked his responsibilities, or manipulated or cheated during the performance assessments. As a result, he was awarded with Outstanding Militia Training through all of these efforts. Despite this, Yong Run decided not to join the army, partly because the family had no idea how to pull strings after Yong Run’s father passed away and partly because there was a possibility that three years of military life would not make his life any better after demobilization. In 1992, Yong Run and his cousin went to Tianjin to work as the plasterers in some construction sites. Yong Run encountered an old classmate at the long-distance bus stop to Tianjin, and was what he said left a deep impression on Yong Run. As an auto mechanic trainee in Tianjin, his classmate paid a tuition of RMB 200 instead of being paid for his hard work, which was unacceptable from the point-of-view of Yong Run, when RMB 200 was the monthly salary he was getting from the construction sites every month. However, the fact that this classmate turned into a businessman ten years later made him realize the importance of technology and became one of the drivers for his life-long learning. Starting their work at age of sixteen and seventeen, Yong Run and his cousin made a living by learning some basic techniques of plastering. In a short period of three years the cousins had become top-grade workers, which meant they were perfectly qualified for every job in the decor industry. He was a hard-working and skilled worker at construction sites, leaving a good impression on his labor contractor, Yong Run said. Wage arrears for migrant rural workers used to be something commonly seen in China, and the contractor still owes him RMB 1,000 to date. In 1998, with the savings from construction work, 22-year-old Yong Run got married which was something very important in his life. Since then, he had been more determined to make a career in his hometown, rather than being a migrant rural worker somewhere far away from home. At first, the labor contractors in the village came to Yong Run to offer him a wage of RMB 7.5 per day, which was much less than the RMB 35 when he worked in Tianjin. He then realized that only working for construction teams would not be helpful in making much money. With the financial support (a few thousand yuan) from his wife, Yong Run bought a three-wheeled lorry for farming and grain trade, and earned in an annual income of RMB 30,000. Around the year 2000, Yong Run already had more than ten acres of land to farm, including the six acres of contracted land from the production teams. He formed a construction team in 2002 to take on simple plastering work, and later bought some concrete mixers after making some money. The people around him did not understand him and thought what he was doing was useless, saying that “this should be something only used in urban areas, not in rural places.” As time went by, however, it was proven that the strength of the concrete mixers improved efficiency and saved labor, Yong Run began undertaking some small projects such as small-scale concrete pavement

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hardening. With such obvious benefits, concrete mixers could be seen everywhere around the village just three years after Yong Run brought them in. Yong Run brought larger concrete mixers in 2006 and 2007 because he recognized importance of their advantages in labor and time saved in comparison to the cost. Moreover, these machines could be rented to someone else when they were not being used by his team. Since then, the construction team began undertaking large concrete road construction projects in the villages, with a new and converted loader that was able to finish the same amount of work as five laborer every day. From 2008 to 2011, the construction team had shifted their work out of the décor industry and instead focused on road construction, and was able to make an annual income of about RMB 300,000. At the elections of the Village Committee and Village Party Committee, Yong Run was elected the village head. When attending the village officials meeting, he learned about the initiative for rural land circulation and decided to actively deploy this initiative. Given the stable income from road construction, no one in the family would support him on this matter, but Yong Run wanted to do the land circulation early and seek progressive growth. “I would like to try what the rich do not care about, and the poor are not able to do financially”, he said, for there was bound to be a future for the farmers with a land contract right. In the autumn of 2012, Yong Run transferred 900 acres of land through land circulation, and two compact tractors and a four-wheeler were bought into sow the wheat. While it used to take two or three days to sow the wheat on a few acres of land, it only took 22 days for them to finish the work with these new machines. Unfamiliar with the operation of high-power machinery, the sowing quality was not good, resulting in a yield of only 350 kg/acre (now more than 500 kg/acre). Even though he did not know characteristics of local large-scale agricultural production well, he bought a sprinkler irrigation equipment valued at more than RMB 200,000 after learning from someone else that sprinkling irrigation was easy to use. However, it did not occur to him that the windy days and changeable wind direction in local areas would lead to insufficient water-yield capacity from the motor-pumped well, which could not create enough pressure at the sprinkler head. As a result, the irrigation was so terrible that the land was either flooded or dry, which turned out to be a waste purchasing such equipment. Despite the great losses he had sustained in the first year, Yong Run did not lose heart and give up, but drew experiences from these practices and made improvement to the technologies. Yong Run purchased a wheat reaper in 2013. He began learning and observing from an experienced farmer with 200 acres of thriving wheat in the neighboring village, and then hired three farming leaders who were responsible for the watering and fertilization of 300 acre of land. This was the time when he began making profits from large-scale agriculture. In a few years that followed, Yong Run invested all of his money into agricultural mechanization. His Agricultural Machinery Cooperatives grew into the Provincial Agricultural Machinery Demonstration Cooperatives of today. Yong Run knows how to drive all the machines there, including seven combine harvesters, 29 large tractors, 14 compact tractors, 15 seeders, five spraying machines, three plant protection

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drones, 15 rotary cultivators, 15 tilters, one land leveler and three maize dryers, and knows how well they perform, their operational characteristics, as well as their advantages and disadvantages. Yong Run believes that large-scale agriculture would continue its steady development and bring increased income to farmers through mechanization and technological improvement. His Agricultural Machinery Cooperatives have transferred 2,000 acres of land, which are sowed two seasons a year. One season is for wheat, and the other is divided between 1,700 acres of maize and 300 acres of cash crops (100 acres of peppers with relay cropping and 200 acres of peanuts with relay cropping). As a farmer of large-scale agriculture, Yong Run buys seeds and fertilizers at prices that are lower than the farmers of small-scale agriculture, e.g. the prices of maize seeds for per acre of land are RMB 15 lower and fertilizers are RMB 20 lower than the market prices. Yong Run has a total of 2,000 acres of land. The total cost in every acre of land each year is about RMB 1,800, made up of a land transfer fee of RMB 800 and a total labor cost of RMB 1,000 which includes seeds, fertilizers, agricultural machinery and labor (the total labor cost was about RMB 800–900 and the land transfer fee was RMB 1,000 two years ago. The total investment maintains the same, as the rise in total labor cost has offset the fall in the land transfer fee). Yong Run’s yield of wheat is 500–600 kg/acre, purchased by contract farming and seed enterprises at the prices of RMB 2.6–2.72/kg, RMB 0.20–0.40 higher than the general prices of wheat on the market. The yield of maize is about 650–750 kg/acre, and he can sell it at prices of RMB 1.8–1.9/kg even though the market price is RMB 1.6/kg. Thanks to his three large maize dryers, the maize can be dried as soon as it is harvested, which has allowed his maize be available the market sooner, while other farmers are still drying their maize. The market prices would be higher during this time when the feed enterprises are short of raw materials. Later, when a large amount of maize goes on the market and the prices start to fall, Yong Run’s maize can be stored in granaries for a period of time and then be sold when the prices regain stability. Dryers and granaries help his maize sell at stable prices, which helped him avoid the losses brought about by market volatility. In general, the net profit from the sale of one acre’s worth of wheat and maize can be about RMB 600, meaning, a total gross income of RMB 2,400 or so minus the expenses of RMB 1,800. With three hundred acres of peppers and peanuts, Yong Run said that it is possible to make more than one million a year from his 2,000 acres of land by scaling up and utilizing mechanization. Yong Run pays a monthly salary of RMB 2,800 to the three production team leaders responsible for the management of Planting Professional Cooperatives, a higher salary to the operation team leaders of Agricultural Machinery Cooperatives, and he has hired a specialized professional manager qualified in agricultural machinery to strengthen the overall management. Now, all-around mechanization has basically been achieved in agriculture, and continues to employ a small number of farming workers who are mainly elderly people above 60 or 70-years-old for watering the land, who earns a wage of RMB 80 per day. There is a greater labor demand for cash crops. For instance, the yield of pepper is about 2,500 kg/acre,

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and during the picking season, this has created employment opportunities for many villagers, all of which are above 50 years old. Responsible for the over 2,000 acres of contracted land, Yong Run’s Agricultural Machinery Cooperatives also offer services for more than 39,000 acres of cultivated land for more than 1,000 households in the neighboring areas. He believes that “unit management and diversified operations” will be the future of agriculture. As village head, though, Yong Run does not remember what great things he has done for villagers, but there were some things that really benefited them. He took the lead to make a donation of RMB 15,000 for the road construction in village last year, and RMB 20,000 for the organization of the Yangko Dance Team in 2014 and 2015, and donated RMB 5,000 for the medical treatment for the poor households in the village. Residents of the village were provided with preferential terms for rural land circulation. The villagers can buy fertilizers and seeds using the same prices as those of the cooperative members, through which they have saved RMB 10 in terms of the seeds per acre of land, and RMB 10 per bag of fertilizers. During the harvest seasons, he has tried to meet the agricultural machinery needs of the villagers as much as possible. Yong Run remembered that two of his three wheat reapers had been lent to villagers when they were experiencing terrible weather during the fall harvest in 2015. When it started to rain, the 700–800 acres of land of villagers were finished harvesting, with only 30 acres left to be harvest, while nearly 700 acres of the Yong Run’s circulating land were left in the rain and cost him to lose at least RMB 400 per acre. Yong Run has a son and a daughter. His son is a senior middle school student. As he wants to be a farmer when growing up, sometimes he would worry what he should do if lands were not allowed to be contracted out any more. His daughter, who had been sent to a boarding kindergarten since she was two and a half years old when the couple was busy starting a business, is in the second year of the best boarding elementary school in town, which requires a quarterly tuition of RMB 5,000. Having been occupied with business, Yong Run sometimes would feel sorry about not making a plan for the future of his kids and just hopes they can work hard and do well in school. Going forward, he will be supportive of the choices of his kids on study and career. Now Yong Run owns assets totaling nearly RMB 10 million, most of which are made up of large-scale agricultural machinery. While agriculture is a long-term business that needs a large investment, he has only an active capital of about RMB 100,000. He described himself as someone who “looks for a horse while riding on a mule”, meaning that he would never stop looking for better opportunities and challenging the status quo. At present, he plans to build an office building and a Farming Culture Center to show how the traditional agriculture has evolved into modern agriculture in Huaxian County since the founding of the People’s Republic of China. In the long run, his ambition is to realize the modernization of larger-scale agriculture, achieve food security for China and help the dream of farmers to become rich come true.

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5 Become the Person You Want to Be Du Jing 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Alias: Prof. Cai Occupation: A college professor and part-time “businessman” Domicile: Ningxiang City, Hunan Province Employer: A top business college in China Age: 41 Gender: Male Ethnic Group: Han Level of education: Ph.D.

As a college professor, Prof. Cai is also starting businesses. The purpose of his life is to “realize his dream”, and that is what he is doing now and will be forever working towards, he said. Prof. Cai was born in 1977 and is currently teaching in a School of Business at a top university. Meanwhile, he is also a part-time “businessman”, who has established three small start-ups. Prof. Cai was born in a small village in “N” county, which is located at the southern margin of Dongting Lake in the northern region of central China’s Hunan Province and known as a fertile land of “fish and rice”, one of the top 100 most economically competitive counties in China.4 He went to a village elementary school and later to the central elementary school in the township, which was 1.5 or 2 km away from home. Since the third year of elementary school, Prof. Cai had ridden a bicycle to school by himself. He went to a junior middle school also in the township, where there were three classes of 40–50 students for each grade because of the large number of students in the town. Prof. Cai had been appointed as the class representative as he did really well in school and often ranked among the top five students in the grade. At the time when the No. 1 Middle School and No. 4 Middle School were the two prominent middle schools (for senior middle school students) in the county, Prof. Cai was admitted to No. 4 Middle School directly through early selection for his excellent performance in junior middle school. He became a part of the first batch of “top student class” of the No. 4 Middle School. Prof. Cai ranked ninth in the grade as he entered senior middle school, but later he fell below the 20th ranking because of bad grades in math. However, he overcame this weakness in a year by working very hard, and he recalled that he had been working on math exercises while other students were enjoying class breaks. From then on, Prof. Cai did so well in school that often ranked among the top five in the grade. He also served as the president of the student union and class leader when he studied at the No. 4 Middle School. 4 Top 100 Chinese counties (county-level cities) in economy and basic competitiveness, evaluated on

the basis of comprehensive social and economic development of China’s county-level administrative regions mainly including county, county-level city and banner, and some districts.

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One of the most important choices in the life of Prof. Cai was deciding which the college was best for him. He made this decision by himself, without any advice from his parents or teachers. Prof. Cai chose a liberal arts college as he was put into consideration that he had aspirations to engage in politics, and combined with his great performance in school, he decided to apply to the best liberal arts college in China at that time. Besides, what made him so determined to go for a liberal arts college was the entrance examination he had taken in advance. The top students of the No. 4 Middle School were allowed to take the college entrance exam in the second year of senior middle school, and Prof. Cai had taken the examination for science students. The result was not very good and it showed that he was among the top five in the overall ranking, the top ten in the ranking of science students, and the first in the ranking of liberal arts students. In his college application, he indicated that he preferred a major in International Politics, followed by a major of Sociology, which reflected his then ideal of becoming a social activist after the motivation of Romain Rolland (1866–1944). Prof. Cai received almost no guidance or help from his parents who had worked in the countryside. As the only boy in his family after his parents gave birth three sisters and were over 40 years old when they had him, he was used to being well cared by his parents, sisters and uncles during his childhood. Nevertheless, his parents never placed pressure or set expectations for him and he has studied hard out of personal interest and due to his own self-control; he has never created troubles for his parents. The games they played in childhood, mostly based on the environment and what they had on hand, were very simple. For example, he and friends liked to roleplay battles and sieges, or hopscotch in the mountains, the type of games commonly played by boys living in rural areas. What Prof. Cai was most proud of was that he once made a shadow puppet by himself to act out for his uncles, as he was then interested in acting. A book brought back by his third sister who worked in Shenzhen City when Prof. Cai was in junior middle school had a great influence on him. The book tells the stories of ordinary people, mostly about the fate of unimportant people. After finishing the book, Prof. Cai felt he knew about a different life experience that was beyond his personal experience and reflected on the conflicts between the destiny of individuals and the current society. At that time, as the retail shop of one of his middle school classmates also provided book rentals, he read many books there, such as the books written by Wang Shuo5 and the novels by Jin Yong. From these books, Prof. Cai learnt about the life experiences of many protagonists that was beyond his personal experiences, opening up a new world for him to explore. The choices he has made in education and career have been contributing factors to the hard work he puts into achieving his dreams. His family had been struggling financially when he was a child and his parents made a living mainly by raising pigs. Prof. Cai went to college when his father was 60-years-old, and finished college thanks to the support of his parents and three elder sisters. He started making money himself during postgraduate study. A few years after Prof. Cai graduated from college, 5 He

was born on August 23, 1958 in Nanjing, Jiangsu, and is a famous writer and a scriptwriter in the Chinese mainland.

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he had saved RMB 100,000, which he used to build a new house for his parents in the countryside. He returned home and worked in Changsha City partly to take care of his parents who were above 80 years old and had been working hard for a lifetime, and partly for the education of his son, who could have a free and relaxed school life in the best middle school in Changsha. After graduating from college, Prof. Cai earned a master’s degree in Sociology, after which he worked in a state-owned enterprise for two years, and then worked at a multinational company. When he was promoted to the company director, Prof. Cai went to the School of Economics and Management for a Ph.D. in Economics, and that was when he has started his business. After graduating from “T” University, Prof. Cai became a college professor while continuing to set up businesses. He said that as the entrepreneurial landscape in Beijing is better than that of Changsha, with more opportunities and a better market environment, he often needs to travel between the two places. The most important thing Prof. Cai has learned from his parents is the “mentality of farmers”, that is, one should be hard working and diligent and make a feasible plan for his/her future. His father is very honest, frugal and good at planning; his mother is humorous and optimistic, and of course, she is also clever and street-smart, in order to survive in society. Prof. Cai has two groups of friends—“all kinds of partners” for businesses; and friends as close as brothers, with whom he can have deep conversations on almost anything no matter how far they are from each other and how infrequently they talk to each other. Prof. Cai said that he now has two properties, one in Beijing and the other in Changsha. His son, who is 12 years old and is a student in one of the best junior middle school of Changsha, has 3 or 4 good friends, including the classmates in Changsha and the kids in their neighborhood in Beijing. His son had lived in Beijing before he entered the third year of elementary school and attended some early education classes, including swimming, badminton and clarinet. These were chosen by his son, as they were his own interests. He also took alphanumeric and English classes which were helpful to his studies. While his wife has played a larger role in the life of his son, Prof. Cai did not spend enough time with his son as he had been occupied with work and businesses at a younger age, and now there has already a gap between him and his son. He will work hard to provide his son with better living conditions, while respecting his son’s choice towards his future decisions. He is prepared to leave the two properties to his son and give him the freedom to pursue dreams based on his own choices. The only thing he is worried about is the health of his son, fearing that there might be accidents. His only hope is that his son grows up freely and happily and become the person he wants to be. Prof. Cai is satisfied with the current status quo when recalling how he far he has come today. In the short term, he wants to set up successful businesses and help and encourage more people to start businesses through investment. He has a clear direction and a way to achieve this goal. In the long run, he wants to develop a highquality senior middle school, establish a charitable fund and a publish a manuscript on ideologies, if he manages to succeed in business and is financially strong. Prof. Cai wishes to become a social activist who may shed a light on others; this is one of

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the most important reasons that he has returned to college to teach. When asked to evaluate himself, Prof. Cai said that the meaning of his life is to “realize his dream”, and that is what he is doing now and will be forever working towards. Prof. Cai said that he was born in an era full of opportunities. Regardless of the starting line or the occupation, and even if doesn’t have other forms of support, one is able to survive and to live a decent life and have their dreams come true through his/her own efforts and hard work. However, in today’s society, perhaps there is less possibility for one to realize their personal value as young people are facing greater challenges. Even in big cities, a growing number of young people have to depend on the competition of their family background6 to get ahead, let alone those in small cities with tougher environments, who have no choice but rely on family or other relationships to find a place of their own.

6 Go with the Times Guo Silu 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Alias: Xiang Occupation: TV host Domicile: Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province Employer: TV station Age: 40 Gender: Male Ethnic Group: Han Level of education: Bachelor’s degree

“Some NPC deputies and CPPCC members of China have advocated that citizens should use social media responsibly, and not to spread fake news, which is in fact what our college teachers have told us. Bearing in mind the mission of those who work in media, I would try my best to be a media professional with a conscience and a sense of responsibility,” said by Xiang, a famous anchorman in China. Born in Jinan City, Shandong Province in the 1970s, Xiang had rarely left his hometown from the time he was in kindergarten up until senior middle school. His parents are very serious and rigorous, perhaps due to the fact that his parents have been working in the government-related job, with his father working in the communications industry and his mother doing administrative work in a college. As a generation growing up through the late 1970s and early 1980s, Xiang has the same memories as those who were born in the 1970s and 1980s. He remembered 6A

buzzword in the current society. It means that, under unfair social competitions, youths go to school, apply for a job and purchase houses by relying on their parents’ economic capability and social status rather than their own capability.

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very well that there were piles of national grain coupons7 in their home and that he watched the live broadcast of the Copa America and the European Cup on TV during his childhood. Xiang and the kids around him had a lot of ambitious but unrealistic dreams during their childhood. The dream was to become a hero, a soldier, a pilot or a scientist, everyone said. Xiang vaguely remembered that he also wanted to be a scientist, but soon gave up when learning about the enormous effort that would be required. The reform and opening up of the People’s Republic of China was launched full swing in the 1980s. The 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles was an event of great significance to Chinese people, especially to the common citizen. As the Chinese Olympic Committee in its current form was recognized as a member of the Olympic family in 1979, China returned to the international stage and won 15 gold medals. Everyone in the country was watching the Olympic Games, and that was when Xiang wanted to become a professional athlete. Xiang was determined to be an athlete from his third or fourth year of elementary school, by playing ball games every day and winning honor for his country. As his mother knew many teachers in the department of physical education, Xiang was allowed to practice table tennis at school during the winter and summer holidays from his third year until he graduated of elementary school. Table tennis training was extremely boring as it took place in a large warehouselike venue, with dozens of tables fully occupied by trained athletes. Xiang would have two pairs of shoes soaked in sweat every day during the summer. He also played basketball and soccer and joined the school team later. However, even though Xiang was better than many peers, due to his own physical build and abilities, the gap between him and professional athletes grew larger and larger. It was the time when Xiang had to take the college entrance exam, and since he was not qualified to be a professional athlete, he felt lost and wondered what his future would be. Perhaps entering the communication industry like his Dad could be a choice. Having worked as hard as he could in the third year of senior middle school, he was admitted to the Communication University of Zhejiang in 1996. Xiang has been in the communication industry for 24 years to date. His generation was given good opportunities even though they might have to choose alternative choices from what they wanted, he said. Xiang was lucky to live in golden age for the development of the media industry in China. The TV news communication content in China was rather dull in the 1980s, and quasi-analog signals began to appear in the 1990s, but there was long way to 7 In

the era of planned economy, the Chinese government allocated food quota to everyone so as to ensure grain supply to the non-agricultural residents. Each household is granted with a quota booklet for allocation of grains and cooking oil, by which the residents may purchase grains and cooking oil at regular intervals from designated grain shops. It was implemented around 1954 and was put out of service after 1993. Grain coupon is a coupon for purchasing grains in the specific economic period of between 1950s and 1980s; other coupons granted at that time included cooking oil coupon and cloth coupon, etc. Grain coupon, as a negotiable security, has been practically used in China for over 40 years.

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go before they were on par with the development in Europe, America, Japan and South Korea. Live broadcast was available and reporters could be connected to an anchorperson remotely in China when Xiang graduated in 2000. Xiang believed that China achieved this technology in only five years what the developed countries took over 20 years to achieve. Xiang was still uncertain about his future plans during college, and did not give serious consideration to the development of his future or carefully study the media environment of China until graduation. After entering Hunan Satellite TV in 2000, Xiang started as a sportscaster, and then as the host for the Super Voice Girls, a Chinese singing contest in 2004. At first, he simply wanted to keep the job there, so every day he went with cameramen to film and edit the films after shooting. That era gave him a strong sense of crisis, Xiang said, as he was the first generation born under the family planning policy of China and the first batch graduates after the cancellation of the job assignment system for college graduates, as well as the first batch of employees after the national radio and television system cancelled the staffing for college graduates. Xiang believed that perhaps only people since this era have the courage to make changes. Most people of his parents’ generation have worked in a single organization until retirement, and for them, “going into business8 ” was something new but scary because resignation was such a risky move, akin to blinding jumping off a cliff. However, the generation born in the 1970s does not see it this way. Xiang said that the era has created larger number of opportunities for him. He does not envy the people who have siblings, for he has received all the love from his parents. He neither envies the people who are assigned to jobs after graduation as he is more willing to find a place through his own efforts, nor those who have benefited from establishment9 because changes are opportunities for him. In recent years, Xiang has tried a variety of new programs in Hunan Radio and Television System. He is constantly looking for changes with a sense of urgency. Through this process, his dream of becoming a media professional with sense of social responsibility has been made clearer. It was a golden age of media development when Xiang entered the industry. With increasing public awareness of the media, televisions and publications ushered in the peak period just in time for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. However, the situation soon changed. The prevalence of traditional media began to fall after 2008 due to the impact of the Internet. When Xiang left Hunan Satellite TV and to work behind the camera in 2010, by chance he entered Jiangsu satellite. In retrospect, Xiang believed that the impact of the Internet since 2008 could be traced back to that of the western TV production types in the 1990s. As new things often cause panic, some people would publicly exaggerate this panic while others would encourage people to embrace new things. Nevertheless, nothing can stop the times from evolving. 8 Leave 9 Setup

a secure job in the system to start a business or go into business. of organizational structure as well as the quota of personnel and distribution of positions.

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If it was the reform and innovation of television and radio in China since 1995 that gave Xiang the opportunity to appear in front of cameras, it can be said that the development of the Internet since 2010 has brought another opportunity for him. Today, faced with a new wave of changes, Xiang sticks to what he has remembered and endeavored to since he first entered the industry—the sense of responsibility as a media worker. “Some NPC deputies and CPPCC members of China have advocated that citizens should use social media responsibly, and not to spread fake news, which is in fact what our college teachers have told us. Bearing in mind the mission of those who work in media, I would try my best to be a media professional with a conscience and a sense of responsibility,” Xiang said. Xiang often tells young people that he is very proud of being a media professional who is able to faithfully record the changes of the times, as well as promote the social and economic development and the improvement of the quality of the Chinese people through media. The everyday efforts of media personnel are turned into programmes that are watched on computer terminals or screens, which could bring about social influence, creating a sense of accomplishment unavailable in other jobs. Xiang has begun to chart the course for his career in the recent years. It has been a decade since he began hosting a program about jobs in 2010. Xiang found his passion in the media platform, through which he has been able to help others with real problems and to provide young and ambitious people with opportunities which might change their destiny. Or to be more exact, these opportunities are presented more by the times rather than the media platforms. Xiang also has advice for young people— one should be confident, and be confident in the industry and our country. Sticking to his career goals, Xiang would continue to host the program about jobs and to offer job services through technological means to help people with such needs. “We are moving closer to dreams by the efforts we make in our day-to-day life,” Xiang said. Wherever era we are in, hard work, practice and perseverance are necessary for dreams to come true.

The Generation Born in the 1980s Zhao Chen, Zhou Xiang, Wang Jingjing, and Cheng Zhaowen

1 Shaking Off Poverty through Education Zhao Chen 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Alias: Director Wang Occupation: County civil servant Domicile: Bijie City, Guizhou Province Employer: Bijie City Poverty Alleviation Office for poverty-stricken counties Age: 36 Gender: Male Ethnic Group: Han Level of Education: Bachelor’s degree

Director Wang is slightly plump, and speaks Mandarin with a Guizhou accent. Previously, no rural children were willing to study, but you could find a way out if you firmly believed in studying; however, rural children no longer have such good luck, and all competitions have become fiercer. If you are from a poor rural area, then you are at the very bottom, as if you were born more stupid than others. Director Wang was born in 1982 in a village of a poverty-stricken county in Bijie City. There were four siblings in the family, both his parents were farmers, and his family structure was stable. His two elder sisters are still farmers, while he and his brother studied hard and enrolled in university. Director Wang once had a dream not to be a farmer but to be a teacher instead, in order to gain respect, have enough to eat, and to be able to eat better food. When Director Wang recalls his childhood experiences, his first impression is of how hard Z. Chen (B) · Z. Xiang · W. Jingjing · C. Zhaowen China Development Research Foundation, Beijing, China © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 L. Mai (ed.), The Chinese Dream and Ordinary Chinese People, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4952-0_7

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and tiring farm work was. His second impression is him always running home hungry in order to eat, and always only eating poorly by having stodgy gruel or vegetable porridge, and never having enough to fill his stomach. Director Wang did not study hard at first, but then realized that if he did not study, he would have to farm the land in the countryside. So, he started to study hard by reading books every evening. Later, Director Wang was admitted to the School of Economics in Guizhou Minzu University. After graduation, he received his first job as a veterinarian in a county town veterinary clinic. There was only one elderly veterinarian in the clinic, and as he was very busy, he was happy to have the help of a university student. Director Wang wondered why he who had studied economics was assigned to work as a veterinarian in a veterinary clinic. However, he was not too unhappy or gloomy about this. He felt that he had already left the countryside, and had started to eat the “royal grains1 ”. He was very satisfied with this placement. After working in the veterinary clinic for just over a month, Director Wang was transferred to the office of the township government. He subsequently served as township head, and was then later transferred to the office of the county government, and then to the county office for poverty alleviation as deputy director in charge of poverty alleviation projects with an annual budget of RMB 200–300 million. Director Wang is content with himself, cherishes everything he obtains, and goes all out to make good results, which he believes are reasons for his success, though he had no relationships or backers. Director Wang’s wife was a university classmate of his, and is now a teacher in the county high school. Director Wang says, he had always wanted to be a teacher, but never achieved this aspiration. But, while he may not have become a teacher, he did find a teacher to be his wife. After his wife graduated from the university, she worked in Shenzhen, selling insurance and working as a salesperson. While she did have some income, she had no sense of stability or security and did not think it was something to do long term. Her father had also died, so her family needed someone to take care of them and she returned home. Director Wang has relentless work pressure almost all year round. Because the department for poverty alleviation funding is a hot potato, it is easy for things to go wrong, and if things were to go wrong with a poverty alleviation project, he would not be able to hold onto his job, and if things were serious, he might even face a legal sentence. Poverty alleviation funding is used in an approximate ratio of 5-2-1-1-1: 50% is for industry poverty alleviation funding, 20% is for the construction of small rural infrastructure, 10% is for relief through work (subsidized loans for farmers), 10% is used for training of farmers, and 10% is for other expenses. Regulatory tasks for industry poverty alleviation funding are the most demanding, as industry poverty alleviation attracts a large number of enterprises to disadvantaged areas for rural development, primarily in agriculture. The success of and whether the operations of the enterprise are healthy all fall within the regulatory responsibilities of Director Wang. Therefore, almost every day he visits villages to see the progress of projects, and as soon as he finds a small sign of anything bad, he promptly reports it to his leaders and promptly explains the situation and the issue. Many of the businesses 1 Grains

dispensed to courtiers and officials by the emperors of old.

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engaged in industry poverty alleviation are large conglomerates, and due to the impact on other business segments, some businesses do not run well, which has impaired the normal operations of the poverty alleviation business in the poor counties, and the government ultimately has to take over. To safeguard the effects of industry poverty alleviation, each county has established some companies that provide a platform, which are engaged in primary, secondary and tertiary industry. At present, all these “platform companies” are running well. Director Wang has a daughter who is currently in the second grade at primary school. He advocates for children to grow up happily and more carefree, but his wife favors children to work harder and learn more. In addition to her studies at school, their daughter also has some extracurricular classes such has piano lessons and painting lessons. Director Wang’s dream now is to peacefully accomplish his poverty alleviation work well, so that poverty-stricken counties can get rid of poverty by 2020, and that his daughter grows up happily and healthily. Director Wang achieved his dream of leaving the countryside, and while he did not achieve his dream of becoming a teacher, education did change his destiny. His current work might be better than that of a teacher in other people’s eyes, but Director Wang also feels the pressure and risk on his shoulders. His personal qualities and a thorough understanding of his work enable him to smoothly do his job. Director Wang says, previously, no rural children were willing to study, but you could find a way out if you firmly believed in studying; however, rural children no longer have such good luck, and all competitions have become fiercer. If you are from a poor rural area, then you are at the very bottom, as if you were born more stupid than others. With Director Wang’s help, his elder sister’s son and daughter attended junior high school in the city, but try as they might they just could not study well. Director Wang believes that their primary and elementary schools’ curriculum lagged too far behind so they were unable to keep up in junior high school.

2 The American Dream Zhao Chen 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Alias: Ms. Cai Occupation: Freelancer Domicile: Dalian City, Liaoning Province Employer: N/A Age: 35 Gender: Female Ethnic Group: Han Level of Education: College diploma

The dream of the trendy Ms. Cai is to make money, live in a big house, and drive a good car. She believes that she has no good prospects in China or in Dalian because houses are too expensive, it is too hard to make money, and there is

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no freedom so it is hard to do the things you want to. Everything is achieved through connections, and she runs a small business so no one thinks much of her. Therefore, she wants to go to America and become an American. Ms. Cai, from Dalian, was born in 1983. She is the only girl in her family, is married, and has a seven-year-old son. Ms. Cai grew up living in a housing compound occupied by several different families, which is located between the downtown area and the area’s food supply source. The housing compound is five kilometers away from the municipal government in the east and is near a wholesale market in the west. Therefore, the community in which she lived was a complicated mix of people, many of them being the sort that others would turn their noses up at. Up until junior high school, Ms. Cai’s family lived in two rooms in one of Dalian’s “small Japanese-style buildings”. The “small Japanese-style” building is unique to Dalian: because Dalian had been invaded by the Japanese who engaged in urban construction there, many two- and three-story Japanese-style buildings were built in the city center as residences for Japanese officers and their families. After the Japanese retreated from Dalian, these houses became a feature of the city, and the design many of these buildings were later copied by developers. When Ms. Cai was still in junior high school, her mother lost her job, and did not find another job after that. Her father was a trade salesman whose work often required him to travel. Because they lived in a large, shared courtyard, also because their homes were next to the wholesale market, and because of her nature to go shopping in a group with other women, Ms. Cai found a good release in shopping, which became her hobby. When Ms. Cai was a child, her mother would take her shopping with numerous aunties, and in the higher levels of primary school she would also go out shopping with her young friends. This developed in her a love for talking and laughing, and honed her communication skills, and developed a habit of spending extravagantly. Everyone always considered Ms. Cai to be a smart child. But, because of the surroundings in which she lived, and because she was relatively open in her behavior and did not pay attention to the smaller details, she was criticized by many people, particularly her teachers. The teaching quality in the primary school Ms. Cai attended was relatively low for Dalian, but Ms. Cai was clever, had a good character, was popular, and was the school captain. She was one of the most well known and most observed children in the school, with parents and teachers alike pinning high hopes on her. At that time, there was the issue of choosing a school for her compulsory education. There was no open market for buying and selling of one’s house as there was no privatized housing then. However, the correlation between the quality of the school, one’s home address and the socio-economic status of one’s family was crucial in those times. Those with good occupations lived in good areas where there were good schools. An example is Ms. Zhao’s grandfather who was one of the first batch of sailors to sail steamers into New China. He lived in the hills in the city center, and the primary school below the hills was the best in the whole city, and the best junior high school was on the side of the mountain. Ms. Cai’s family were all laborers and lived in a large, shared courtyard. Their primary and junior schools for their area were relatively poor. Ms.

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Cai’s father did not think such a junior high school was worth attending, because a child there would only be able to go on to attend a vocational high school. So, her father spent money to find someone to get her into the best junior high school. Education is unfair, and from the first day Ms. Cai attended junior high school, the teachers discriminated against her. Their discrimination was, in fact, against the primary school she had attended and her family, because her primary school indicated that her family was not a rich one. Her teachers believed she had some bad habits, and that her studying and achievements were bound to be bad, and that her attendance at this junior high school would be a bad influence on the other students’ learning. The majority of teachers in the compulsory education system at that time were snobbish and fawned upon the rich and powerful persons. In Ms. Cai’s class, there were plenty of students with behavioral issues, poor performance, or who disrupted the order in the school. However, they all had good family backgrounds, and their parents were officials or business people who could help the teachers and the school handle matters. Therefore, the teachers thought these students were cute, and would arrange for such students to sit side by side with good students to help them in their learning. Therefore, Ms. Cai really had no interest in learning when she was at school, in fact, she became an “enemy” of the teachers. Her academic performance was only mediocre, so she could not get into a key senior high school. Ms. Cai fell in love when she was in junior high school and her boyfriend became the man who is now her husband. She had five boyfriends before marrying her husband. The family background of Ms. Cai’s husband is good: her father-in-law was a retired cadre from the Bureau of Public Security, and her mother-in-law had previously been a laborer. Her husband worked in a bank and the family owns two houses. Her father-in-law loved drinking, had a bad temper, and did not treat the elderly with respect. After they got married, Ms. Cai and her husband have always lived separately from their parents. They have an active social life, such as going to the movies or meeting with friends each day after work. Their lives are pretty wonderful. Ms. Cai is not willing to be controlled. For some jobs she has taken up, such as working in administration for a mobile communication company, or selling insurance, she often resigns after a short time. Ms. Cai leased a small stall in the wholesale market near her childhood home where she sold Korean women’s clothing. These clothes were described as Korean clothing but were actually trendy clothes made in Zhejiang, Guangzhou and Fujian. She hired someone to sell the clothes and sometimes she would travel to South Korea and Japan to purchase goods for others. Her income was not bad. Ms. Cai’s dream was to make money, live in a big house, and drive a good car. She believes that she has no good prospects in China or in Dalian because houses are too expensive, it is too hard to make money, and there is no freedom so it is hard to do the things you want to. Everything is achieved through connections, and she runs a small business so no one thinks much of her. Therefore, she wants to go to America and become an American. When Ms. Cai was six months’ pregnant, she flew to the United States with her husband where they lived in her aunt’s home in San Francisco. Her objective was to give birth in the United States so that their child would be an American, and then

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they themselves could become Americans too. Ms. Cai gave birth without a hitch in the United States. They gave the child an American name, and then once he was a month old, they returned to China. She believes that the quality of life in the United States is good, and that the so-called imported foods in China are commonplace in the United States. The luxury goods that she loves are one third of the price in the United States. There are also many large outlet stores. In the six months before she gave birth, she went shopping almost every day, buying things she likes almost every day. She bought so much that she could not pack them into four large suitcases when she returned to China. Ms. Cai said, “The luxury goods I like the most are Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Prada. I have a principle that my bags and shoes must be from top brands, clothes and so on can be from smaller brands, but they must all be from wellknown brands.” For her, these foreign items are a status symbol which demonstrates she is doing well, and the when strangers give her a second glance, it makes her feel satisfied and proud. After Ms. Cai gave birth, some differences occurred within the family. This was because by nature she loved to have fun so she left the child with her mother-in-law. Her parents-in-law, however, doted on the child, and he subsequently suffered from poor health and fell sick often due to excessive snacking and sugar intake. Whenever Ms. Cai disciplined her child, it turned into a family war. All members of the family were shouting and making a scene before parting on bad terms. Now, Ms. Cai only takes her child out to play on the weekends, and during the week does not interact with him too much. Because the child was born in the United States, he must register at specified times in the United States in accordance with US regulations. He also has to pass some English tests. Therefore, every two years, the child has to take a trip to the US. The child is now seven-years-old and has been to the US four times. Each trip costs around RMB 150,000 yuan, which is no small burden for her family. When the child reaches 14, he will have completed all required actions and can obtain a US identity; this is why they still persist in doing this. Ms. Cai has been continuously working hard to help her family become “Americans”. She found an intermediary company that specializes in US immigration business, a company which could bring people to the US under the guise of labor services dispatch. They would then obtain a US identity through an intermediary which would prepare the materials for them. Before 2016, being in such life of business was very easy, and the success rate was high. Ms. Cai was introduced by a friend to signed an agreement with an intermediary company and began preparing all the necessary materials. The intermediary fees were expensive, the contract clearly stated that if the immigration process was not successful, only 40% of the costs would be refunded. In over two years, Ms. Cai paid over RMB 500,000 in fees, but did not complete the process as she was always lacking certain materials. In the second half of 2016, after Trump was about to become president of the United States, it became increasingly difficult to successfully apply to immigrate to the US. Using the guise of dispatch of labor as a means to immigrate became almost impossible, and Ms. Cai has to this day, yet to achieve her dream of becoming an “American”. Her upfront investment has also gone up in smoke. Even if someone tells her that there is severe economic downturn in the US, and that her life will be more difficult after she moves to the

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US, she will continue to persist in by saying, “I can live in a big house in the US, one with a lawn, and I can earn a decent income by doing odd jobs here and there, and doing a little business. More importantly, my kid will have no pressure growing up.” Ms. Cai’s dream is to live the “American dream”. Her upbringing and current surroundings in which she has lived have left her with a lack of a sense of achievement and feeling being respected, to the extent that she is stuck in a preconceived “social class”. She hopes a complete change of environment will change her social status and feeling.

3 Being a Good Doctor Zhao Chen 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Alias: Dr. Zhao Occupation: Medical Doctor Domicile: Quanzhou City, Fujian Province Employer: Quanzhou Municipal Maternity Hospital Age: 35 Gender: Female Ethnic Group: Han Level of Education: Master’s degree

Having switched from being a gynecologist to the manager of a medical department, Dr. Zhao said, “Although work pressure has led me to put aside my dream of being a doctor for a while, I have never truly given this dream up. My life has become increasingly stable and increasingly better, and I hope to return to frontline work, to be a real doctor.” Dr. Zhao, a native of Quanzhou, was born in 1983, and is the only daughter in her family. Her father was a soldier before he went into management in a state-owned enterprise. He was subsequently laid off during restructuring of the enterprise, and then set up a self-owned clothing business. Her mother is a homemaker and has been retired for a long time, so she loves to call relatives to play mahjong together. Dr. Zhao is married. Her husband was born in rural Fuzhou in 1986. They have a three-year-old daughter. Dr. Zhao’s family situation was excellent. Her grades were always at the top of her class, and she attended the city’s best high school. In high school, her grades were only upper middle, and after taking the college entrance exam, she entered Shandong University’s Department of Medicine with 600 points as a joint bachelormaster degree student. For Dr. Zhao, all of this was a predetermined outcome that she would achieve with dead certainty. Since childhood, Dr. Zhao’s dream was to be a doctor, to save the dying and heal the sick, and attending medical school fulfilled her desire.

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Up until adulthood, Dr. Zhao had never experienced any setbacks, but the one thing she could not let go off was her first crush in junior high school. The boy was the class monitor, and Dr. Zhao was the monitor in charge of the study groups. The two of them had a good relationship, and often participated in activities together. She had a crush on the boy, and he also did not reject her and cared for her. However, because of their age, the school rules as well as their families’ teachings, neither of them directly expressed their feelings to each other. In the senior high school entrance exam, both of them were admitted to the best high school but they were placed in different classes. Not long afterwards, the boy found a girlfriend, and Dr. Zhao had less contact with him so their relationship was not as close as before. This incident impacted Dr. Zhao until she was 31 years of age; she always felt that she would not find anyone who would be able to touch her heart, because she had a standard by which to compare to in her heart. In 2009, after she graduated from university, Dr. Zhao easily entered the Quanzhou Municipal Maternity Hospital. Quanzhou is a second-tier city and its medical resources and quality of treatment are not the best. Quanzhou Municipal Maternity Hospital is the most authoritative hospital in the city; it is the hospital in which most women of child-bearing age want to give birth, which makes it overcrowded and the doctors harried. Dr. Zhao has a good degree, and she is dependable and generous. She joined the clinical department directly where she performed surgery, did ward rounds, worked the night shift and conducted tests. After three years, Dr. Zhao decided to give up clinical work and do administration work instead, or resign. The reasons for this decision included: the night shift was too tiring, there was no rest at all during the night shift and she was often suddenly called to deal with pregnant patients or patients giving birth. The patients and their relatives would call the doctor over every small thing. Dr. Zhao’s hair turned gray when she was only 30 due to working the night shift, and she had nightmares every time she slept. Also, there is a great risk in the doctor-patient relationship. Should the slightest problem arise, the relatives would get worked up and even insult the doctors, not showing any trust or respect for them. The patient’s relatives would also think the doctors were too slow when coming from their office to the ward, and as a result, did not care for the patients. However, doctors cannot display a poor attitude as this is against the rules, and any dereliction of duty would be dealt with. There are also too many gray areas as almost every patient tries to give their doctor a wad of cash, but Dr. Zhao would not accept it as a matter of principle. Taking the money went against her principles as a doctor. She would not take the money but the majority of older doctors would all take it. The older doctors felt that Dr. Zhao was different from them, and this caused her to be trapped between a rock and a hard place. Not only did the older doctors view Dr. Zhao differently, but the patients and their families would also think that this doctor might not give them proper consultations or sound treatments, and this put enormous emotional strain on her. She could not picture her future. Being a doctor is a profession that requires continuous learning. It also necessitates study through advancing one’s education to receive a doctorate, exchanging experience, or attending conferences overseas. In the hospitals in Quanzhou, however, all the doctors were old and believed themselves

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to be experienced and fell back on their seniority so there was almost no culture of learning and innovation. Young people lacked the space to fully learn, and the doctors would wait out their years to gain promotions based on the length of time in the hospital. It was also difficult to form relationships. Dr. Zhao found it very stagnant. The hospital also had no standard practices, medical dispute mediators had become privatized, and nannies would enter the wards without permission, to actively promote their services as maternity matrons as soon as someone gave birth. All this sullied the atmosphere in the hospital to some extent. In 2013, Dr. Zhao contacted the hospital leadership and put forward her own demands and ideas. After careful consideration, the hospital transferred her from clinical work to medical management. Dr. Zhao said, the beautiful dream of her youth seemed so useless in reality, and she was somewhat afraid to persist in following her dream. She felt unable to utilize her abilities within this situation, nor could she withstand the pressure. In 2015, Dr. Zhao got married to a colleague from her hospital’s trade union. They have a daughter who is three years old. Dr. Zhao’s husband comes from rural Fuzhou. His family condition growing up were poor. He has two elder sisters, and their parents are honest farmers. Dr. Zhao’s husband was the hope of the entire family. His two sisters did not attend school after primary school and helped out at home. His elder sister ran a breakfast stall in the township market with their mother which earned a little money which they put towards sending Dr. Zhao’s husband to school. They hoped he would go to university and find a steady job rather than returning to the countryside to do farm work. Dr. Zhao’s husband did poorly the first time he took the college entrance exam, and his score was insufficient for a second-tier university. The reason for that was because of the poor quality of education in the countryside. Dr. Zhao’s husband had attended school in the countryside since he was young. He attended junior high school in town, and, having given it his all, he ranked fifth place in the whole school. However, he was only admitted to the senior high school which ranked third in the county, and this meant it would be impossible for him to get into a good university. Even gaining admission into a top provincial-level university would be difficult at that school. After failing to get a good grade at the college entrance exam, Dr. Zhao’s husband wanted to start working, but his whole family was opposed this, hoping that he would give it another shot as he needed further studies if he was to find a good job. In 2001, the family scraped RMB 20,000 together to put Dr. Zhao’s husband into the county’s best college entrance exam cram school, where he repeated a year of high school. The second time around, he was admitted into Fujian Medical University, believing that becoming a doctor meant job security, a good income, and a good social standing. However, his scores were still not enough to be admitted into the major of clinical medicine, and he could only get into the school of humanities. While at university, the tuition fees became the biggest problem for Dr. Zhao’s husband. Annual tuition fees cost approximately RMB 6,000, in addition to living expenses on top of that, and the total expenses came to more than RMB 10,000 per year. His parents and two sisters all supported him, and he also took some odd jobs

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such as being the on-campus agent for China Mobile. He completed four years of university study while under a lot of financial pressure. After graduation in 2007, he passed an examination for working in the Quanzhou Municipal Maternity Hospital’s trade union. When they got married, Dr. Zhao was 32, the very standard of an old maid. Dr. Zhao would quarrel with her mother every other day over the issue of her getting married, and in addition, have a more serious argument once a week. The reasons for their quarrels were issues such as her criteria in selecting a partner, and when she would get married. During that period, Dr. Zhao was in a bad mood and felt listless every day. Her husband was very concerned about her, and the pair of them found that they hit it off. Dr. Zhao said, “He had darker skin, was a little uncouth, and his family conditions were poor, but there was no pressure when we were together, I felt at ease and comfortable, so we got together.” After they married, the tension between Dr. Zhao and her mother did not ease up much because her mother did not like her husband. Her mother thought Dr. Zhao’s husband was not as good as her daughter when it came to his looks, education, family conditions or job. After Dr. Zhao’s daughter was born, the differences between Dr. Zhao and her mother grew more pronounced regarding how to educate her daughter. Dr. Zhao’s husband is honest and simple, and he takes the initiative to do the household chores when he returns home each day. He is a man of few words, and hopes there are no quarrels in the home. He wants a calm life for the family. Dr. Zhao’s husband said, “I actually felt very guilty, and had low self-esteem. My home is in the countryside and my parents had never left the county. We have a child now but did not own our own home. My parents could not help us out by living with us, and they were also reluctant to come. They were worried that their daughter-in-law and her family would be ashamed of them.” Dr. Zhao said, “It is really difficult to communicate with our parents’ generation. It is as if whatever their children do, does not satisfy them, and they want to control everything about us. The question of whether to get married or not, and who to get married with, and whether to have a child…even after having a child there are problems.” Parental criticism perhaps comes from his or her own dissatisfaction with himself or herself. In 2017, Dr. Zhao and her husband bought a three-bedroom apartment, attached with a mortgage in the city center in the hope that they could live away from their parents and with the aim of laying a good foundation for their daughter to get a good education. For Dr. Zhao, 2018 was a year full of hope. Thanks to her husband’s outstanding achievements in his job, and his ability to work hard, he was transferred to work in the trade union of the municipal health department. Quanzhou Municipal Maternity Hospital also implemented some improvements and reforms, including constructing a new hospital building, and rectifying or dealing with some of the non-compliant practices, such as getting rid of the domestic aid companies being based out the hospital, hospital scalpers who sold tickets for medical consultations, side money given by the patients, etc. Dr. Zhao believes that the hospital management, the ecosystem for seeking medical advice, and the working environment will keep improving. As the

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older doctors in the hospital gradually retire or take a back seat, the hospital continues recruiting new employees. Dr. Zhao said, “Although I put aside my dream of being a doctor for a while, I have never truly given up this dream. While my life is increasingly stable, and getting increasingly better, and I hope to return to frontline work, to be a real doctor. My daughter is three years old, I hope to grow and learn alongside my daughter, I might study for a doctorate, so that I am ready to return to a position on the frontline. I might go overseas to study for a doctorate to give my daughter a different environment in which to grow up. Doctors should keep learning, and keep up to date with international standards, so that we are true professionals. I believe the medical sector will become increasingly standardized, increasingly professional, and increasingly vigorous. After I had a child, I feel I have a more mature mindset and dare to face up to pressure. Maybe this is the best age to be a doctor.” Dr. Zhao’s husband is happy with having a wife and a daughter, and he will do his best to give the family happiness. If Dr. Zhao studies for a doctorate, he will work hard to take care of their child. If Dr. Zhao goes overseas to study for a doctorate, he will go abroad with her and find odd jobs or part-time jobs to improve the living standards for his wife and their daughter while overseas.

4 A Tale of Two Cities Zhou Xiang 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Alias: Qin Mo Occupation: Foreign equity derivatives analyst Domicile: Pudong District, Shanghai Employer: A foreign investment bank Age: 30 Gender: Male Ethnic Group: Han Level of Education: Master’s degree

Qin Mo is quite satisfied with his current job and lifestyle. Although he has already achieved his dream of establishing a foothold in Shanghai, his still faces a lot of pressure from the social environment in this city. Though he is not originally from Shanghai, he has already experienced first-hand the difficulties of the high costs of living in a big first-tier city. Qin Mo is male, 30-years-old, of Han ethnic group and single. He has a master’s degree, previously studied overseas, and works as an equity derivatives analyst in a foreign investment bank in Shanghai. He currently resides in Shanghai. His annual income is over RMB 300,000, which is on par with his expectations. He resides in Shanghai but does not own a home there. He owns two or three homes in Xi’an.

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According to Qin Mo, the main reason he has not yet bought a home in Shanghai is due to the restriction on housing purchase.2 After returning to China, he landed his first job in Guangzhou, and came to Shanghai later on. For this, he was not qualified to buy a house in Shanghai since he failed to register his household in the city. He can only buy a property by waiting until he qualifies after paying a certain number of years of social insurance, or by marrying a girl who has permanent residence in Shanghai. His personal assets also include income from some stocks and fund investments. Qin Mo was born in Xi’an, and lived in Xi’an until he was 20. His family consists of his parents and himself. His father is 60 years old and holds an honorary doctorate (actually a master’s degree), and he is a professor in the conservatory of music. His mother is 55 years old, holds a doctorate (she has completed post-doctorate studies), and is a professor in one of China’s “Double First Class” world-class universities and departments and the Project 985 university to establish world-class universities in the 21st century. Qin Mo is unsure of his parents’ income, but he estimates his father’s monthly income to be around RMB 50,000 to 60,000 each month. In addition to his regular teaching salary, sources of income include working to manage an orchestra and teaching extra-curricular activities. He estimates his mother’s salary to be between RMB 10,000 and 20,000 each month, and is not sure if she has any additional income. The family structure now is the same as before he was 18, the only difference being that in addition to his parents’ salaries, the family’s main source of income now also includes his own income. The main expenditure of the family comes from paying for everyday necessities. Compared with before, the difference in the family’s living arrangements is that he lives a different city from his parents, but he often sees them. He also calls them every week. Qin Mo’s parents took care of him themselves since he was young. His parents were very strict, and had high demands for him. Qin Mo is very grateful to his parents for bringing him up. As a child, Qin Mo was lively, clever and loved to play tricks. His parents and teachers had a love-hate relationship with him. He felt he has a lot of “small luck” but never any “big luck”. For example, in the senior high school entrance exam and the college entrance exam, his essays strayed off topic which gave him poor scores. He had a girlfriend in junior high school, and he thinks that this had a positive influence on him. The object of his puppy love was one of eight students to have been selected to go to the United States on an exchange program. He himself, however, was not selected. To some degree, this puppy love did affect his attitude toward his studies. It compelled him to work hard to bring his grades closer to that of his crush. As a student, Qin Mo obtained good grades. Although there were twists and turns in his journey as a student, he was a strong performer amongst his peers. He thinks from elementary school all the way to university; his grades have been in the upper middle cohort. According to Qin Mo, his primary school was just ordinary school, and he did not take the primary school graduation examination but was able to get into Xi’an’s Gaoxin Number One High School for his junior high studies. Gaoxin 2 Restrictions

on housing purchase on the basis of one’s local registered permanent residence.

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Number One High ranks as Xi’an’s second best junior high school. His grades in junior high school were good, but he did not score well in the senior high school entrance exam. Qin Mo said that at that time, eight students were selected after the senior high school entrance exam to go to the United States on an exchange program. He was somewhat ashamed and resentful at not having been selected, and because of this did not continue his senior high school studies at Gaoxin Number One High School. He completed his senior high school studies at the middle school affiliated with the Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an’s best senior high school. His high school grades were not exceptional, ranking in the middle of his cohorts. There was a lot of pressure to study, with fierce competitions among students. He was also somewhat rebellious in high school, and often clashed with his parents. He did not score good grades in the college entrance exam, and failed to receive admission to the Shanghai Jiao Tong University, which was his targeted university. In the end, he chose to study at Xi’an Jiaotong University. After entering university, Qin Mo said that he did not study much, and often participated in sports and cultural activities such as basketball and arts festivals instead. He lived a laid-back, carefree life, but his parents were anxious. Coincidentally, Qin Mo’s mother was working in the United States, and she helped him apply to transfer to study in one of the United States’ top 50 public universities in his junior year. According to Qin Mo, transferring to a university in the United States, was one of the crucial turning points in his life, and had an enormous impact on his life afterwards. His personality as well as his attitude towards learning changed, and he began to work hard in university. As an undergraduate, he maintained a high grade point average, and his grades for the Graduate Record Examinations were very good. While studying in university in the United States, he learned to cook, to repair a car and also to do various other life skills. He also studied very hard. While most students generally took for twelve credits each semester, but he took between 18 and 21. He was occupied by classes, even during the summer and he had almost no spare time. His experience overseas lead to a change in direction in his life. Qin Mo says that as a student, his drive for studying hard was mainly external. The main drive came from the strict demands of his parents. Both his parents are university professors themselves: his mother is a postdoctoral fellow researching biological genetics, and his father specializes in music education. Both parents placed great importance on the education of their child. According to Qin Mo, when he was a student, his parents paid “too much attention” to his learning, and it occupied all their time. His transcripts were like a barometer in their home. Faced with the choice of schools, or when needing guidance in his studies, Qin Mo’s parents were a very big help. The biggest financial investment his parents made in him was to send him overseas to study for four years. The second motivation for studying came from peer pressure, due to all the competitions and comparison between students at school. From being a child, Qin Mo had always studied in high-ranking schools with a good quality of education. He believes there is a strong correlation between his grades and the school environment. The students around him were all clever, and their future was very good. This urged him to forge ahead. One thing that he is the most proud of

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in his life is when he took the Junior High School admission examination in primary school and he was ranked eighth in the whole city. In the three years he was in senior high school, Qin Mo’s relationship with his parents was fairly tense. His father was strict, and placed high demands on his son who was afraid of him. He better understood his parents after he went to the United States to study. His mother is the type of person who wants to take charge of everything, regardless of how important or trivial it might be. She had high expectations for her son, and really worried about him. Qin Mo recalls that his parents did not have an easy time then, but now his relationship with his parents is very good. He often calls them, and they often debate with each other during their conversations. His parents do not suppress him with their authority, and communicate with him as an equal, so they “are able to chat”. Qin Mo’s first job was a trader in New York. In Junior High School, he became interested in stocks, and many years later works in a job related to stocks. The reason he chose to return to China was because he could not obtain a work visa. His first job after his return to China was in Guangzhou. He then decided to move to Shanghai to work for personal reasons. He changed the location of his work because of his ex-girlfriend. His ex-girlfriend is now married and has her own family. He chose, however, to remain in Shanghai because his work and living conditions are both good. Qin Mo is very satisfied with his current job. The relationship between colleagues and the company’s management are good. Qin Mo greatly admires his boss, saying that he “really looks like a boss”, and has the style of a leader. The corporate environment is good, unlike other US-owned companies which have a lot of pressure. The rhythm is slightly slower in this investment bank which enables employees to achieve a better work-life balance. In terms of the job, the business is also very varied. Qin Mo is also very satisfied with his lifestyle. He believes that among the big cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, Shanghai is very good both in terms of the climate and job opportunities. He is also very satisfied with living in the city and his current social circle. He believes, “The expensive living standard is not Shanghai’s problem, it is our own problem.” The location of his current job is in Lujiazui in Pudong. Life is convenient there, transportation is well connected, and there are numerous eating options. If you want to enjoy the cultural life, it is easy to reach Huangpu or Puxi to enjoy a range of art exhibitions or performances. Qin Mo says that his current circumstances are about the same as he had expected, while his personality and temperament are better than he had thought it would be. He used to get a little depressed when he was under pressure and had a bad temper. Now his character is freer, optimistic, and cooler. He has a lot of hobbies outside of work. He says that he pretty much likes all the activities that young people like, such as sports, singing, and watching the news. Surprisingly, he invests both his money and time in music. He records songs and tracks in his spare time, and mixes the audio tracks. Both at work and in his private life, Qin Mo has a lot of friends. His definition of a friend is one who is multi-purposed. Those who help you when you are in difficulty are friends, and those who keep you company when you are bored are your friends.

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There are also friends who listen to you complain when you are sad, and there are friends who will give you practical help when you have problems at work. There are often overlaps in the functions of these friends, and some friends are less close than others mainly because they live far from him. Qin Mo’s friends are from all walks of life such as finance, the arts, advertising and IT. The majority of his friends are those who eat, drink, have fun, and relax together with. He believes that doing business with friends is not good. When his friends are together, they will talk about work, families, love, and also every day topics such as keeping fit, music, eating and drinking; these are the topics which they chat about more often. Qin Mo’s current concern for himself is the same as all young unmarried people: to get married. Who to marry, how to get married, how much money each should contribute to the marriage, are all problems that need to be resolved. Qin Mo says he is actually not in a hurry to get married, but his parents are trying get him to hurry up. He has always been trying to persuade his parents and tell himself that he will only get married when he meets a suitable girl. Qin Mo thinks that finding a girlfriend and selecting a marriage partner are more difficult than choosing a job or a place to live, and at the same time this choice will have a bigger impact on his life. This is a very practical problem, but when making such a choice one cannot be so practical. In short, it is very difficult. Qin Mo believes that to date the important choices in his life have been about studying, work and where he lives, including his relocation overseas, returning to China, and coming to Shanghai. The main aspects he considers when making a choice are work opportunities, friends, his girlfriend, and other personal considerations. When speaking of role models, Qin Mo considers his to be his uncle. He says this is the role model closest to him. He was the first in their family to move overseas and to remain overseas. His uncle was among the first wave to travel overseas in the 1990s and he worked in IT. His uncle’s work is going well, he has a sweet and happy family, and is also a role model for Qin Mo’s life. Recalling the most rewarding thing that happened in his life, Qin Mo said it was while he was at school. When he was 12 years old and in the first year of junior middle school, he gave a speech on stage. That was the first public speech he gave, and he recited a poem. He stood up in front of everyone and recited the poem fluently. He remembers it as clearly as if it had just happened. The most frustrating thing in his life was not getting an H1B work visa lottery when he was working in the United States. When being asked the thing he most wanted or wants to do, Qin Mo says in a relaxed manner that he wants to learn how dance hip-hop or jazz. When asked about whether there is anything “bigger” he wants to do or dreams of, Qin Mo says he hopes to have financial freedom and have his own family. After gaining financial freedom, he has not thought about what he might want to do, he might make his own music album. He believes that a dream is something that has a certain difficulty in being achieved, is also something that is possible to be achieved, and is something that needs to be achieved. A dream is better than what one currently has, is more detached from reality but also comes from reality. He thinks that in today’s society, everybody has their own dream and that there are too many dreams. For example, the success of

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the e-commerce platform Pinduoduo is the achievement of some people’s dream. Dreams are both broad and specific. Different people are in different levels of the social hierarchy so they have different dreams. Qin Mo says that he has already achieved his former greatest dream of staying in Shanghai. His greatest dream now is to find a suitable person with whom to establish a family in Shanghai. He hopes that his child will have good resources as they grow up, and will receive a good education. This thought occurred to him in the last year or so. He thinks that this is the most practical achievement in one’s life, and everyone also needs to gain lots of different experiences in life. As one interacts with more people, experiences more things and grows older, one will have these ideals. Qin Mo’s current goal is to make his work even better. In addition, he says jokingly, he hopes to become a bit thinner. He hopes to be fitter and wealthier in the future, and have a more fulfilling and stable life. This is both spiritually, such as with his hobbies, and physically, with his health. These steps are also how one achieves one’s life goals. To achieve this in the future, one must take steps to do well now. Qin Mo believes that the national policy is more important for achieving dreams. The direction of the national policy gives the greatest opportunity to achieve one’s dreams. If you want to achieve your dreams, you must follow the direction of the Party. You should watch the national evening news every evening. Qin Mo has certain advantages as far as his social status and personal circumstances are concerned in helping him achieving his dream. With regards to his social circle, he is in Shanghai, and he has many different kinds of friends which means he is exposed to more information as well as suitable opportunities at the right time. The industry within which he works is relatively close to finance, so he can gain insight into more things. However, being in a first-tier city also brings unique pressures to his life. Shanghai is a consumer-driven city. Having a girlfriend and getting married both consume a lot of time and money. When speaking about establishing a family, Qin Mo believes that his own qualities, or his competitiveness in the marriage market, are primarily external qualities (his first reaction to this question is to laugh at himself by saying their child will be relatively tall); in addition, he has a broad range of interests, he has a way with words, and has a decent level of education and lifestyle. Qin Mo has already put a lot of effort into achieving his dream. In order to find a girlfriend, he is now working hard by going to the gym. He has also changed jobs several times. His work is now more business-oriented, and has more prospects for development. Qin Mo believes that you cannot change the external environment one is in, but as an individual, one can only accommodate to the environment and compromise, instead of trying to change it. While working to achieve his dream, Qin Mo feels the difficulties he faces have mainly come from within. There is a certain income ceiling for his job which lags behind that of his peers. This is mainly because in the early years of working, he did not make an appropriate plan for his career and went through some twists and turns to get to where he is today. He believes that if a man has good income then he seems more attractive, and readier to start a family. As for how to take the next step in order to achieve his dream, Qin Mo says, he wants to achieve financial freedom by grabbing the right opportunity at the right time at

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work. As for establishing a family, Qin Mo says playfully that he might need to have more interactions with the opposite gender. Qin Mo believes that the dreams of his parents’ generation are not the same as his. The time period and culture of the two generations are not the same. In his parents’ generation, the state assigned them work and everyone earned the same amount of income, regardless of the performance. The dreams of his parents’ generation also tended to be more down-to-earth and simpler. Qin Mo believes that compared to his parents’ generation, achieving his dream is more difficult based on the time and money needed to achieve it. Of course, there is no issue of social unrest, and this is helpful in achieving dreams. At the end of the interview, Qin Mo is a bit embarrassed to realize that he has spent the whole time talking about his own personal dreams, rather than his aspirations for the society. Besides this, he has even bigger dreams, but these are too unrealistic at this moment, and he is unable to take action and achieve them. Qin Mo believes that China’s current development is good. The economy is in transition, and science and technology are changing rapidly. He also thinks the Party has done very well in terms of people’s well-being. However, there are many problems in an urgent need of solution, i.e. the issue of allocation of social resources, such as housing resources and resources for the education of children. There is also the issue of providing for the elderly which needs to be resolved. Because they lack resources, young people are reluctant to have children. It means that there will be fewer children born as the population continues to age. Qin Mo is quite satisfied with his current job and lifestyle. Although he has already achieved his dream of establishing a foothold in Shanghai, his still faces a lot of pressure from the social environment in this city. Though he is not originally from Shanghai, he has already experienced first-hand the difficulties of the high costs of living in a big first-tier city. Qin Mo’s dream comprises his personal dream and his aspirations for society. As a 30-year-old young man, Qin Mo’s short-term hope is to advance further in his job, and to have his own family within the next two years. In the longer term, he hopes to achieve financial freedom. Qin Mo watches the national evening news every day, and pays constant attention to the development of the nation and all its sectors. He also hopes that many social issues can be improved, such as provision for the elderly, medical care and education.

5 I Want to Return Home Due to the Development in My Homeland Zhao Chen 1. 2. 3. 4.

Alias: Eason Occupation: Founder of a construction quality evaluation company Domicile: Canada Employer: Self employed

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Age: 36 Gender: Male Ethnic Group: Han Level of Education: Bachelor’s degree

In 2016, not long after their second child was born, the whole family successfully emigrated to Canada, having obtained Canadian passports. They were no longer Chinese citizens. The day they received the notification, Eason and his father were both a little sad, “Something was missing, like when you lose your parents”. The self-identity he had had for several decades suddenly disappeared, and he was not used to this. The problem was he felt he was lacking of a “sense of security in life”. Eason said, “Sometimes I do want to return to China, the overall environment in Canada is not stable.” Eason was born in Dalian in 1983 and is an only child. His family structure was stable, and he graduated in 2006 from the University of Science and Technology Beijing. His father was born in 1956, graduated from university, and was in middlelevel management in a state-owned enterprise. His mother was also born in 1956, graduated from university, and was an English teacher in the Dalian Radio and Television University. Eason is very smart and has an IQ of 135. According to today’s standards he would be classed as a gifted child. His school grades were consistently good, but he was very rebellious and liked to challenge authority, such as his teachers. He often did not pay attention in class, did not complete his homework, liked to pay games or do some light reading during class time. He also like to flirt with girls, so he was not a good pupil in the traditional sense, and his teachers often had to contact his parents. Eason recalls that his mom would have to rein him in whenever his teachers contacted his parents. Therefore, there was a period in middle school when he wanted to kill himself whenever his mother glared at him. Although Eason’ s grades were always top of the class in examinations, his teachers never praised him, and his mother never gave him any positive affirmation. From then onwards, Eason began to believe that Chinese education was wrong as it did not respect the students and their intelligence. Eason’s relationship with his father was very good, because his father was clever and liked to come up with small inventions to make life easier. Eason felt this was new and interesting. Eason’s father also had a good personality. He was humorous, easy going, and patient. He did not put rigid demands on his son when it came to his studies, and was happy as long as he passed his examinations. He also supported his son to develop his interests. Eason liked to research the principles of physics, and to conduct experiments, so his father did these experiments with him. When his mother “reined in” Eason, his father would stand on his side and then his mother would have to rein in his father too. Eason says that he and his father are more like brothers, facing a common adversity. Eason says his father is quite frustrated with Chinese society, and that his grandparents were intellectuals who went through struggle sessions3 3A

term used during the Cultural Revolution. It means criticism and struggle, in the form of gatherings, conferences, demonstrations, verbal and written criticism, physical attacks, etc.

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during the Cultural Revolution, during which they almost died. His father had never been able to understand “how everyone in a society could collectively lose their sanity and the criteria of what is right and wrong”. His father believed that education is very important, but he believed that education provided on Chinese campuses was not real education. Eason’s father encouraged him to find an opportunity to experience life overseas, and to find a suitable lifestyle. Eason readily gained admission into a major university and his family hoped he would study in Dalian University. He insisted, however, in studying in Beijing, not because Beijing was the country’s capital, because at that time many people considered Dalian to be much better than Beijing, but because he wanted to escape his mother’s controlling ways. Eason’s university life was very fulfilling. The most important advice he wants to give to people is telling them to go travel. He has been to most places in China, including Xinjiang and Tibet, and he has also visited the United States and Canada. His travels to the United States and Canada made him determined to move overseas. He said, “After traveling abroad, I discovered that the universities there were filled with the spirit of exploration, excellence, and innovation. This was completely different to the square teaching buildings and small narrow desks and benches of Chinese universities.” Starting in his junior year, Eason started preparing to take TOEFL and the GRE examinations. His outstanding grades enabled him to study a master’s degree in engineering at the University of Toronto. He said, “I was super happy at that time, because I could live even farther away from my mother.” After graduating from university, Eason decided not to return to China. He said the reasons at the time were: “First, there are too many restrictions in the Chinese society, there is no freedom. Second, I wouldn’t be able to receive fair competition after returning to China; you might have a degree and a high IQ but these would not be the decisive factors, ‘relationships’, or connections and which people you know were just too important. Third, the resources abroad are more abundant, you don’t have to fight for everything, and squeeze with the crowds. An example is taking the subway or other public transportation. Fourth, you also don’t have to keep up with the Joneses; even if you are a beggar, people would chat with you.” Eason found a job in a construction company where he managed engineering standards and quality. He had a decent income and a good life. Eason says, “I have basically realized my dream at that time: I moved overseas, left my controlling mother, and gained freedom.” Eason got married in 2013. His wife is a classmate from junior high school. She studied medicine in France but did not graduate and drifted through life aimlessly there for several years. Because learning French was too difficult, and medicine is difficult to study in France, graduating is also a difficult task. His wife has applied for a leave of absence to come to Canada. Eason and his wife sometimes quarrel as he thinks his wife is too lazy as she does not clean up the house and does not want to work. Eason says, “I suspect that getting married was the wrong choice, because as soon as you get married you must become more down-to-earth. The first thing to do is to buy a house. If you get married, you have to buy a house. The second thing is to buy a car. Later, it will be inconvenient when you have a kid if you don’t have a car.” So, in 2014, Eason bought a detached house of around 200 m2 in the suburbs of Toronto with the financial assistance of his and his wife’s parents. The house has

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three floors, and it cost approximately RMB 1.2 million with a mortgage of around RMB 1 million. He has also rented a nice car which costs around 150 Canadian dollars each month. Eason says, “I really do not want to tell my mom about this, because as soon as I do, she will scold me.” In 2014, Eason’s wife became pregnant. She gave birth to a boy who is Canadian. After the child was born, Eason grew anxious because his wife did not really know how to take care of a child. They had a mortgage to pay so they did not have any money to employ a nanny. Eason needed his mother to come to Canada to take care of the child. “This is how I ended up back under my mother’s control, and I couldn’t have a moment of peace to myself.” In 2014, Eason also set up his own company which primarily performs quality acceptance for housing construction and decoration. The company is made up of just him, and the office is located in their home. Eason says, “It is easy to set up a company in Canada, it takes one dollar to register it. In China, how much does it cost to make the right connections?” Eason’s business was not booming, but it did earn an income of a few thousand Canadian dollars every month, and it was enough for them to live on. At the end of 2014, Eason’s parents moved to Canada. Eason says, “My nightmare had come true. I would quarrel with my mother every other day and have a more serious argument with her at least once a week. We argued about how to bring up the child and other trivial things in our family life. In comparison it did show how good the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law was.” In 2015, Eason’s wife became pregnant again. This meant his mother would have to stay a while longer. Eason’s mother taught English, so yearned she for a Western lifestyle. Language was not an issue either, so she suggested the whole family emigrated to Canada. Eason’s father was not actively in favor of this decision, but he could not oppose her choice either. Eason thought that emigrating was fine for them, as he himself had not planned to return to China. But in a new country, there is a “sense of strangeness”, and if they emigrated, returning to China later on would be difficult. Eason’s wife was in favor of emigrating, because the cost of returning to China was too high, and she had not accomplished anything. Before the whole family had reached a consensus, Eason’s mother suggested first submitting their applications, as the application process took a long time and they would not necessarily get approved. Eason started the application process, and surprisingly, not long after their second child was born in 2016, the whole family’s applications were approved. They all obtained Canadian passports, and from this point on were no longer Chinese citizens. The day they received the news, Eason and his father were both a little sad, “Something was missing, like when you lose your parents”. The self-identity he had had for several decades suddenly disappeared, and he was not used to this. Eason explained that the benefit is that the Canadian government provides allowances for children who can attend kindergarten from the age of two at practically no cost, and there is no need to worry about their education. However, the problem was he lacked of a “sense of security in life”. Eason says, “Sometimes, I do want to return to China. The overall environment in Canada is unstable. The Prime Minister is a ‘drama queen’; he takes a soft stance towards other countries and is submissive to the United States. Domestically, order is messed up;

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last year marijuana was legalized, and immigration is also increasing. Our whole family is in Canada, so I feel there is no way out. This generation of my father and I, we will spend the rest of our lives in Canada. As long as the society is not in chaos and we are well fed, we will feel satisfied with life. However, our children are not safe. The ideas and behavior patterns of Chinese people and Westerners are not the same. When my children grow up, if they are too Westernized, I won’t be able to accept it. However, this is the environment that they will grow up in. My children might not even know how to write Chinese, and will act completely like foreigners. Before, when I was in university, I always thought about when China would be able to revolutionize and be as free as the West. But now, I have suddenly realized that freedom in the West is simply an excessive tolerance and openness towards social behavior. Only with stable, orderly and rhythmic progress do citizens have a sense of security. Now that I am in Canada, I don’t have any sense of security. I always think about what I would do if a mob were to take over my house and burn it down.” Eason says, “I am no longer a Chinese citizen, but I am still Chinese. I hope that China remains stable in its development”.

6 Working for the Next Generation Zhao Chen 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Alias: Li Ying Occupation: Head waitress in a restaurant Domicile: Leshan City, Sichuan Province Employer: A restaurant Age: 37 Gender: Female Ethnic Group: Yi Level of Education: Second grade, junior high school

Dressed in her uniform, Li Ying is busy working at the restaurant every day. She says, “My son’s generation is different from us, they will no longer be able to leave their hometown to go elsewhere for work if they lack education. All the new staff who come to work at the restaurant have been professionally trained, and all have finished high school education or above.” Li Ying’s dream is for her family to be together and to be happy, and for them to have abundance in life. She hopes her son will aim high, like her well-educated younger brother, and will get a decent job, whether it be in the town or even better in a big city. Li Ying, female, was born in an impoverished village in Sichuan Province’s Leshan City. She attended school until the second grade of junior high school, and has an elder sister and a younger brother. Her father was born in 1959, and was educated until the fourth grade of primary school. Her mother was born in 1962 and is illiterate.

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Li Ying dropped out from school after the second grade of the junior high school, and left her village with her sister for work. She first went to Chengdu where she worked as a waitress in a restaurant. Li Ying’s father has always been a farmer. After her mother had given birth to two daughters, the family planning policy was implemented. Officials from the township fiercely upheld the policy, and if anyone gave birth to more children than the policy permitted, they would be forced to abort the fetus in the early stages of pregnancy. If the fetus could not be aborted, then a fine had to be paid. There was no standard for this fine. Rumor has it that some children in other villages were forcibly taken away and sold. Her father wanted to have a son, so they decided to continue with the pregnancy. In 1985, Li Ying’s mother became pregnant, and her father had to hide her pregnancy from the world. Li Ying and her sister were left at home, and they looked after each other. If anyone asked, Li Ying would tell them that her mother had become ill and her father had taken her somewhere else for treatment. In 1986, Li Ying’s younger brother was born. Their parents still did not dare to return, so her father returned while her mother sat out the period of her traditional confinement in childbirth elsewhere. Li Ying recalls that the village was only so big, and if the cry of a baby was heard, the whole village immediately knew which family had a newborn, and some bad people would go and report it. When Li Ying’s brother was a month old, her mother took the baby to live in the mountains. There are many mountain villages in Sichuan, and the vegetation is lush. Her father built a small shed high up the mountain, and placed her mother and brother there. They lived on the mountain for over a year. Her father thought that continually hiding was no answer, the conditions on the mountain were poor and the eating and the housing situation had become a problem. So, her father braced himself to confess about having a third child to the head of the village, which would benefit the village head because he was turning himself in and accepting the fine. He hoped that as a result, the fine would not be too much. The head of the village reported this to the town-level government, and the ruling came back that the fine would be RMB 4,000. At that time, her father did not even have ten renminbi, so RMB 4,000 was an enormous figure. Not only did her father agree to this, he also managed to borrow RMB 2,000 to pay towards the fine, but was unable to borrow more. So, he asked the village head if he could pay in installments. The village agreed to this but said there would be an additional 3% for interest, and if he did not agree, he would confiscate their property. Her father had no choice but to agree to this. The land in Sichuan is uneven and does not have a high yield, and there are a variety of taxes that have to be paid. If you have enough to eat, you are already doing well. Helpless, her father was forced to leave the village in search of work. He knew a bit about brick laying, so he went to nearby counties, towns and villages to do odd jobs and to help others build or repair their houses. While searching for work outside the village, her father came to know a few people, and in 1990 decided to go farther afield to work with some coworkers. Many of her father’s coworkers had debts, and after almost three years of payments, her father still had RMB 1,000 of compound interest left to repay. So, her father and his coworkers went to Chengdu. At that time,

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those leaving their villages to find work were always being checked to see if he had a stable job, and they didn’t have a feeling of freedom. If he was found to be an unemployed migrant people,4 he was deemed a vagrant and would be retained. In 1991, the family’s first debt was paid off. Her mother looked after the three children at home. At the time, Li Ying’s family had around one- third of a hectare of land, which her mother took care of alone. Li Ying and her sister frequently missed school to help farm the land. While her father was working outside of the village, he would generally return home three times a year, once for plowing in the spring, once for the fall harvest, and once for the New Year. Her father returned and told her mother, “we have to send our kids to school, especially our son, so he becomes an educated person and our family does not need to worry about money in the future.” In 1995, a contact recommended some work for her father and his co-workers in Guangzhou. Going to Guangzhou to work turned out to be a tragedy for Li Ying’s family. After her father arrived in Guangzhou, he and his coworkers found work at a construction site. Their wages were calculated daily, and they received around RMB 15 per day. After working there for three months, they went to the foreman to get their wages. The foreman said he had no money to pay them, and that her father should speak to the outsourcer.5 The six of them, including her father, found the outsourcer who told them that he had no money to pay them, and that they should wait. Her father saw that the outsourcer was living extravagantly, so how could he have no money to pay their wages? After a couple of months had passed, her father went to ask for his wages again. He had an argument with the outsourcer who, now angered, gave RMB 6,000 to her father and the other workers and told them to “get lost”. Her father should have been paid RMB 2,200 in wages but so far had only been paid RMB 1,000. Unable to get over this, her father went to find the outsourcer again, and he ended up being injured by the outsourcer. Thankfully, he was not seriously injured, as he only suffered from some light wounds. Her father was extremely uncomfortable when he returned to the place he was staying. So he drank a lot of alcohol, and suffered from gastrointestinal bleeding. He was admitted to the hospital in a coma. After her mother was notified of this, she rushed to Guangzhou at once. Due to her father’s hospitalization, the family now accrued an additional debt of RMB 3,000. Her father was particularly weak, he was unable to eat and the hospital wanted to perform surgery on him. After discussion, their parents made a conservative choice to do therapy, which did not involve surgery but required a longer recovery. After her father’s condition stabilized, her mother brought him back home. Li Ying’s dream at that time was to become an official in the town so her family could lead an easy life. 4 People

who migrate to a place for the purposes of fleeing the conditions famine, taking refuge or making a living. They migrate from their rural permanent residence to a city, without a stable career and permanent residence. 5 A party who is qualified to contract out a project and capable of paying the project cost or its legal successor.

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To pay off the debt and to be able to pay for their daily expenses, Li Ying’s sister dropped out of school and left the village to work. She was 16 years old at the time. Her sister worked as a waitress in a restaurant in Chengdu. Her salary was RMB 200 a month, and the job provided food and accommodation. Her sister used RMB 50 yuan for herself, and sent the rest RMB 150 yuan back home. Their parents decided to send their brother to school. Li Ying’s mother told her, “We cannot afford to have two pupils in our family, so let’s send your brother to school.” Li Ying could understand her parents’ pain, so she did not cry or make a fuss. At the age of 15, she left the village with her sister to work. As the economy has developed, the food and beverage industry has flourished, changing rapidly from small eateries to big restaurants and then to restaurant chains. Li Ying and her sister’s incomes also increased. A coworker of Li Ying’s sister said Chengdu is a small place, and then a relative told her that there are many opportunities to make money in Beijing. There is a boss from Sichuan who opened a big restaurant in Beijing. He only hires serving staff from Sichuan, and the salary was really high. In 1998, Li Ying and her sister went to Beijing and found that “big restaurant”. They saw that it really was different from the restaurants in Chengdu. The tablecloths were as white as snow, and there were flowers on the tables. The serving staff were dressed in identical uniforms which were clean and neat. Li Ying and her sister asked the duty manager if they were hiring staff; explained that they were from Sichuan, were looking for work, and had previously worked as waitresses. As expected, the majority of people there were from Sichuan, and they all spoke the Sichuan dialect allowing Li Ying and her sister to feel right at home. The duty manager spoke to the boss who agreed to hire them on a probation period for three months. Li Ying and her sister were quite satisfied with this job. They lived in the same dormitory, with four people in a room. The other two ladies they shared the room with were from Meishan in Sichuan. Li Ying and her sister’s wages rose from RMB 200 to RMB 500 per month, and the job included food and accommodation. Every month, they sent RMB 600 home, and the lives of their family improved considerably. In 1998, Li Ying’s brother took the college entrance exam. He did not disappoint his parents, and his good grades earned him admission to Sichuan University where he studied mechanical engineering. Her brother’s tuition fees were approximately RMB 400 per year, and including the living expenses, he needed around RMB 1,000 per year. Li Ying and her sister were able to provide for their brother while he was at university. The restaurant in which Li Ying worked expanded quickly, and close to ten branches opened in Beijing in just a few years, mainly serving authentic Sichuan cuisine. Li Ying and her sister continued working in this restaurant. Their boss was compassionate to his staff, their benefits were good. In addition to the basic salary, they also received performance-based pay, and their accommodation was also clean. Their boss had also previously been a migrant worker. He worked as a chef, moving from small eateries to big restaurants and then to restaurant chains. He knew very clearly the how difficult it was for migrant workers. In 2002, Li Ying’s brother graduated from university, and started to work in China National Erzhong Group as a research and development technician.

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In 2003, Li Ying and her sister were both promoted to head waitress, to manage the restaurant’s lobby. They also changed their accommodation from a four people room to a two-person room, and their salary increased to RMB 1,000 monthly. Li Ying’s sister met her partner in this restaurant. He was also from Leshan but they were not from the same county. In 2005, her sister and boyfriend got married. In 2006, her sister became pregnant, and it was difficult for her to work as head waitress so she resigned and returned home. Li Ying’s brother-in-law continued working in the restaurant. Li Ying’s sister was no longer accustomed to the rural life having worked in cities since she was 16 years old. There are more life resources in the city, and the quality of life is higher. Li Ying’s sister and her husband decided to buy a 90 m2 apartment in town with the savings they accumulated over the years and some borrowed money. They spent around RMB 80,000. When her son was one year old, Li Ying’s sister returned to Beijing to work in the restaurant. In 2008, because she missed their child, Li Ying’s sister and brother-in-law returned to the town and rented a shop in the building in which they were living and set up a small restaurant. Their business was enough to make ends meet. Because of childcare needs, Li Ying’s mother also moved to the town to live with Li Ying’s sister. In 2006, Li Ying also fell in love. Her boyfriend was a takeaway waiter in the restaurant and a delivery boy. Li Ying’s boyfriend is from the rural Muchuan county in Sichuan Province’s Leshan city. He is two years younger than Li Ying. His father died from falling off a cliff when he was two years old, and they haven’t heard from his mother since she ran away from home. Li Ying’s boyfriend was brought up by his grandparents. They had almost no source of income, as his grandparents were unable to work after they got older, so Li Ying’s boyfriend did not attend school after fourth grade in primary school. He helped his grandparents with the household chores, and also collected garbage with his grandmother. When he was 12, his grandmother died from an illness leaving just him and his grandfather. Li Ying’s boyfriend left his village to work when he was 14. He and his grandfather took an old-fashioned green-painted train for three days and two nights, and somehow ended up in this big restaurant in Beijing opened by people from Sichuan. However, because Li Ying’s boyfriend was so young, employing him did not comply with the labor law. Although many people did make use of “child labor” then, the salary and benefits were really poor. The boss of this restaurant, however, did not think this was ethical, so he helped the boy make contact with a vocational school in Sichuan’s Meishan. He sent the boy and his grandfather back home, and gave them RMB 1,000 a year to help support them. He arrived with his grandfather in Meishan where he studied hospitality. His grandfather rented a four-meter square straw shed near the school, and scavenged every day to make a living. In 2001, Li Ying’s boyfriend graduated from vocational school, and brought his grandfather back to Beijing where he officially started to work at the restaurant. Li Ying’s boyfriend did not live in the dormitory provided by the restaurant. He rented a ten-square meter single-story house with his grandfather for a monthly rent of RMB 80. His grandfather still made a living by scavenging every day, which would earn

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him around RMB 5 per day. His grandfather, who was 62 years old, was happy with this arrangement. In 2005, Li Ying’s boyfriend was transferred to the same restaurant branch as Li Ying, and in 2006 started dating and fell in love with each other. In 2008, Li Ying was already 26 years old, and her family was urging her to get married. Although her boyfriend’s background was poor, her father felt that they were both from the countryside and had led a similarly hard life, he shouldn’t oppose their relationship. As long as they took care of each other and helped each other, it was good enough. Li Ying and her boyfriend decided to get married in 2009. When the boyfriend told his grandfather, he was over the moon. At the end of 2008, his grandfather insisted on returning home. He said he had something to attend to, and that he would come back once he had finished. Li Ying’s boyfriend thought that this was strange. The land in their old home was uncultivated, and the house was in disrepair. They had not been back for many years so did not know what state it would be in. What was it that grandfather needed to take care of? His grandfather insisted on going back, and was determined to go back alone. Four days after his grandfather returned home, Li Ying’s boyfriend was notified by the village that his grandfather had died. He had stopped breathing after lying down on the bed in their old family home. Li Ying said that he was afraid of being a burden on them so killed himself. Li Ying loved her boyfriend even more dearly because of this. Because of their local customs, as her boyfriend’s grandfather had died, they could not get married for a year. They waited until the end of 2010 and Li Ying and her boyfriend got married. In 2011, Li Ying became pregnant. She resigned and moved into her sister’s home to carry out her pregnancy. Li Ying’s son was born in the spring of 2012. Li Ying also wanted to buy a home in the town. With support from her sister, brother and her own savings, she scraped together RMB 150,000 which was enough to buy an over 80 m2 apartment in an area close to her sister’s home. After Li Ying’s son was one year old, she returned to work in Beijing, and her son was taken care of by her sister and her parents. The reasons Li Ying returned to Beijing were: first, she liked the life in Beijing. The small town was too boring. Second, she had not thought what she would do in the town back home. Her sister had started a small restaurant and if she opened one too, she would have to discuss with her family. It would be impossible for her to be a civil servant or work in a company, so she decided to “enjoy her life” for another couple of years in Beijing before deciding. Third, the cost of raising a child is huge. Influenced by the big city mentality, she wanted to give the best of everything to her child and would spend around RMB 2,000 on him every month. After Li Ying returned, she became the head waitress in a different restaurant and lived apart from her husband. They each lived in their respective restaurant’s dormitories to save money. In 2014, Li Ying’s monthly salary was approximately RMB 4,000, and her employer also paid the three basic insurances for her. In 2015, the takeaway industry developed rapidly, and her husband resigned from his job in the restaurant to become a delivery boy. Although he was reluctant to give up his job, the difference in income made him choose this new job. Working in the restaurant gave him a monthly salary of

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approximately RMB 3,500 while he could earn an additional RMB 1,000 to 1,500 as a delivery boy. Li Ying’s sister treated her son well. She sent him to early education classes, and got him to take swimming, English and other classes. Li Ying and her husband send RMB 6,000–8,000 back home each month, and their own expenses in Beijing are between RMB 2,000 and 3,000 per month. Li Ying and her husband miss their son, but it is not possible to have him live with them. If he does, they would not be able to guarantee the same quality of life for him with their income, and their son would not be able to receive a good education. Li Ying and her husband considered the three possible situations, namely: (1) For Li Ying to return to the town, (2) For her son to come to Beijing, or (3) For Li Ying to continue live separately from her son. The most rational and ideal choice at this stage is still for them to live separately. Li Ying says, she will certainly return home in the future and she plans to move back before her son starts junior high school. She will not open a restaurant, but instead plans to open a small business. Perhaps the business will be opening a WeChat shop. Logistics are so developed now that trade is no longer geographically restricted. Li Ying believes her son’s generation to be different to her own: they will no longer be able to leave their hometown to go elsewhere for work if they lack education. All the new staff who join the restaurant have been professionally trained, and all have finished their high school education or above. Li Ying’s dream is for her family to live together and to be happy, and for them to have abundance in life. She hopes her son will aim high, like her own younger brother who is well-educated, and get a decent job, whether it be in the town or an even better in a big city. Li Ying says her son is very smart, and is growing up well. He is already over 1.5 m tall at the age of seven. She herself is only 1.52 m tall. She believes her son will have great prospects.

7 From a Young Migrant Worker to an E-Commerce Entrepreneur Zhao Chen 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Alias: Xiao Jiao Occupation: Taobao shopkeeper Domicile: Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province Employer: Taobao Age: 38 Gender: Female Ethnic Group: Han Level of Education: Third grade, junior high school

I am most thankful to my uncle and the invention of the Internet. At a critical time, my uncle saved my mother and helped me. The Internet will not look down

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on me and think that I have a low level of education, and it can help me achieve my capabilities and ideas. Xiao Jiao, born in a rural area of Jiamusi City in Heilongjiang Province in 1981. She dropped out of school in the third grade of junior high school. Her mother was born in 1956, and was a farmer with a primary school education. Her parents got divorced, and her mother remarried. Her stepfather has finished his primary school education. For half the year he would work at construction sites, and the remaining time he does farm work. Xiao Jiao’s grandfather had been the head of a production team in the communist era, but he was grumpy, and while he was courageous and capable, he offended many people. Her grandfather was denounced and criticized during the Cultural Revolution, In the countryside, most people living in the same village are relatives. Seeing how vicious relatives could be to each other, the heart of Xiao Jiao’s mother was filled with hatred and a sense of betrayal. The relationship between Xiao Jiao’s mother and her grandfather was bad. They would quarrel almost every day, and could hardly say one full civil sentence to each other. Her grandfather was overly protective of her mother, if anyone bullied her or said even one bad thing about her, he would go to their house to yell at them or even hit them. Her mother did not like to farm the land because it was hard work, dirty and tiring. She studied hairdressing for two months and opened her own hairdressing salon in town. At the beginning, business was good. Her mother and father got married after a matchmaker brought them together. There was no emotional foundation in the relationship, and they did not understand each other. After they got married, they would often quarrel, and Xiao Jiao’s mother would often beat her father. Xiao Jiao’s parents divorced when she was two years old. From then on, Xiao Jiao never saw her father again, and they lost all contact. After the divorce, her mother moved back to her own mother’s house, and got caught up in gambling. At first, it was just small bets, but the bets grew larger and larger. She lost all their money, land, and ultimately her hairdressing salon too. Her mother continued betting and fell deep into debt. Around 1992, her mother owed around RMB 10,000 and this was an enormous figure at that time. Her mother had an elder brother who was in the military. Because he had helped many children in his village to join the army, he had some influence and prestige in his hometown. After he found out what had happened, her uncle rushed home from the military and locked his sister in a room. He did not let her out, and instructed her that if she was to gamble again, he would take her to prison. He also told the creditors that he would either repay the debts or do some favors for them. Xiao Jiao’s mother was locked in her room for exactly half a year. After he let her out, she did not gamble again, but had nothing to do all day long. Xiao Jiao says, “My mother knew almost nothing about me; it was my grandfather who took care of me. Grandfather was very good to me, but he loved to drink. He would start drinking at breakfast and cry after he got drunk. The year when Xiao Jiao was seven years old, her mother remarried. Her stepfather was from another village, and joined their family. Her stepfather’s own family was poor and could not

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afford to pay for betrothal gifts. He was also old and was known in the countryside as an “old bachelor”. So, he married Xiao Jiao’s mother. Xiao Jiao had almost no verbal communication with her stepfather; they each did their own thing when they were at home. When he was not working, Xiao Jiao’s stepfather smoked, and he was often scolded by her mother and grandfather. When Xiao Jiao was eight years old, her mother gave birth to younger sister whom Xiao Jiao adores. Xiao Jiao says that when she was in the third or fourth grade of primary school, she began to cook for herself and look after her sister. Every morning, she would get up and cook, and then go to school. In the middle of the day, she would come back and cook again, and then have a bite to eat before going back to school. In the evening, she would cook for the whole family. She was really tired, and often had no energy when she was in class. She felt as if a big weight was resting on her shoulders. She was really unhappy. “Our family had no money, and all my clothes were given to me by my uncle. He brought me clothes once a year. Very early on I wanted to quit school and I wanted to leave this family. I asked my uncle to take me to join the army, but I was far too young. My grades were not bad, and they were always middle to upper range in my class. But I just wanted to leave this family.” In the third grade of junior high school, when Xiao Jiao was 15 years old, she could not wait to leave home. She left without telling her family, but left them a letter. She took a long-distance bus to the city where her uncle was. At that time, many villagers left the village to work. Xiao Jiao was young and had a low level of education, and she was unable to find any work. After living with her uncle for over half a year, she worked as a waitress in one of his friend’s restaurant. Being a waitress is very hard. At the time, it was very popular to eat “big dinner” in restaurants as this was a status symbol. So, a lot of customers came to eat “big dinner” very often, as the restaurant also had connections to parts of the government and the military. A fixed number of people came to the restaurant almost every day for the “big dinner”, and they would make a racket in the restaurant after they had drunk too much. Xiao Jiao was young and she was not used to this. She says, this was the first time that she knew what it meant to be homesick. She called her mother, but she ended up crying on the phone and did not say a word. Xiao Jiao worked as a waitress in the first restaurant for over a year, and then jobhopped with another waitress, to work as a head waitress in a restaurant in the town. Xiao Jiao got to know the boss’ son in this restaurant, and she became his girlfriend. After less than a year of being together, Xiao Jiao discovered she was pregnant. She was 19 years old at the time. She told the boss’ son, but at first he did not want to accept this news and avoided her. Xiao Jiao says that at the time she wanted to get an abortion, but she did not have any money, the quality of local medical care was poor and she might harm her body in the process. Xiao Jiao, who grew up in a broken home, says, “I am especially envious of others whose parents love them and I also want to be a responsible mother.” Xiao Jiao sought help from her uncle who went to see the boss. He talked to the boss for a long time, but Xiao Jiao does not know what they talked about. After that, the boss and his wife brought their son to Xiao Jiao and her uncle, and said that their family preferred boys to girls. If she did not want to get an abortion, she could wait for four months before testing to see if it was

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a boy or a girl. If it was a boy, Xiao Jiao and their son would get married, and if it was a girl, they would have no more contact. Xiao Jiao was pregnant with a boy, so she got married to the boss’ son. After getting married, Xiao Jiao did not work. She stayed at home to look after the child. Xiao Jiao’s relationship with her mother-in-law was not good, and she had a tough time in the family. She found a job as a salesperson in a store close to home selling cosmetics. When she was 22, Xiao Jiao became pregnant again, and gave birth to a girl. She stayed at home for a year, and then decided to lease a stall in the store where she had previously worked, selling women’s accessories. The rent then was around RMB 30,000 per year, and in a year, Xiao Jiao made a profit of over RMB 10,000. In the following year, she rented another stall and sold ladies’ pantyhose. She had achieved financial independence. After 2003, because of intense competitions in the food and beverage industry, because the dining environment and management model of her in-law’s restaurant lagged behind others, the business grew increasingly poor. Xiao Jiao’s income became particularly important, and the relationships within the family greatly improved. Xiao Jiao operated two stalls, between 2003 and 2009. Her income continued to grow, and she felt it was doing really well. In 2009, she felt that she was using Taobao more and more, and she found that Taobao had some products of the same type as her own, but they were cheaper than hers. The reasons for this included factors such as stall fees, logistics costs and turnover rates. So, Xiao Jiao opened two shops on Taobao, selling the same products as her physical stalls. After discussions with wholesalers, they agreed to send stock directly to customers. This reduced the cost of the goods. Between 2009 and 2013, Xiao Jiao concurrently ran two physical shops and two Taobao stores. Income from the physical shops reduced year on year while the income from the Taobao stores increased rapidly. Her overall income continued to increase. At the end of 2013, she decided to shut down her physical shops, and continuing running only the Taobao stores. To prevent a reduction in income, she opened another Taobao shop selling skincare products, mainly domestically-produced mid-range cosmetics aimed at women in the town where she was living. In 2014, Xiao Jiao discovered that more and more people were using WeChat, and that people were selling things on WeChat. She also started to introduce her skincare products on WeChat. Women in the town were gradually turning from domestically produced skincare products to mid- and high-end international brands. She changed the sales merchandise that she carried, and acted as an agent for several South Korean and Japanese skincare brands. She now runs three Taobao stores, and also runs a business on WeChat. Her annual income is around RMB 400,000 yuan. Her husband also helps her take care of the Taobao stores and supplies. Xiao Jiao says, “Before, what I most wanted was a warm home, and for my mother to care for me and love me. Later, I wanted to leave home to find a life of my own. But I did not achieve any of this. At the beginning, my marriage was an unhappy one, but now I feel very happy. My husband and mother-in-law have begun to support me, and they respect me for my economic contributions. I am not too concerned about my children’s academic performance. I just hope they grow up happily. I hate family

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conflicts, and I don’t like to fight. This is terrible and hurts the children deeply. I have always worked hard to create a warm family atmosphere, and to keep the home clean. Both my children are cheerful and optimistic. I am most thankful to my uncle and the Internet. At the critical time, my uncle saved my mother and helped me, and the Internet will not look down on me and think that I have a low level of education, but can realize my capabilities and ideas. I hope that later I will continue keep up with the times, and run my small businesses well, and enjoy a quiet life.” In 2013, Xiao Jiao and her uncle co-financed the building of a villa in the countryside for her mother, grandfather and stepfather. Built in a European style, it is the most conspicuous residence in the whole village. Her mother now lives in the villa with nothing to do, while her step father still works, smokes and sits at the entrance. Her grandfather passed away in 2014. Xiao Jiao is now afraid that her parents will get sick, because she cannot go back to take care of them. She also would not bring them into the city.

8 The “Startup Dream” of a Delivery Guy Wang Jingjing 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Alias: Yu Qing Occupation: Courier Domicile: Countryside, Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province Employer: SF Express Age: 38 Gender: Male Ethnic Group: Han Level of Education: Junior high school

Every day, Yu Qing carries courier bags and packages up and down office buildings. He says, “Life is a gamble, but my father was scared to take a bet. My character is different from that of my father. I dared to bite the bullet. My idea of starting a business in the future will certainly come to happen, and what I am most opposed to is having to farm the land back home.” Yu Qing was born in a rural area of Heilongjiang Province’s Harbin City in 1981. He currently works as a frontline courier for Beijing SF Express (SF). His monthly income is around RMB 10,000. Yu Qing’s parents are farmers. When he was a child, the family’s economic situation was relatively poor, and the family’s main source of income was farming. He has a brother who is one year younger than him, and when they were young, they would always fight. Yu Qing grew up in the countryside, and he does not think there is anything particular worth mentioning from his childhood. He was not like the children who grow up in the city who have lots of toys and entertainment. What made the deepest impression on him as a child was that he would go out to the farm with his

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parents to work. His grades were not particularly good in primary school and junior high school, but he was an average pupil. After he completed junior high school, he hoped to be able to continue onto senior high school, but he knew that his father had no intention of letting him continue his studies. The family’s economic situation did not permit him to continue, and he did after all have a brother just one year younger than him whose grades were clearly better than his own. Yu Qing always felt that the reason his father made him drop out of school was not because of his brother but was to some extent because of favoritism. Whatever the reason, however, he did drop out of school and returned home to help out on the farm. As a child, he was very obedient, and the only time he got into a fight was with a girl. He hit her, and her family brought her to Yu Qing’s family to show them what had happened. His father severely punished him, and after that he never got into any fights again. Yu Qing’s father is around 65 years old this year. He only knows a few words, and he himself cannot say exactly which year he was born in, perhaps the year of the sheep or perhaps the year of the monkey. His mother is 57, she was born in the year of the tiger, and is illiterate. She always complains that she was cheated into marrying her husband as he told her he was younger than he really was. If she had known the age difference between them was so big, she would not have considered marrying him. Yu Qing’s father came from a farming family in Shandong. His political status was not good since he was a rich peasant. He was brought up by his grandparents since his mother died when he was a child. At a young age, he left home and spent two years in the Northeast before returning to Shandong. After Yu Qing’s parents got married, his father took his mother to settle down in Heilongjiang. It was more profitable to farm in Northeastern China than in Shandong, and the soybean prices were high. Yu Qing’s father thought that coming to the Northeast might be a good opportunity. His father was adopted. His grandfather subsequently divorced his grandmother, so his father does not have too many sentiments attached to his family. In Yu Qing’s eyes, his father is a very irritable person who would often physically abuse his mother and smack Yu Qing and his brother. These experiences have, to some extent, left a psychological shadow on Yu Qing. In recent years, however, as his father grew older, his temper has gradually become milder. Yu Qing has a good relationship with his mother, but not a very good one with his father. He does not really chat with his father, and his father is not very supportive of many of his decisions, including his choice to go to Beijing for work. After Yu Qing completed junior high school, he was still young, and had no clue about his future. They had a well-connected relative in the armed forces, and Yu Qing’s father was tempted to send him into the army. Their relative said that if he wanted to join the army he could. He still remembers that he had the choice of joining the armed police in Beijing, the air force ground services, or the navy. The relative could have arranged any of these positions for him. However, at that time, employment was not assigned after demobilization, and his father considered that having been in the army he would still have to find a job when he came back. There were no particularly good options for soldiers who were demobilized and came back to the countryside. So even though he was young and fit, he gave up the opportunity to be a soldier. Remembering this now, if he had joined the army, his fortune now might have been different. Although the military no longer assigns employment after

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demobilization, he would still have had more options in the future than leaving the countryside as a migrant worker. At that time, Yu Qing had an aunt who was doing well in Qingdao, so he moved to Qingdao to be with his aunt, where he was a paint sprayer in a wooden furniture factory. As a paint sprayer, he earned RMB 700 each month, with food and accommodation covered, but over a long period, spraying paint meant exposure to dangerous chemicals, and the security measures were not effective. Yu Qing was worried that over time this would have an impact on his health. So, having worked there for less than a year, he changed jobs and started to work in a lock factory where his wages were RMB 800 per month. Neither of these jobs paid for his social insurance and or gave him any housing fund contributions. After working for a year, and due to his age, his parents did not want him to work away from home anymore, and so he returned home to farm the land with his parents, and also started considering finding a wife. In 2002, Yu Qing married a girl he was in love with, who was three years younger than him and from the same village. He spent some of his parents’ savings to pay for the wedding. After getting married, he returned to the village to farm, and had it not been for a subsequent unforeseen occurrence in the family, he might have stayed in the village to be a farmer his entire life, even though he was not happy to do so. In 2004, Yu Qing’s daughter was born, but she was found to have a congenital heart disease. In the countryside, he did not have too much of an income, and the child’s condition made the whole family’s economic situation even more difficult, and over time they incurred debts. A single operation in Harbin alone cost over RMB 30,000, and the results were not ideal. He brought his daughter everywhere in search of medical help, until they came to Beijing. After re-examination, the diagnosis given by the doctor was not positive, and the recommendation given was to give up treatment. Yu Qing often thinks that things might have been completely different if he had brought his daughter to Beijing for surgery earlier. “The child died in my arms. She caught a cold, which caused her heart condition to worsen. In the end, she did not suffer much.” Yu Qing tries to explain things using a relaxed tone, but tears can still be seen in his eyes. He then lets out a long sigh, and says he still wants to have another daughter. This happened in 2011 and Yu Qing and his wife suffered a great blow from the death of their daughter. The child is buried not far from their home. His wife feels she would always be reminded of her daughter when she sees the grave, so she packed up her things and moved back with her mother. Back when they were taking their daughter to see a doctor, disagreements started to occur between Yu Qing and his wife, and his wife’s family. Yu Qing borrowed a lot of money to pay for his daughter to see a doctor. Bearing such a large debt, continuing to farm at home was no longer possible, and in 2011, after dealing with his daughter’s funeral arrangements, Yu Qing packed his things and went to Beijing for work. Living apart intensified the differences between Yu and his wife, and Yu Qing’s marriage came to an end in 2012. When speaking of the divorce, Yu Qing has a clear conscience. He did what a man should do. He took on all of the debt, borrowed money from friends and family and gave his wife some money. After he left home, Yu Qing leased his plot of land to a villager. When he first left the village, he could get an income of RMB 10,000 from leasing out his land; but now situation

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has changed, nobody will lease the land for even RMB 5,000. This is because more money can be made as a migrant worker than from farming, and in the village most of those who farm are old people. These old people cannot even cope with the farm work on their own land, let alone lease someone else’s land to farm. In addition, the income earned from farming then is far from being able to provide for the needs of a family. In the Northeast, there are very few families who still purely rely on farming for their sustenance. In 2011, just after arriving in Beijing, Yu Qing found his current job as a courier for SF. During his probation period when he first started, he could earn RMB 2,000–3,000 per month. After his probation, he earned around RMB 4,000 per month. In 2015, his income increased a lot, amounting to around RMB 10,000 per month. He has now worked for SF for eight years, and his monthly take-home pay is approximately RMB 10,000. He managed to pay off his previous debts long ago. When he had just arrived in Beijing, he saw that everyone used smart phones, and he would sometimes wonder when he would be able to afford one for himself. He does not go after brands, but he did want to earn enough money to buy a smart phone. He has now purchased a smart phone, and paid off his debts. Now, he has a bigger goal which is to buy his own house. Yu Qing repeatedly compared the price and location of property in his old home in Harbin with that in Langfang, Hebei. In 2016, without any savings, he bit the bullet and made a down payment on a property in Langfang using credit card overdrafts and by borrowing money. The down payment was for RMB 320,000, and the monthly repayment is RMB 3,100. His parents supported him by giving him RMB 30,000, but he stressed that this money was borrowed and he would eventually pay it back. For Yu Qing, buying a property was the most rewarding thing. He started to envision a beautiful future, and became eager to own his own car. He is currently in the lottery to get a license plate for the car. The credit card debts from buying a property, however, have put enormous pressure on him. “I always feel that I have more and more credit cards,” Yu Qing says with a forced smile. Yu Qing currently no longer has a penny to his name at the end of each month, and his living standard is not anywhere near as good as it used to be. He pays off his credit cards using other credit cards, barely maintaining a delicate balance of payments. His house loan and repayments also put a lot of pressure on him. He is now about RMB 100,000 in debt, but he estimates that he can completely eradicate the pressure of this debt within the next three years. After that, he can do what he wants to do. Yu Qing’s hobby is photography. He bought his own camera, and likes traveling outdoors. He has been to most places surrounding Beijing, and belongs to an outdoor activity group on WeChat. However, the pressure he has been facing has been quite heavy these past couple of years, so he has not gone out to have fun for a long time. The best buddies he has are those from his hometown who have come to Beijing to work. They all know each other through a group of people from the same hometown who set up a group on WeChat. Before, they would often get together but now most of the buddies are married and were not in close touch with each other. He was only familiar with his colleagues who live nearby, and in that industry, people tend not to become good friends with their colleagues because the work is too busy. Yu Qing now has a girlfriend. She was born in 1983, and is a divorcee with no children. She

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comes from Jilin and currently sells insurance in Beijing. If things go smoothly, he plans to marry his girlfriend by the end of this year, and he is now working hard to make more money. His girlfriend understands the pressure he faces, and has never blown money on unnecessary things. This is something that really pleases him. When it comes to work, Yu Qing believes that he made the wrong choice before. At the beginning he left home to work because he had debts, and all he wanted to do was making money, so he always worked as frontline courier. However, he did have the opportunity for promotion into management, and he now regrets it because the supervisor’s salary is a bit higher and, more importantly, the job has more freedom than he has at present. His current job is not too good. He starts work at seven o’clock in the morning and does not finish until eight o’clock in the evening. Piecework wages do not provide any overtime payments, and while his is not bad, it does require quite an investment of his time, and the hourly rate is not really profitable. The intensity of the daily ten-hour job, with only a single rest day each week, makes Yu Qing exhausted. But the pressure from repaying his debts is too heavy at present and he cannot change his job until he has removed himself from his financial troubles, so working hard to earn money is currently his first task. SF has increasingly high demands of its frontline couriers, which increases the pressure compared to what it used to be. Yu Qing spends the single rest day he gets every week with his girlfriend. She completely understands him and is not the kind of person to make a fuss over nothing. Yu Qing envies those who work a nine-to-five job and finishes work after eight hours. He currently rents from a one-story building next to Jingshan Park behind the Palace Museum. His rent is RMB 1,300 per month. The building covers 14 or 15 m2 , and he has lived there for a long time without his landlord increasing the rent. The rent does not include utilities, and there is no heating or air conditioning. The conditions are fairly poor, but he does not want too much. Besides, transportation is convenient and he spends most of his time at work. Therefore, he does not particularly care about his living conditions, and in the winter, he can heat the place with an electric radiator. When talking about his dreams, when Yu Qing was farming previously, around when he was 20, he had a plan which his parents did not support. He wanted to develop a modern farm by leasing mountain land from the village. He had even thought of the location, and still thinks it was a really good idea to this day. He wanted to grow organic vegetables, build greenhouses and combine animal and crop farming. If it had been put in practice, he thinks it would have had great prospects, but it required too much investment and he had no start-up capital, lacked contacts, and his parents were not supportive. A former girlfriend of his started up a business growing organic wheat in Northeast China, and she is really supportive of this industry. However, when it comes to the investments and work involved, Yu Qing states that this was just his preliminary idea, and that he had not given these factors in-depth consideration or calculation. His current dreams are a little different from those he had before. His biggest goal is to be able to save enough money to open a supermarket of fruit shop next to his housing estate in Yongqing, Langfang, Hebei. That area is next to the new airport, and he thinks it will be a very good location in the future. Although he is still not clear about precisely what he wants to do, Yu Qing thinks there is ultimately

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no way out when you work for someone else. If you want to have good prospects, you have to work for yourself, but his current opportunities are not ripe. He does not expect to be able to buy a shop in the future. Most probably he will rent a shop for his business. Going back home has become a fleeting thought, as his girlfriend would not agree. Yu Qing also thinks about moving his parents into his own house, so that they could watch the shop for him, and he could fulfill his filial duties. Although he has a younger brother, he says that regardless of what the future holds for his brother, he cannot split his parents up to look after them. Even if his brother has the time to take care of his parents, he would also look after them by himself. His parents’ health is still good, and they farm at their rural home. They can earn an annual income of RMB 8,000–10,000. His mother’s health is a little better than his father’s, and she does some odd jobs outside the home which allows them to earn some pocket money. After his brother attended (vocational) high school, he was admitted into a junior college in Harbin. After graduation, he was assigned to work in the Shangri-La Hotel. He has always worked in the hotel, and has now purchased a home in Harbin, gotten married, and had a child. He lives with his parents-inlaw who help to look after his child. Yu Qing’s sister-in-law is the only child of her parents, and her family conditions are quite good. After she got married, her parents sold their home and bought a property in Harbin where they live with their daughter and son-in-law. Yu Qing has also thought about buying a property in Harbin in 2015. At that time, the prices in Hebei’s Langfang were pretty much the same as those in Harbin, but he also took into consideration the potential for appreciation and ultimately bought a property in Langfang. If his plan for a small business in the future does not come to fruition, Yu Qing wants to sell his property in Hebei and return to his old home to continue his “greenhouse plan”. When talking about where he most wants to live, he says he wants to return to his old home in the countryside should he have a good opportunity to do so. Yu Qing has a friend he particularly admires. That friend did not even attend junior high school, and went to Beijing to stay with his cousin who sells audio speakers. He then saved up some money and went into business selling speakers. His cousin now works for him. His friend raised over RMB 100,000 in capital, part of which came from his parents, and he had the guts to start the business. His annual salary is now at least RMB 500,000–600,000. He owns two cars, has bought a car for his girlfriend, and owns a home in Beijing. He also has a property in Hebei. Yu Qing admires such courageous and knowledgeable people: only these people can be considered perfect. When he talks about the dreams of his father’s generation, Yu Qing feels that his father’s character is not the kind who achieve something big. His father had encountered many opportunities, but ultimately, he missed them. The main reason for this was that he did not have enough courage to compete. Life is a gamble, but his father was scared to take a bet. He believes his own character is different from that of his father. He dares to bite the bullet. His idea of starting a business in the future will certainly come true, and what he is most against is farming the land back home. Yu Qing has a lot of confidence in the future.

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9 Delivering Happiness and Positive Energy Cheng Zhaowen 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Alias: Ms. Lu Occupation: Neighborhood social worker Domicile: Shibei District, Qingdao City, Shandong Province Employer: Subdistrict office Age: 30 Gender: Female Ethnic Group: Han Level of Education: Bachelor’s degree

Her life goal is like an attitude to life: she hopes to become her best self. Ms. Lu believes that “it is difficult to define one’s best self, but it can be understood to be a life of happiness and joy, because only when you have met you own requirements and expectations at every stage can your life be happy and joyful.” Ms. Lu is a university graduate who currently works as a neighborhood social worker in Qingdao City. Her monthly salary is RMB 4,500, and she expects this to double within the next three years. She was born and bred in Qingdao. She attended primary school, junior high school and senior high school in urban Qingdao. Up until senior high school, her grades were generally in the upper middle range of her class. She was admitted into a provinciallevel university in South China where she studied journalism and communications. While at university, she participated in a lot of social activities, but her academic performance was unsatisfactory. Because while her learning attitude was positive, she lacked perseverance. Her internal willingness showed that she did like studying, and she holds a relatively simple and traditional world view. She believes wisdom and knowledge are the true wealth and the way to success. She cannot describe in detail the kind of person she wants to become, but in terms of personal virtue or social value, she hopes she can “always be good, and love everything in the world”. She also said that she has always worked hard to become this kind of person, and so far, she thinks she has succeeded. Ms. Lu comes from a one-child nuclear family. However, she will get married this year, and subsequently leave her parents to form her own family. Before she was 18, her family’s main source of income was her parents’ salaries and some financial investments. The main source of income now is the combined salaries of all three of them. She currently does not own any property, but her parents own two houses, and she lives with her parents. The family’s main expenditure at the moment is from their daily consumption as well as some cultural and recreational activities. Overall, the family’s income places it in the middle-income bracket, and they are relatively satisfied with their lives. In recent years, the family has not faced any changes. Her parents’ jobs are relatively stable and orderly. Her own job is relatively ordinary and does not have any ups or downs. Currently the biggest burden on the family is her parents’ health, which is not particularly good.

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Ms. Lu’s parents are both ordinary laborers. Her father is 54 years old, holds a junior degree, is of Han ethnic group, and works in a subdistrict office. He works as a government employee, and his monthly income is around RMB 9,000. Her mother is 56 years old, and works in accounting for a state-owned enterprise. Her monthly income is approximately RMB 9,000. Both her parents were born and bred in Qingdao. Their lifestyles are quite healthy, and they do not have any unhealthy habits. Her parents still exert a great influence on her. Because they are ordinary people, they have educated their daughter to know how to be grateful, and also how to be kind and self-disciplined. With regards to studying, her parents did not concentrate their efforts into Ms. Lu’s studies since she was a child. They put more effort into developing her ability to learn how to discipline herself. Economically, from a young age, her parents did their best to fulfill both her material and spiritual needs. Ms. Lu says that she has a very good relationship with her father, and she really loves her dad. She says that while her dad is a man of few words, he is the pillar of the family, and at critical times firmly supports her and her mother. For Ms. Lu, her mother is the absolute figure of a good mother; loving and caring for her in all aspects of her life. Ms. Lu’s communication with her parents is still primarily face to face. She says that normally they mind their own business, but they also often talk together and share their thoughts. She will speak to her parents particularly when she has certain needs, and they will do their best to support her and satisfy her request. Since childhood, Ms. Lu was brought up by her grandparents who mostly worked for the government. As an infant, she was mainly cared for by her maternal grandparents, and then mainly looked after by her paternal grandparents after she started school. From senior high school onwards, she was looked after by her parents. The biggest change to the family is the death of all her grandparents except for her paternal grandmother. She says that her childhood was quite simple and happy. She was a well-behaved and lovely child. Her parents loved her very much, and the family life was harmonious. She was influenced by her parents to participate in reading clubs when she was child. This experience had a long-lasting impact on her and gave her a love of reading in her in adolescence and adulthood. She believes that those who read should be respected, and so from childhood she was determined to cultivate a habit of reading and thinking. When Ms. Lu was a child, she liked to read and write. She also liked to play badminton. After she grew up, in university and continuing till now, she likes to paint, play the piano, make notepads, practice photography, yoga, and other reading or art activities organized by young people who love culture and the arts. When it comes to reading, Ms. Lu says that the book which has given her valuable insights, and has also influenced her the most is “5000 Years of World Literature”. This book is positioned as reading material made for the general literary education of young people. However, this book profoundly influenced her in terms of knowing the world and expanding her reading. Recalling her past, Ms. Lu thinks the thing which had the biggest impact on her future and was the biggest turning point was finding a job after graduation. The city in which her university was located was quite far from Qingdao, but she chose to make big compromise for her parents and relatives, and ultimately returned home

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to work. In addition, her first job was not connected to her major, and this had a great impact on her personal career development. Her first job was working in the management department of a training agency, and this was quite different from her ideal job. Therefore, this was a low period in her life after university. The professions Ms. Lu had always most wanted to get into were journalism or magazine editing. However, due to limited work experience and lack of the right opportunities, she has still not entered her desired occupation. In terms of career development, Ms. Lu says that she is not very good at planning, and has always held the attitude that one should give things a go if given the opportunity. Most commonly, these opportunities are found by taking the examinations of some public institutions. Through taking these examinations, she changed from her first job to her current job as neighborhood social worker. In her work, Ms. Lu is not very happy with her current situation, but neither is she overly dissatisfied or has too many complaints. Perhaps because she holds a relatively simple attitude towards life and her pursuits, she feels that things are going well in her current job, which is stable, and in life. In terms of her lifestyle and the city in which she lives, Ms. Lu says that she lives in a small and warm beach town. Although in terms of size, the city is far smaller than the metropolises of Beijing or Shanghai, she still feels it can meet the needs for living a simple and easy life. Because Qingdao is where she was born and grew up, it can, in the strictest sense, be called her home town. Unlike her peers who moved to Qingdao as children with their parents, her impression and feeling towards Qingdao is warmer and filled with more sentiment. This place forms both the “roots” and her “stem” of her development. Speaking of where she lives, the city is developing rapidly, the physical environment is becoming more modern, and there is a stronger integration of science and technology. However, because of her experience living elsewhere, she is more demanding of the environment of where she lives, and hopes that the city can have better infrastructure in the future. Overall, Ms. Lu is quite happy with where she lives, this on the one hand is because that her parents have provided a good material foundation, and on the other hand is because she is satisfied relatively easy. Ms. Lu says that she does not usually pay much attention to politics. So she holds what may be quite a personalized view of the country. She thinks that although the society is still not very tolerant of many people, and the social class differentiation is very clear, she still feels that society will increasingly improve, and everyone will have a better life. She is currently quite satisfied with her life in China. She also has a special longing to go to Denmark. This is because she believes Denmark is like a place out of a fairytale. Ms. Lu says, her current life choices mainly revolve around education, marriage, as well as achieving her ideals, while keeping grounded in reality. When faced with making these three choices, she will take into account her personal expectations and family expectations, in order to fulfill her own interests and also to fulfill the expectations of her family. When necessary, she will make compromises and concessions. For Ms. Lu, family harmony and happiness are extremely important, even sometimes more important than her personal will.

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Her life goal is like an attitude to life: she hopes to become her best self. She says that it is difficult to define one’s best self, but it can be understood as a life of happiness and joy, because only when you have met your own requirements and expectations at every stage in your life, can your life be happy and joyful. She says she has no specific plans or steps, and hopes to be able to complete at least one small thing each day to allow her work to go smoothly and to let her family see her growth. She says that her life goals are achievable, because she is not aiming to reach a certain social status or to achieve certain wealth, but her goals are geared towards improving her attitude and fulfilling spiritual values. Therefore, she believes her goals are achievable as long as she maintains a positive attitude. She currently feels that the most rewarding thing is passing professional examinations, because she did not do any systematic revision but still managed to pass. It proves that in order to succeed, one needs to accumulate experience on a daily basis. The most frustrating thing for her is to deal with interpersonal relations, because Ms. Lu says that she is a relatively blunt and kind person. She hopes to be able to get along with both friends and colleagues. However, she has found that her sincerity and naivety are not suited for the rules of social interaction. During interpersonal interaction she often hits a wall, and she encounters the darker side of people. Ms. Lu says she has a few close friends, and they work in different field such as being a lawyer, in human resources, as a civil servant and so on. Her greatest expectation for her friends is that they can provide encouragement and support when she is down, and share in her joy and achievements when she is successful. When she is with her friends, their activities are commonplace, such as taking part in literary or artistic activities, or dining together and having fun. What she talks about the most with her friends is work, and their attitudes and opinions towards people or certain issues as well as their expectations and plans for work and life. Ms. Lu says that her current dream is to have her own WeChat public account, the type that has been verified. Since junior high school, she has hoped to become a journalist. She says that this dream was influenced by the famous reporter Rose Luqiu who was a very capable war correspondent. Ms. Lu has always hoped to be able to be a journalist who reports the truth and spreads positive energy. She believes that making a dream come true is a constant struggle. Through realizing a dream, an individual can improve through constant thinking and taking action. Therefore, having a dream and making efforts to realize that dream are very important. Between different generations, there are also different challenges to be faced when realizing one’s dreams. On the one hand, the type of social support is different. The society of the future may be more tolerant than the current one, but in the past the society of the previous generation may have been more supportive of personal development. Therefore, each generation has their own difficulties, and future generations will not have it any easier than the current one. Ms. Lu believes that a dream is a goal which one is willing to work hard for, and a dream should be achievable and motivating. She would like to spend a few years and even a dozen of years in pursuing her dream. She does not want to put too much pressure on herself and is not too eager for success. She has already taken some actions to realize her dream, such as opening a WeChat public account, and writing

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some content worthy of sharing. At present, she lacks the conditions needed for achieving her dream. She needs to accumulate more knowledge and experience, and she hopes the social environment can be more tolerant of those who do not blindly follow mundane rules in their work. Accumulation of knowledge, improvements in skills, and one’s perception of life are all important boosts towards achieving one’s dream. The greatest difficulty she is faced with at present is boosting her own motivation and getting herself to take action, so she believes that one’s ability to take initiative is even more important than the pressures of society.

The Generation Born in the 1990s Gou Mengning, Li Linfeng, Du Jing, Zhao Chen, Yan Xiaoxu, Liu Wanyun, and Wang Jingjing

1 All for the Next Generation Gou Mengning 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Alias: Qiao Feng Occupation: Worker-Foxconn Pipeline Domicile: Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province Employer: Foxconn Age: 29 Gender: Male Ethnic Group: Han Level of Education: Junior high school

During his daily inspection of the production line, he said, “The society is developing too fast for me, a man with little education, to keep up. But in the face of a harsh reality, I will continue working hard so my children can get a better education and live a better life.” Qiao Feng, male, aged 29, has finished his junior high school education and is married. Born in Lingxian County, Luliang City of Shanxi Province, he currently lives in Taiyuan, Shanxi. When Qiao Feng was an elementary school student, each class had 30 students with a teacher that taught all the subjects. The town had a junior high school and the class size was about 60–70 students. About 10–20 junior high school graduates continued their education, and the rest joined the workforce. When asked about G. Mengning (B) Beijing Dataway Horizon Co., Ltd., Beijing, China L. Linfeng · D. Jing · Z. Chen · Y. Xiaoxu · L. Wanyun · W. Jingjing China Development Research Foundation, Beijing, China © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 L. Mai (ed.), The Chinese Dream and Ordinary Chinese People, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4952-0_8

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whether he had considered further studies, Qiao Feng said that he did not do well at school and thought that it would be useless to continue further education. Qiao Feng’s father is 56 years old, a junior high school graduate and a farmer; his mother is 54 years old, with a primary school education, and works as a farmer. Their annual income is about RMB 10,000, and they both live in their hometown of Lingxian County. His eldest sister is 36 years old, a junior high school graduate and a housewife; his elder sister is aged 34 and a junior high school graduate and she works at Foxconn. Before the age of 18, Qiao Feng lived with his parents and two elder sisters. When he was young, his family was able to make ends meet, but didn’t have any extra savings. At that time, their family situation did not allow for his parents to work as migrant workers in the city. On the one hand, they could not afford to send the kids to the school in the city where they worked; on the other hand, they didn’t have a good relationship with their extended family, who were against letting the grandparents take care of the children if the parents went to the city to work. Now, Qiao Feng maintains a good relationship with his parents and sisters. They talk over the phone or via WeChat from time to time. Qiao Feng thinks that the person who has influenced him most is his father, from whom he learned to be diligent, positive, and kind. When he was young, his parents were concerned about his school work, but could not help him much because farming took up a lot of their time. Qiao Feng’s wife is a stay-home mother and plans to look for a job next year. He has two sons; the elder one is 6 years old and the younger one is 4 years old. They all live together. They are attending kindergarten now and have a good relationship with Qiao. The two children did not go to early childhood education classes. Qiao Feng believes that only a wealthy family can afford that. Both his children like to go to kindergarten, and Qiao Feng doesn’t know why they like it. Qiao Feng’s eldest son is about to start elementary school. He is considering to rent a house near the school when school starts, and to transfer the younger son to a kindergarten near the school. At present, the children have no special interests. Qiao Feng said that when they grow older, he will consider to sign them up for an extracurricular class according to their interests, but currently he is unable to afford it. Regarding his expectations for his sons, Qiao Feng hopes that they can get a college degree so that they can have a good job and a stable income. However, he is unable to provide them with more financial support during this upbringing, he does not expect too much from the children. Speaking of concerns, Qiao Feng said that there are many supplementary and enrichment classes in China. On the one hand, he worries that his children will not be able to keep up with the pace of the supplementary and enrichment classes; on the other hand, he cannot afford these classes. He also hesitates to teach them himself because the teachers might teach a different method at school. As for the benefits of supplementary classes, Qiao Feng thinks that it still depends on the effort the children make. Some children can do still well without taking supplementary classes. Some children still don’t do well even with the help of these remedial classes. The biggest financial burden on Qiao Feng is the need to pay the rent for a new rental house when the children go to school, which may increase their expenses.

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His dream for his family is to buy a house in Taiyuan in the future. Qiao’s first job after graduating from junior high school was working as a waiter at Taiyuan Restaurant, where the salary was RMB 600 per month. At that time, he couldn’t find a job with just a middle school diploma. He joined his sister and found work in Taiyuan. After working for two or three years, he worked in different kitchens to learn how to cook. Because the income was too low, he gave up in a year or two. He also ran a shop in Baotou but transferred the business to others before making any money. With the recommendation of his cousin, Qiao Feng joined the assembly line at Foxconn two years ago. His cousin has a bachelor’s degree and an engineer II certificate. Now Qiao Feng works as a supervisor of an assembly line at Foxconn. His assembly line is mainly for testing iPhones. Last year, he started managing 10 people. His base salary is RMB 2,100 per month. With maximum overtime pay (2 h * 5 days a day), he can earn up to RMB 4,000 per month. His benefits include five social insurances, housing fund, a monthly growth fund of RMB 300, technical allowance of RMB 200, and works six days per week. Qiao Feng is not satisfied with the current job. He likes the stable income but he is not happy with the low wages. After working for so many years, Qiao Feng does not have savings. Regarding his career aspirations, Qiao Feng expresses the desire to change jobs, hoping that the new wages can meet his basic every day needs. He currently lives in a rented house in Taiyuan. The monthly rent is RMB 500. He doesn’t have his own house or his own car. Qiao Feng said that he doesn’t plan to go back to his hometown to buy a house or to work there. There are almost no children in the village since most of the children moved out with their parents. The school could not function, and the learning environment is not good. He wants to buy a house in Taiyuan, but the price is about RMB 9,000/m2 . It is too expensive for them to afford. Qiao Feng actually thinks that living in Taiyuan is not very convenient because of the poor traffic conditions. But he will stay in Taiyuan, because he wants his children to attend the school here. Qiao Feng is not satisfied with his current life. He is happy that he has two children and a stable family life. He is less satisfied with his financial situation, which is only enough to pay for basic necessities, and does not leave them with an extra money. He also hopes for a stable life in the future. Qiao Feng has no hobbies, no role model or personal idols. His close friends that he stays in contact with are seven or eight friends from the elementary school in his hometown. They usually call one another by phone. He went through a difficult time when his boy got sick and they couldn’t afford to take him to the hospital. Last winter, he applied for social security cards for his wife and children. He had already received his wife’s, but not the children’s, for some unknown reason. He hopes that the state can introduce better healthcare policies because the more effective medicines are often unavailable in their hometown. His biggest dream is to be able to buy a house in Taiyuan and to be able to earn a monthly salary of RMB 5,000. However, he thinks that there is no way to achieve this dream, because house prices are rising so fast that the wages can’t keep up, and housing policies and regulations have little effect on house prices. Qiao Feng’s

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parents know about his dreams, but they are unable to help. They told him that it is all up to him. He can buy whatever he can afford. Qiao Feng believes that personal qualification is more important for realizing one’s dreams, but currently he has no special skills. It might be easier to do business five or six years ago, but now the competition is fierce and the market is chaotic and full of fraudulent schemes, which he thinks are factors that make it harder to realize his dream. In the past ten years, Qiao Feng has not realized his dreams and feels he has achieved nothing. He believes that his frustration stems from the fact that he has not acquired any skill, and has spent all his effort in maintaining his livelihood. Regarding his view of the country, Qiao Feng believes that there is a big gap between the rich and the poor. He believes that the situation in his hometown is getting worse and worse. The agricultural products either have no market or are undervalued. For self-development, he believes that society is developing too fast for him to keep up with because he has no strong education credentials. But in the face of harsh reality, he will continue working hard so his children can receive a better education and live a better life.

2 Soaring with a Free Spirit Gou Mengning 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Alias: Shi Qiang Occupation: Businessman Domicile: Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province Employer: Freelancer Age: 25 Gender: Male Ethnic Group: Han Level of Education: College diploma

A man of the world, Shi Qiang remarked that it becomes more and more difficult to realize his dreams, because he continuously sets a higher goal for himself. The heightened economic pressure, especially the high house prices, will drive down one’s quality of life. Shi Qiang believes that the Chinese Dream will lead the country to progress, ensures that people live and work in peace and contentment, and rejuvenates the great country. He hopes that China will become and remain a great power in the world. Shi Qiang, male, 25-years-old, holds a college diploma and is single. He was born in Changzhi, Shanxi, and currently lives in Taiyuan. Shi Qiang went to primary school in his hometown, while his parents worked away from home. He also attended junior high school and senior high school in Changzhi. He was doing well in his first and second year of senior high school.

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Later he started reselling mobile phones and did not take the college entrance exam. Shi Qiang majored in logistics at a three-year junior college in Taiyuan. He was then upgraded from a junior college student to a university student1 to the School of Business of Shanxi University and majored in marketing, a program which costs RMB 15,000 in tuition. However, Shi Qiang did not intend to find a job in the traditional sense that required working every day, so he felt that the degree would be useless and he gave up the opportunity to study at Shanxi University. Shi Qiang’s father is 48 years old, and has a primary school education. His mother is 44-years-old and has a junior high school education. Both his parents are employees of China Resources Gas. The family’s monthly income is about RMB 8,000. The family of three lives in Changzhi, Shanxi. Shi Qiang said that a relative of his works as the general manager of China Resources Gas and got his parents jobs there. When asked if he had considered to work for China Resources Gas, Shi Qiang said, “That is more like a place for retirement.” He explains that the working culture there is very relaxed, people just sit around and don’t have much to do, and the pay is not good. He personally does not want to work there, because it is a place he perceives as being more suitable for people in their forties who only want an easy job. Shi Qiang said that he has never wanted to go to work. He feels that there is no point to engage in a boring routine and work schedule. “That is the life of an elderly person, and young people need challenging work. I don’t think it is necessary for the young people to go to work,” Shi Qiang said. He suggests to his parents that they should not retire early because work at least lets them stay in touch with society. Life in retirement is boring. Shi Qiang lived with his parents and grandmother during his childhood. The financial situation of his family was just so so and he has a good relationship with his parents. His parents were very strict with his studies when he was in junior high school, but this lessened when he was in high school. Shi Qiang doesn’t have a “most influential person” in mind. He believes that his greatest burden is that he is the only child in the family and his parents always want him to come back home. His dream for the family is that his parents don’t always feel that they need to take care of him and keep him company. As long as they are a happy family, it is not necessary for them to always stick together. When Shi Qiang was in high school, he used to resell mobile phones. When he was a junior college student, he worked as an intermediary brokering part-time jobs for Qingchuang (Youth Entrepreneurship organization). In the second semester of his freshman year at the college, he promoted an online lending app, and made a lot of money. This was when he became financially independent. He also worked as a supervisor for Changhong TV in his second year of college. After graduation, Shi Qiang joined three other friends and invested RMB 108,000 in a nano-coating business. The business failed and they lost all the money. Later, he worked as a marketing salesperson for Baidu Nuomi. After two or three days of work, he thought that he brought a lot of profit to the company but didn’t get appropriate compensation. 1 It

refers to progressing from a junior college student to a university student and is an examination system of the Chinese mainland through which junior college students can progress to university students.

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In Shi’s own words, “the income I receive is not proportional to the labor I’ve done”, and he gave up the job. Shi Qiang is now doing business online (through WeChat and various platforms) and in physical stores. His job is to contact manufacturers and sellers, managing the sale of clothes, pants, jewelry, and other seasonal products. He currently does not have a company, but he has ideas to sell and develop the local products of Changzhi, such as souvenirs with local characteristics. This year he plans to launch a trading business. Shi Qiang earned about RMB 180,000 last year. In April last year, he bought a house with a parking space and a basement, a total of 115 m2 , in Changzhi. Shi Qiang rates his job at 50 points (out of 100) for his current job. He likes it because it has good pay and doesn’t require him to work every day. He is not completely satisfied because he is still searching for that something to anchor him in life. Shi Qiang feels proud because he is regarded as successful among his classmates. Shi Qiang currently lives in Taiyuan, where he has no fixed assets and no cars. Shi Qiang has gratitude for Taiyuan, because this is where he grew up. In the future, he will return to Changzhi, where his family lives. He also plans to return to Changzhi to launch his retail business or store this year. Shi Qiang said that he has seen the state’s Development Plan for Central Plains City Cluster. He feels that although Taiyuan is the provincial capital of Shanxi, Shanxi Province does not have a big enough city to drive its development. In Taiyuan, apart from the local relocated households, nonlocals basically can’t earn money and have to live off credit cards. Therefore, he doesn’t think he has a future in Taiyuan. Changzhi is located at the junction of three provinces. Although various resources there are relatively backward, the Central Audit Office can have some inputs that at least will create some opportunities. Shi Qiang rates his current life satisfaction at 90%. He is satisfied with the accessibility and convenience to shopping, food and drinking but he is dissatisfied with his living standards. What is a good quality of life for him? He likes basketball, table tennis, skiing, and arcade games. Time is the only investment needed for these activities. He has six or seven close friends who are all college friends living in Taiyuan. They usually meet in person and sometimes at a friend’s house to help with the house work or cook meals together. Jack Ma is Shi Qiang’s idol because Jack is a man of resolution and dares to introduce foreign experiences and applications into China. He has proven himself as a strong and competent leader. Shi Qiang said that his dream is to learn to “fly” because flying can give him a broader vision and to look far. His biggest dream is that everything will get better and better. “We must have a clear vision towards life,” Shi Qiang said. He believes that mankind’s desire progresses from filling one’s stomach to buying one’s desires, and a person’s goals will continue to progress. His dream to start a business was born in the year before from the thought of opening a store. His current challenge is that he has inadequate money, experience, and social connections. His advantage is that he already has the “infrastructure” for life (houses and cars) and does not need to worry about repaying loans.

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Shi Qiang thinks the social environment helps him realize that there are people better off than himself, which inspires him to work harder for improvement. As the saying goes, the boat rises with the rising water; a person’s growth depends on what type of persons one has dealings with. “Our generation does not regard it a cool thing to work for a fixed salary.” But his family members do not understand his aspirations and only hope he lives a happy life. Shi Qiang believes that it will become more and more difficult to realize his dreams, because he continuously sets a higher goal for himself. The social environment will become more challenging, because the heightened economic pressure, especially in real estate, will cause people to lower their standard of living. Shi Qiang believes that the Chinese Dream will lead the country to progress, ensures that people live and work in peace and contentment, and rejuvenates the great country. He hopes that China will become and remain a great power in the world.

3 To Own a House and a Car in His Hometown Gou Mengning 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Alias: Wang Lei Occupation: Operator, assembly line of transmission box Domicile: Tianjin Employer: Volkswagen Transmission Tianjin Co., Ltd. Age: 25 Gender: Male Ethnic Group: Han Level of Education: College diploma

As a front-line worker, Wang Lei gives his life a “satisfactory degree” of 3 (out of 5 points). He is satisfied that he is able to support himself, but dissatisfied with the relatively dull life he leads. In the future, he wants to go to a city with a lower standard of living and more affordable house prices, such as his hometown or in Northwest China.” Wang Lei, male, 25-years-old, single and holds a college diploma, was born in Luliang, Shanxi, and currently works and lives in Tianjin. Wang Lei attended a five-year elementary school in a village in Luliang, and began living in a dorm since the fifth grade. He attended the junior high school and senior high school in town, lived in the dorms there and came home once a month. He was an average student in school, but repeated the third year of middle school due to poor academic performance. Most of his high school friends went to a technical secondary school after graduation. Wang Lei was admitted to a technical college in Tianjin, majoring in mechanical and electrical integration. He chose of this major because of a better job outlook and employment opportunities, such as working in the maintenance, assembly line or

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other positions within factories. After obtaining a college diploma, he did not think about continuing his education because of his age and financial difficulty. If he chose school, he won’t be able to make money. Before the age of 18, Wang Lei mainly lived with his parents and elder brother. His parents are in their 50s. His father did not finish primary school. His mother did not finish junior high school. Both of them are farmers in their hometown. The annual household income is not consistent, last year, they made about RMB 10,000–20,000. Wang Lei’s brother is 27 years old and has completed his secondary school education. After graduation, he worked in Jiangsu for 2 years. Later he went to work as a soldier and visited his home once a year. Wang Lei was actually the first among the two to consider joining the army. “If he did not join the army, I would have.” Wang Lei said. He believes that army is a way out of poverty because the family has neither social connections nor money. However, if both brothers joined the army, their parents would seldom see them. That’s why he stayed behind after his brother joined the army. Now, he maintains a good relationship with his parents and his brother. He usually calls them twice a month and they talk about their lives. Wang Lei doesn’t see any improvement in the family’s financial situation since his childhood; but now it might be better because he and his brother are financially independent, which could be a major change for the family. Since they both can support themselves, the parents feel less pressured financially. The biggest burden to the family is that both he and his brother have a girlfriend and are thinking about getting married. According to local customs, the groom needs to prepare a house for the new family. The real estate in Luliang costs RMB 5,000–8,000/m2 . The bride wealth can be negotiated and usually an auspicious number such as 66,000 or 88,000. Wang Lei’s dream for the family is to own a house and a car in his hometown. Of course, it is still better to have a house and a car in Tianjin. He has been working as an operator on the assembly line of Volkswagen Transmission Tianjin Co., Ltd. for more than three years. Wang Lei said that in the October of the first semester of his third year in college, the company went to the school to recruit workers. He started an internship with the company that December, and became a full-time employee after graduation. He chose this company because Volkswagen is a big corporation. Speaking of work, Wang Lei said that the company pays them well, and provides them with meals, five social insurances and a housing fund. With supplementary medical insurance, the employees don’t have to pay for medical treatment, and the housing fund is helpful for purchasing a house in the future. He said that the salary for the job is not that high, about RMB 3,000 per month after tax, but it is about enough for a frugal life. His monthly rent is about RMB 1,000. Other expenses include clothing and food. Since he doesn’t spend money on entertainment, he has some money to put towards his savings. There are opportunities for promotion and transfer but it requires the candidate to possess strong skills and a good relationship with the leaders. In terms of his talent or skill, he doesn’t think his English is good enough. Because his company is a foreign company, English is needed in the workplace; for example, the work reports or documents are bilingual and some of the supervisors are foreigners.

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Wang Lei rates his job satisfaction at 3 (out of 5 points). He is satisfied with the benefits provided by the company including the five social insurances and the housing fund, as well as the supplementary medical insurance. He is not happy with frequent night shifts, boring work, and low wages. He is now considering other jobs but has no specific one in mind. He doesn’t think it is necessary to have a job that fits his major. He is considering sales or marketing jobs. “I’m still young, it is not too late to start from scratch,” he said. For the question of whether he wants to choose stable work and a peaceful life or taking a risk for a better future, he has not reached a conclusion yet. As for his expectation towards work, Wang Lei hopes to become more competent and have no night shifts. Wang Lei currently works and lives in Tianjin but has no house or car. He believes that Tianjin is a modern city, which can be seen in the construction, transportation, medical care, etc., and has more employment opportunities than his hometown. His gives his life a “satisfaction degree” a 3 (out of 5 points). He is satisfied that he is financially independent but dissatisfied with his relatively boring life. He wants to go to a city with a lower standard of living and cheaper housing in the future, such as his hometown or somewhere in the northwest region. But employment opportunity is the top priority. In Tianjin, Wang Lei has five or six friends he keeps in frequent contact with. They are colleagues from the same unit. He stays in touch with his school friends from his hometown via WeChat and they meet up in person during the New Year holidays. He will ask them about their work and if there are any employment opportunities for him back home. However, he hasn’t found a suitable job in his hometown through these school friends. Wang Lei said that he has no hobbies. When he is not working, he will go shopping, cook at home, and travel. He has been to Beijing, Qingdao and Taishan. He also has no personal idols, nor excessive anxiety or pressures in his life. Wang Lei believes that a “dream” is similar to an “ideal,” a thought that can be realized but depends on one’s ability. Dreams can inspire one to work hard. He believes that personal qualifications are important to realize the dreams. In addition, personal ability and effort are more important than luck. His biggest dream now is to buy a house. He has had this idea since last year, when he introduced his girlfriend to his parents and was ready to get engaged. He plans to pay the down payment of about RMB 100,000–200,000 for the house in his hometown within two years. In order to realize this dream, he has been trying to earn more money and save money. He now started a WeChat cosmetic business as a side job which earns an extra couple hundred RMB a month. He believes that the housing fund helps him to realize this dream, so that loans and repayments won’t be a problem. But the changing social environment has a negative effect on realizing this dream, because the housing prices have been rising. Wang Lei’s family knew of his dream and supported him. The family members said that they would try to help him. Wang Lei does not have anything that makes him particularly proud. The most frustrating experience for him was that he didn’t do well in the college entrance exam

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and he did not want to retake them either. He said that he accepted the facts at the time. He did study hard in college, but he thinks that what he learned at school is of little use at work. Speaking of his views on the country, Wang Lei believes that the country is “doing very good, is prosperous and on the rise.” His hope for the country is for China to achieve great rejuvenation and territorial integrity. He firmly believes that he can witness China’s prosperity in his lifetime.

4 Safeguarding Tender Souls at the Frontier Li Linfeng 1. Alias: Wang Ai 2. Occupation: Department head of a community-level institution at the Xinjiang frontier 3. Domicile: Hami City, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region 4. Employer: Hami City Early Childhood Education Program in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region 5. Age: 25 6. Gender: Female 7. Ethnic Group: Han 8. Level of education: Bachelor’s degree In those days, having a peaceful heart was like an invincible magic spell, turning every trouble into a joy while they were facing difficulties. With that mentality, Wang Ai never complained and tried to make the best out of the situation. She gradually gained the trust of children and parents with her knowledge, patience and care. Moreover, when she heard the children greet her using Chinese, she was convinced her effort was effective and meaningful. Wang Ai is female, of Han ethnic group and 25 years old. Wang Ai was born and grew up in Xinjiang. She comes from a family of five—her parents and three sisters. Since their grandparents lived in Shandong, far away from Xinjiang, her parents raised the three sisters all by themselves. Her parents only received elementary school and junior high school education. The heavy burden of raising a family did not affect their love and care for the family. They are open-minded and always give their children very positive guidance to shape their values and outlook on life. For example, they taught their daughters to be downto-earth and resilient, to be optimistic in hardship, and most of all, to maintain a good family relationship. The respectful and open daily communication among the family members played a positive role in the upbringing of the three sisters. The family has always been under some financial pressure, and there was once they could not pay for the tuition fees when all three children were attending school at the same time. Fortunately, the family continues strong and united for more than 20 years. They remain diligent and humble; and financially, they are better off today.

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Wang Ai is now a local education worker in Xinjiang. In 2018, she was promoted to the head of a kindergarten in a local township. She is also the youngest supervisor within the local education system. Wang Ai received a bachelor’s degree in 2018 and plans to pursue continuing education outside of her working hours. She plans to apply for part-time graduate program later this year because early childhood education work is demanding and her schedule is tight. Her current pay is comparable to that of community-level institutions. Except for her mortgage, her household expenditures are the same as everyone else, and her income is sufficient, when compared to the local wages and standards of living in this area. With the help of her family, Wang Ai purchased the first privatized house in the family and a car, which elevated them to “middle class” status. Wang Ai remarks, “This kind of life was unimaginable before graduation.” According to Wang Ai, it sounds noble and easy to devote herself to early education at the community-level units in Xinjiang while at the same time, managing to validate her personal values of life; but looking back, this was not an easy path. In her childhood, her family was not secure financially, because her parents were not government employees who were paid a steady income. However, they overcame the challenge and managed to raise the family by working at labor intensive jobs that paid a meager monthly income of RMB 2,000–3,000. Wang Ai lead a quiet and relatively dull childhood. At that time, they didn’t have cable television at home, so they never watched the famous TV drama “My Fair Princess” (Huanzhugege). Because she is the second child, she always wore hand-me-downs. Her family life had always been peaceful, with some occasional difficulties, until all three children went to college. Wang Ai’s elder sister was a student of a major university in Beijing. Wang Ai and her younger sister attended the university in Urumqi. Now, her elder sister works for a major state-owned enterprise in Beijing; she and her younger sister are proud educators. According to Wang Ai, she took the similar path as everyone else growing up, that is, going to school and getting a job. Because every person has a different background and faces various conditions in their life, the achievements they can get will vary inevitably. However, a person’s value should not only be judged by his or her personal achievements. She knows that there should be something more to life, but she is also trying to find the answer. During her schooling years, Wang Ai did some part-time work to contribute to her family’s income, such as working as salesperson at the supermarket. During her sophomore year, for professional development, she and her classmates worked as volunteer teachers at the township kindergartens in the southern Xinjiang region for six months. 98% of the population living there are ethnic minorities. At that time, the Chinese was not popular there. Many locals could neither understand nor speak Chinese. Moreover, they knew very little about early education. As well, the investment in childhood education was scarce due to financial reasons. All of these factors hampered the development and improvement of early education in that region. Recalling the living conditions there, Wang Ai says that the local environment is very harsh. Located at the edge of the Taklimakan Desert with scarce annual precipitation and vegetation, the schools there are often plagued by the sand and

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strong wind. Especially on the days of sandstorms, the air is full of yellow sand. The volunteer teachers stayed at a small bungalow in the school during their time there. Since the doors and windows could not close tightly, the rooms got very sandy after the storm. In addition, the communication systems to communicate with the outside world was lagging behind. They suffered from a poor mobile phone signal, no Internet, and there were no market fairs that connected with the outside world. But in those days, having a peaceful heart was like an invincible magic spell, which turned every trouble into a joy while they were facing these difficulties. With that mentality, Wang Ai never complained and tried to make the best of the situation. She gradually gained the trust of the children and the parents with her knowledge, patience and care. Moreover, when she heard the children greet her using Chinese, she was convinced her effort was effective and meaningful. Because of the excellent work that she did during the teaching period, she was commended by the local education department after the program finished. This is also the first commendation she had received in this profession, which carries a special meaning for her. However, the story of Wang Ai and the southern Xinjiang region did not end there. In 2017, in response to the call of the autonomous regional government, she boarded the southbound train to the Kashgar region and served as a temporary headmaster of a kindergarten for about one year. During this period of time, she experienced sorrow and happiness. The work she did there also became the most influential experience in her life. In hindsight, Wang Ai thinks the teaching support position and the temporary position in Kashgar were precious opportunities in life. These opportunities were given by the state and relevant organizations, and she also believes that the opportunity is reserved for those who are prepared. Her own education, teaching and employment experience also solidifies her preparedness for the current position. She thinks that she made a correct and very important decision at that time. According to Wang Ai, the working experience at the border makes her realize that China is getting stronger and there are more opportunities for personal development because of the development of the country. She said that it is very important to be able to know and plan for personal goals in conjunction with national policies within the larger societal context. She also hopes that she can make a difference in this area, become the role model that she envisions, help the children at the border grow intellectually and have a solid start in the journey of life, and as always, remain a down to earth person. By doing this, she believes that the dreams that one strives towards, such as a successful career or a healthy and happy family, will come true. Speaking of dreams, Wang Ai said, “Many people wonder what a dream is. I think it is a grand vision with boundless imagination and greater freedom.” Her biggest dream now is to have the opportunity to receive advanced education. Last year, she came across some research papers in the education field that solved many of her problems pertaining to work. She thinks that people should pursue higher education and constant self-improvement. Moreover, she also thinks that early education in the frontier region is very important, where the society is still relatively backward, especially in the educational landscape. Now the state has invested a lot of resources in this area, she also expects herself live up to the expectation of the students’ parents,

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organizations, and the society. Therefore, she is now actively learning how to use various databases to know more about the forefront research in this field. In addition, she has personal dreams to fulfill, such as paying off the mortgage, having her own family, and traveling with her parents. These dreams are relatively easy to achieve whether it’s for herself or for her family. Dreams could be wild and unrestrained because everyone has different needs and ideas. Dreams can be also different just because of personal preference/interests. Wang Ai said that her dreams are consistent with her father’s to a certain extent, because of people’s first and fundamental need to live a peaceful life and a stable employment. What has changed, is that nowadays, because of the current social environment and its more inclusive ideologies, we will consider more about the social significance of the work we do, in addition to its meaning to the individual. This is also the reason why successful completion of the work in the border region became great pride for Wang Ai. Wang Ai said that she had gradually gained self-confidence through all the teaching experience. She believes that through pursuing her dreams, her strengths are reflected in her ability to learn, to manage people and tasks, as well as in her determination, diligence, and passion. She also believes that the social environment is an important factor because she did not grow up in such a good environment during her childhood. Now she has seen the state’s support for early education in the border areas, such as on-site visits of the state-appointed experts, various types of trainings, computer labs, libraries, and other activities. Of course, many issues exist in the education of the border areas due to the conditions in this area. For example, at present, it is impossible for teachers to supervise the students when they are at home. In terms of teaching the parents about their child’s education and communicating with them, there still remains some challenges. Therefore, there may be occasions and events where the parents do not come to support their children. It is understandable because many parents of the community-level kindergartens are farmers or herdsmen, who are usually too occupied by work and struggling to make ends meet to take time off for the events. Compared to her parents’ generation, Wang Ai believes that she is happier in many aspects of life, especially regarding her personal growth. Her parents’ generation did not have a stable education environment, and the family did not have the right conditions to support them to get a good education. For her generation, the state helps families to send their children to school and provides equal opportunities and jobs for young adults who are seeking employment.

5 Vocational Education as an Alternative Path Li Linfeng 1. Alias: Chen Xiao 2. Occupation: Accountant 3. Domicile: Hefei City, Anhui Province

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4. Employer: Tongling Nonferrous Metals (Group) Co., Ltd., Hefei City, Anhui Province 5. Age: 21 6. Gender: Female 7. Ethnic Group: Han 8. Level of Education: Vocational high school She is very grateful to have good teachers at the vocational high school, who taught her work ethics for an accounting professional and prepared her to enter the workforce. The accounting professional ethics highlighted by the teacher at the vocational school left a profound impact on her. She said, “At that time, I had not yet joined the workforce, but I already had the self-expectation that I would never produce false statements and I would be an honest person.” Chen Xiao is from Hefei City in Anhui Province. When she first came for the interview, she was a little shy. However, after more than an hour of conversation, her laughter, positive thinking, and kind acts such as paying for the breakfast in advance, suggests that she is a very thoughtful, straightforward and lovely girl who is passionate for life. She was an average student in school. After she realized she would never be good at studying, she went directly into vocational school after graduating from junior high school. When asked why she did not continue her further education, she smiled and replied, “People have different ways to live their lives. I had never been very good at school since I was a child. I don’t think I could pass the college entrance exam even if I had continued my schooling. I think it was better for me to enter the workplace earlier.” From her childhood, she recalls, “I had a happy childhood. My uncle’s business was quite successful and he helped my parents a lot. Overall, my family has been doing well. I’ve never worried about food and clothing.” At the same time, she is very grateful to have good teachers at the vocational high school, who taught her working ethics for an accounting professional and to prepare her to enter the workforce. The accounting professional ethics highlighted by the teacher at the vocational school left a profound impact on her. She said, “At that time, I had not yet joined the workforce, but I already had the self-expectation that I would never create false statements and I would be an honest person.” She has always been obedient and rarely argues with her parents. The occasional conflicts arise, mainly due to her laziness when she was supposed to be doing homework and studying for the exams, as well as her decision not to attend high school. Because she is slow to absorb new knowledge, she loses her self-confidence when placed among other quick learners. Later, her parents acknowledged her learning limitation and agreed to let her attend vocational school as she wished. They didn’t force her to continue on in academic studies. She is also very open when discussing the major decisions that she had to make in life, “The first was about my education. As I said before, my academic performance was not that good, so I made a decision to go to a vocational high school. This choice is based on the fact that I don’t like to study, as well as on my parents’ advice, which

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was based on what they learned from their social circle and their own life experience. Another major decision I made is that I chose to have a family when I was very young. I had wanted to get married as soon as possible and I had met the right person, so I didn’t want to miss the chance.” She pondered for a while on the questions related to her goals and dreams in life: “My dream is to successfully achieve my goals at each stage of life. When I was young, my goal was to do well at the vocational high school. After I got a job, my goal was to be a good accountant and to take work seriously. Now that I have a family, my goal is to be a good wife, and later, a good mother. I will set a clear goal at every stage. Once the goal is set, I will work hard toward that direction.” She is very satisfied with her current living condition. Because she has work and a family, everything is on the right track. Presently, the biggest burden on her husband and herself is to repay the mortgage on the house, which, in general, is relatively easy. In terms of the usual household expenditure, she gives a part of her salary to her parents, and divides the rest of it amongst daily expenses, mortgage payments, and savings. Chen Xiao said, “The thing that makes me the most satisfied with life so far is that I got a job right after I graduated from the vocational high school. It allowed me to be financially independent and eased the burden on my parents. The most frustrating thing that happened so far was during my student days, when I didn’t get good grades and made my parents worry a lot.” Chen Xiao’s father is 52 years old and has finished senior high school education. He works for a railway company, which has projects scattered all over China. His monthly income is around RMB 8,000. Her mother, aged 51, also finished her senior high school education. She also works for a railway company in the Luyang District of Hefei, and her monthly income is around RMB 4,000. Both her parents are natives of Hefei City. Her parents live a healthy life, never smoke nor drink, they are in good physical condition and practice good habits. Her parents influenced her by teaching her how to live a fulfilling life and to blaze a different path. After all, she did not choose an academic path as a way to success. Chen Xiao said, “My parents were concerned about my study, and they invested heavily on my education. They enrolled me in remedial classes or enrichment courses. They also took care my basic needs in life, such as food and housing. It is my fault that I didn’t live up to their expectation. I’m basically on my own now since I attended vocational school and my parents are more relaxed about my study.” Having said that, she also shared a lot of stories about what it had cost her parents just to provide her with a good education. She maintains a very good relationship with her parents. Her father cares a lot about her, and her mother has always put in effort to cultivate a resilient character in Chen Xiao and to teach her social manners. She talks to her parents quite often and when a problem arises, the family will discuss solutions together. She loves her family very much. In her own words, she said, “The home is a harbor, where we can rest when we are tired.” Because now that she has her own income, her parents stop giving her money. Sometimes she gives her parents some money to ensure them that she is doing fine. Since she and her parents are living close to each other in Hefei, they often meet up in person instead of doing video calls. The thing she worries about the most is not having the chance to repay her parents’ sacrifice for

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the bringing her up. The most annoying thing to her is that the environment around her is dirty and messy. The happiest and most memorable moment she has with her parents is the family reunion during the New Year holidays. Speaking of family members, in addition to her parents, Chen Xiao talks a lot about her uncle. She admires her uncle and views him as her role model, because he has helped them, and has been giving support to her family for many years. Therefore, she also hopes that she will be able to help her extended family members to live a better and happier life in the future. When asked if she felt that her goal could be achieved, she gave a decisive answer with certainty in her eyes. Regarding whether her dream could come true, she states with confidence that she is a very practical person and doesn’t have any unrealistic desires. She feels content and happy easily and doesn’t worry too much about the future. “The future will only be better, I have confidence,” she said with a smile, “I will remain down-to-earth, taking one step at a time, and try my best to be a good wife and mother.” What Chen Xiao once hoped for is to have a stable career and financial independence. Now that she has her own family, these wishes have already been realized. She hopes that she will have more time to travel in the future, progressive career development and a higher income. Because she got married not long ago, marriage was a significant turning point in her life so far. Her biggest dream now is to make contributions in the accounting field and achieve some results in her current position. She had this dream when she first joined the company two years ago. This dream is related to what she has learned in vocational high school. She is most proud of being able to give her parents some money every month after she got the job. She believes that a dream is the direction that people persistently pursue. Dreams require people to work hard. After entering the workforce, she still hopes to be able to achieve something; especially she never completed the senior high school entrance exam, which is a choice that she hopes she won’t regret. By pursuing this dream, she hopes that she can make more money, and at the same time, she can make up for the regret that she has not been able to continue academic studies. In addition to this dream, her other three dreams are to travel around the world, to have boy-girl twins and to see her children have a good life. When asked to compare her dreams with the dreams of her parents’ generation, she passed the question to her mother, who was sitting by her side. Her mother simply replied, “My understanding of dreams is basically the same as my daughter’s. After all, starting a new family and having a career is everyone’s goal in life, I don’t see any new paradigms developing in this aspect.” She then added, “People’s definition of happiness is almost the same: to have a successful career and a harmonious family life. These are also the common concerns for everyone.” Compared with her parents, Chen Xiao believes that it is easier to realize her dreams, because she has more occupations to choose from and more opportunities to pursue. As for what other dreams people might have in today’s society, she thought about it and said with uncertainty, “To resolve some issues in academia and promote the academic research.” As for how much time she needs to realize her dreams, she speculated that it may take another 5 years. Her dream will pretty much be realized

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when her family is complete. Simultaneously, she will work hard to be a responsible daughter, wife, and mother in the future. As for her advantage in realizing her dreams, she believes that she is a reliable, responsible and hard-working person. For example, some courses she took in vocational high school are difficult. Financial accounting as a discipline requires patience to understand the complex, sometimes tedious details about lending, loans, and bad debt preparation, etc.. The society she is in also favors people who are responsible and willing to work hard, and the job market has a high demand for accountants. So it is easier to find a job in this profession. During her job search, she knew her vocational skills gave her a certain advantage in the interviews. In view of this, she is very confident about the prospect of realizing her dream. She believes that vocational high school provides another path to success for those who, like her, don’t have good academic performance. In her view, personal strength is more helpful than other factors in realizing one’s dreams. Those who without personal commitment or determination have no competitiveness. Chen Xiao believes that friends are people who can keep each other company. Most of her friends are from her vocational high school and work in the accounting sector. She also makes many friends at the workplace. She usually goes shopping or grabs meals with friends. “The most discussed topics are issues related to work and the workplace. After all, we are all in the work force,” she said.

6 To Become a Farmer after College Du Jing 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Alias: Xiaoyuan Occupation: Professional farmer Domicile: Xincai County, Zhumadian City, Henan Province Employer: Family farm Age: 24 Gender: Male Ethnic Group: Han Level of Education: Bachelor’s degree in Economics (upgraded from junior college to university)

Even after experiencing such a big setback and with many foreseeable uncertainties and difficulties, Laoyuan and Xiaoyuan did not give up their dream of being a farmer. So far, Xiaoyuan gets the greatest sense of achievement and fulfillment from running the agricultural enterprise he owns and to be able to work with the agriculture that he loves. This is also the longest period of time that he got to spend with his father ever since birth, and to work on the same project side-by-side with his father. Xiaoyuan, born in 1994, is a native of Xincai, Henan. The land of Xincai is flat and fertile, which has boosted the local agricultural production since long ago. Many

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locals are humble and self-reliant farmers. Xiaoyuan is 24 years old. He has a bright and cheerful personality and a handsome appearance, but he still has no girlfriend. He said that his dream is to be a professional farmer and have a farm of his own. He loves agriculture and likes to work on the land. This is Xiaoyuan’s dream, which is also the dream of Xiaoyuan’s father, Laoyuan. When he was young, Xiaoyuan didn’t go to preschool or kindergarten because there was none in the village. His parents left the village for work, and left young Xiaoyuan to be raised by his grandma. When he was 3 years old, Xiaoyuan began to learn acrobatics under the watch of his second uncle. The extended family of his generation had practiced acrobatics since they were young. At the age of six, Xiaoyuan started performing with his second uncle’s acrobatic troupe. He earned one yuan for each performance and performed in up to four performances a day. Xiaoyuan could have continued on in this occupation, but when he was seven years old, he broke his arm during a performance, which deterred him from continuing with this career. This was the first turning point in Xiaoyuan’s life. Xiaoyuan recalls that he seldom saw his parents when he was young because they were working out of town. From six to ten years old, Xiaoyuan never saw them. At that time, because the methods of communication were very limited and not readily available, he only occasionally had a phone call with his parents. In addition, his grandmother had leukemia. In order to treat her grandmother, the family borrowed RMB 110,000. According to Xiaoyuan’s memory, his parents were always working and paying off their debts. They even did not come home for New Year holiday so as to save the transportation fee. These debts were not paid off until 2000. Xiaoyuan clearly remembers that the first time he saw them since he started elementary school was during winter vacation in the third grade. That year, the parents came back on December 26 of the lunar calendar for the New Year holidays and left on the second day of the New Year, to head south for work in Dongguan. Because his parents were not around and he could no longer practice acrobatics, his parents entrusted Xiaoyuan to his third uncle when he reached school age. After half a semester in the village, he was transferred to a major elementary school in the county. At that time, children with rural household registration had to pay a few hundred RMB for the transient student fee to attend the schools in the urban area. However, both his parents and his third uncle felt that education was very important, and they would prefer that Xiaoyuan went to a good school rather than to save the money for the extra fee. Xiaoyuan was a playful boy during elementary school. Since his parents were not around to supervise him and his uncle was too busy with his teaching job to keep a close eye on him and his cousin Xiaohao, the two kids tried all the fun and mischievous things children of this age could do. Even though the school day was already short, Xiaoyuan still skipped classes with his classmates. He was basically not attending school. Xiaoyuan had a sort of heroic spirit, and he often got into fights. If he encountered someone stronger, he would ask his cousin, Xiaohao, who is three years older, for help. Xiaoyuan, the only student born and raised in the rural area in his class, was quite popular among the boys at school and became the leader of his young peers.

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The ninth grade, which was the year he transitioned from junior high to senior high school, was his another turning point. At that time, Xiaoyuan suddenly realized that he had two paths to choose from in front of him: to take the senior high school entrance exam and continue to study or to join workforce like his father. His uncle introduced Xiaoyuan to the children he taught and to the children of his colleagues in the countryside. Xiaoyuan saw the difference between those who were educated, and those who weren’t. He then realized the value of learning and wanted to continue his education. Xiaoyuan said that this was the second turning point in his life. After a year of intensive study, Xiaoyuan was admitted to a major senior high school in the county. After that, his school life consisted of making up for the “gap” in his learning, which stemmed from his previous lack of studying. After graduating from the senior high school, Xiaoyuan was admitted to a college of husbandry economics in Henan Province. Getting a college education was the third turning point in Xiaoyuan’s life. The welcoming senior students and department heads opened Xiaoyuan up to a new world. Compared with his peers and other university students from better colleges, Xiaoyuan felt a sense of inferiority, because he didn’t have a strong foundation in academic studies. The state stipulates that junior college students can advance to a higher level to obtain a bachelor’s degree after passing an exam and if the scores met a certain standard. This means that college students must complete four-years of undergraduate study within three years. Upon starting his college education, Xiaoyuan began preparing for the advancement exam. Xiaoyuan often spent two or three days studying what others could grasp in one day. However, he knew he had to work extra hard to excel. Most of the time, 90% of his peers were having fun and enjoying video or online games. Xiaoyuan, who was a regular gamer in middle school, lost interest in this hobby. His cousin has wasted his youth away and missed all his opportunities so he decided he cannot be like his cousin. Even his cousin warned Xiaoyuan that he mustn’t end up like him, as he is a negative example. Xiaoyuan, wanting to acquire more knowledge and to excel in his studies, spent a lot of time studying. He basically spent his weekends doing self-studies, or attending seminars at Henan University, which was located right next to the college he went to. Through self-study and undergraduate courses, Xiaoyuan successfully obtained a bachelor’s degree in economics from Henan University, which was a major stride forward in his academic pursuit. With his university degree, Xiaoyuan was hired by an accounting firm in the province, with a starting salary of RMB 7,000–8,000 a month. However, Xiaoyuan did not take the job, although it was perceived as attractive by others. Xiaoyuan wanted to return to his hometown and work with his father on the farm. He said, “My major was economics, but I like agriculture. Moreover, my dad always has a dream, that is, he can have a farm of his own in his hometown. So, I want to help him realize this dream. I am coming back to work as a professional farmer; this is also a profession and I like it!” Now, Xiaoyuan runs his own agricultural cooperatives and companies, and he also takes graduate-level courses in agricultural economics. Xiaoyuan said that because he likes agriculture, he wants to study more theories and gain knowledge so as to better develop the agriculture sector. Two days ago, Xiaoyuan successfully passed

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the second interview for the graduate study. He said that the teachers encourage students to have theoretical knowledge and practical experience, and would support him to continue being a skilled farmer while studying. Xiaoyuan played a lot but also enjoyed reading when young. His uncle encouraged Xiaoyuan and Xiaohao to read, and bought whatever books for them that they wanted to read. During his college years, Xiaoyuan loved to read the biographies of prominent figures, such as Mao Zedong and Zeng Guofan. He thinks one can find aspiration from the life experiences and career paths of these people. Since the university library had been under construction throughout his days in the college, Xiaoyuan had to buy books with his own money. Xiaoyuan’s father, Laoyuan, is 45 years old. Laoyuan has only received a primary school education. During the late 1990s, the first wave of migrant workers went to mine gold in southern China. At that time, Laoyuan, who was in his early 20s, first worked as a coal miner for about one year in Xinjiang. Later, he went to Dongguan and worked at a factory that made roller skate wheels. Laoyuan was a hardworking employee and worked his way up over a decade, from a low wage earner who made a few hundred RMB a month to now a key worker who earned tens of thousands RMB a month. A few years ago, the company prepared to obtain financing for business expansion. The factory owner, a native of Zhejiang, told Laoyuan, “You can contribute RMB 50,000 as a shareholder. If you don’t have enough money, I will help you out. You don’t have to repay me if our company prospers.” Laoyuan thanked the boss for his kindness; he took out two years of savings, borrowed a thousand RMB from relatives and raised RMB 50,000 to buy 5% of the company’s shares. When the financial crisis broke out in 2008, it was, ironically, the busiest and most prosperous year for the company. Laoyuan was in charge of the company’s first-line production and factory management. He developed a better version of the wheels for roller skate shoes, a design that immediately swept through the entire country. At that time, the factory extended its working hours until midnight every day. The revenue that year equaled the total income of the past twelve years. Laoyuan received a dividend of RMB 400,000. However, before they had a chance to patent the improved product, there were already many counterfeits. If they have had patented the product in time, it could have brought the company more profits. The company now has a market capitalization of RMB 100 million. In the past two years, due to environmental protection, the company’s operations and benefits have been slowing down. The company still has its headquarters in Dongguan and set up a branch office and a bigger factory in Hangzhou to increase production. Laoyuan didn’t buy more shares, but still receives dividends of tens of thousands RMB from the Dongguan Company every year. In 2016, Laoyuan, in his 40s, already had his own house and two cars in Dongguan. His son is smart and clever and has his own ideas. Laoyuan has left his hometown for more than 20 years. His father, in his 80s, still lives in the village and was unwilling to move to the city to stay with Laoyuan. Laoyuan is a filial and responsible person. A few years ago, his father fell from the roof and broke his back. Laoyuan’s brothers were not well off financially, so Laoyuan basically took care of all the medical expenses for his father, which totaled to more than RMB 300,000.

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Fortunately, Laoyuan’s father recovered, and now he can stand up and walk around on crutches. Laoyuan has been away from hometown for more than 20 years. Since his son wants to be a full-time farmer in their hometown and he also dreams of having his own farm while being able to care for his elderly father, father and son decided to return home to be professional farmers when Xiaoyuan graduated from college. The dream is good, but the reality is not always so perfect. At the end of 2016, Laoyuan and Xiaoyuan returned home, and they were ready to build a farm of their own. The village has watched Laoyuan and Xiaoyuan grow up. Laoyuan’s third brother is a primary school teacher in the township. Their cousin is a doctor in the village, and he is a very kind person. Everyone in the family are famous for being good people and hold a certain prestige in the village. To establish their farm, Laoyuan and Xiaoyuan began with the transfer of land. They thought it would be easy to lease the land from their fellow locals. However, over a period of 4 months, from the December 2016 to March 2017, after visiting every single household, they only obtained about 200 acres of transferred land. Some individual farmers were unwilling to lease out their land. Even when Laoyuan’s relatives offered them the better land they owned in exchange, they weren’t willing to change their mind. Out of desperation, Laoyuan and Xiaoyuan set up an “agricultural production service organization,” with the purpose to manage the agricultural production for the farmers and then equally split the profits from the grain harvest. They initially hosted about 500 acres of land. For Laoyuan, if it is a good year, the high-quality rice can yield almost 500 kg of grain per acre. The farmers get 250 kg, and of the remaining 250 kg, after deducting the production costs of about 150 kg, and the net income is about 100 kg of grain. Laoyuan and Xiaoyuan bought two tractors. During the busy farming season, they hire a driver to harvest the crops. If they need more mechanical equipment, they can also rent it from the Agricultural Machinery Cooperative. Laoyuan has a government-subsidized grain drying machine, which can dry wheat in two hours, then dried grains can be stored in the granary immediately. In contrast, the cost of traditional grain drying is very high, which requires a specially constructed drying field on the farm land designated for this purpose. The ground of the drying field needs to be hardened, and the drying process also requires extra labor to be hired. After they resolved the problems with land and machinery, the farm suffered a major blow from a natural disaster. The facilities that Laoyuan and Xiaoyuan invested in were almost destroyed in the 2017 snowstorm. Laoyuan said that he woke up in the middle of the night to seek help from relatives and friends, whom he organized into teams to clear the snow accumulated on the top of the greenhouses. However, it was too late; when the plastic greenhouses “fell like dominoes, one after another, right in front of him”, he was busy “getting people out quickly so they wouldn’t be hurt by the falling buildings.” This snowstorm brought down 20 large greenhouses and all the hen houses; furthermore, the seed saplings all froze to death. After the snowstorm, Laoyuan and Xiaoyuan could not afford to invest in more greenhouses. They could only plant low-cost agricultural goods, starting with wheat and fruit trees. The growth period of wheat is 9 months. In the first few months, there was no income at all. Seeds, fertilizers and sowing all require money. At the time, they

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were hoping to get a loan, but the interest was so high that they could not afford it. Besides, the loan required mortgage as a collateral, and only the real estate license of a commercial housing or the factory on the land for the construction purpose could be mortgaged with the guarantee of public officials or someone with equivalent status. Therefore, they could not mortgage the fruit trees on the orchard, nor the agricultural machinery for agricultural production, nor the transferred land. After discussing with the family, in order to pay back the money to their fellow villagers who transferred their land to them, and to start farming production, Laoyuan decided to sell his cars and the commercial house in Dongguan. Together with all his savings from the previous years, he cashed out about RMB one million and put it all towards a fresh start. Even after experiencing such a big setback and with many foreseeable uncertainties and difficulties, Laoyuan and Xiaoyuan did not give up their dream of being a farmer. So far, Xiaoyuan gets the greatest sense of achievement and fulfillment from running the agricultural enterprise he owns and to be able to work with the agriculture that he loves. This is also the longest period of time that he got to spend with his father ever since birth, and to work on the same project side-by-side with his father. Xiaoyuan said that this year the wheat has grown well, and the fruit trees have passed the green food certification. They have already received orders. The short-term goal for this year is to scale up production and earn a net profit of RMB 200,000–300,000. The more ambitious goal is to set up a physical store featuring agricultural products and to produce quality-certified agricultural products. His personal goal is to spend another three to five years on further studies in agriculture and to devote ten years on building a good company. With additional financing, he hopes to realize the codevelopment of a primary, secondary and tertiary industry so as to provide the county with safe and high-quality agricultural products produced by his company. On this year’s outlook, Laoyuan says that the wheat plants in the field look strong and healthy, which indicates a good harvest. However, it is still too early to talk about how the harvest will turn out now, since it takes 9 months for wheat to grow. Only when all the wheat is gleaned, dried, and stored in the granary, can one say whether it is a successful harvest. Now, Laoyuan doesn’t think about too much. He says that he has no other dreams but hopes his son’s dream come true and that he finds a good wife. Laoyuan will return to stay in the hometown, to care for his own farm, the plants, and his elderly father.

7 To Build a Kindergarten for Left-behind Children Zhao Chen 1. 2. 3. 4.

Alias: Han Wusheng Occupation: Student Domicile: Mountain Village, Weining County, Guizhou Province Employer: Teaching assistant (intern) at a private kindergarten

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Age: 22 Gender: Female Ethnic Group: Hui Level of Education: Junior of secondary vocational school

Wusheng, who wears her hair in ponytail and is always smiling, said, “I used to be a left-behind child2 ; I know how hard that experience is when the feelings for the parents morph into hate and ignorance from the forced dependence and longing for one’s parents. Some of those negative feelings even last for a lifetime. I hope that I can open a kindergarten in the countryside and make it a paradise for children, where there is no depression and loneliness.” Han Wusheng, female, was born in 1997 in a poverty-stricken mountain village in Weining County, Guizhou Province. She is the eldest daughter of her family and has two younger brothers. Her parents were born in 1979. Her father had received four years of elementary school education, and her mother had received two years elementary school education. Wusheng is now a junior in a vocational school (equivalent to the third year of senior high school). When Wusheng was one year old, her parents left for work in Zhejiang. Because her parents have not received much education, they took on various odd jobs, including waiter, hotel staff, and security guard. Now they both work in a factory. Because her paternal grandparents died early, Wusheng lived with her maternal grandmother together with her uncle and aunt. Wusheng’s younger brothers were born in 2000 and 2002 respectively. Her mother returned home twice, both times gave birth to the two brothers and then she brought them with her to the place she worked. Only Wusheng was left behind to stay with her grandmother. At that time, the family was very poor. It was an extra burden to feed one more person. Therefore, her aunt always had a bad attitude towards Wusheng. However, at that time, she was too naive to know the reason why but remembers the constant arguments between grandmother and her aunt. Her effort to understand the situation only caused her to be on the receiving end of her aunt’s scolding. In 2007, her aunt and her grandmother had a big quarrel. After two days, her father came back with her two younger brothers, because while her parents were away from home, they couldn’t take care of the two boys and work. It was also because the second son was of school age, and the cost of attending the schools in Zhejiang was too high for them to be able to afford it. However, her aunt did not agree to take in all three children. In desperation, her father sent them to a boarding kindergarten. She and the first brother went to school during the day and returned to the boarding kindergarten at night. The second brother stayed at the boarding kindergarten the whole day. The three of them returned to the grandmother’s house once a week, and the grandmother would visit them from time to time. This boarding kindergarten, located on the border between the city and the village, operated without a license. The kindergarten had about 110 children, divided into 2 School-age children who receive compulsory education under the guardianship of his/her father or

mother or other relatives, entrusted by farmers who have work outside his/her household registration location for more than three consecutive months.

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three classes. Wusheng felt that this kindergarten was a horrifying experience for young children. Within the kindergarten, one could find scolding, corporal punishment, poor meals, and a lack of proper guidance. Sometimes, the faculty did not even bother to change the kids who wet their pants and totally neglected their basic needs. Wusheng and the first brother had never attended this kindergarten. She felt bad for the second brother so she took care of him, by washing his clothes and putting him to bed. Wusheng got inspired to be a loving and caring kindergarten teacher at this time. Wusheng rarely saw her parents during her childhood. She only saw them about once every 2–3 years. She missed them a lot when she was young, but hated them as a teenager. In 2008, when her parents came back and saw three dirty and skinny children, her mother cried. Her mother was determined to take all three children with her. The whole family went to Zhejiang and was crammed in a house of only 10 m2 . Wusheng and the first brother were not able to attend the public or private elementary school but went to a school for migrant workers’ children. Wusheng attended that school for about five years but did not really learn anything, since the learning environment was really bad. Most of the students were fooling around in class or too busy dating, or getting into group flights after school. She felt that the education she received here could not help her pass the senior high school entrance exam. Disappointed, she dropped out of school and joined the workforce. Wusheng first worked at a bakery, and later at a small supermarket, where she did all sorts of tasks, including cleaning, sorting out some small appliances and hardware, shipping goods, and receiving guests. She started her work day at 8:00 a.m. in the morning, and got off work at ten o’clock in the evening. On some busier days, she worked from 7:00 a.m. in the morning till, or past, midnight. At that time, she was only 15 years old. After working in the store for more than a year, the business was doing well, so she and another girl were assigned to work at a new branch. One day, her co-worker received RMB 600 of counterfeit money, causing a loss of more than RMB 500 for the store. Many people blamed the girl, and Wusheng was also implicated in this incident. Wusheng nursed a grievance over this; just because they were migrant workers with little education, they were the ones to be blamed if something went wrong. In 2015, her parents felt sorry for Wusheng, believing that if she continued on like this, she would live out a life like theirs, which was unstable, pitiful and hopeless. They advised her to go back to school in their hometown. At the same time, they also asked her to do them a favor, to take her younger brothers with her and take care of them. At that time, the first brother had just graduated from junior high school, and the second brother just started junior high school. By then, Wusheng didn’t hate her parents any more as she could completely understand that it was not easy to be a parent. She also cared a lot about her brothers, and agreed with her parents’ suggestion. Wusheng and the first brother attended vocational high schools, and the second brother went to the junior high school in the county. The three of them all lived on campus, and only spent a few days at their grandmother’s.

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Wusheng describes the relationship with her brothers as “love and hate”. She said, “I actually love my younger brothers, but the family’s financial situation was so dire that we are competing with ourselves for resources. When I was young, I hated my parents so much because they took my brothers with them and left me behind. But later, when we all lived together, I realized that even though my parents worked so hard as migrant workers, their life was no better than those of us back home. So I never complained again.” The first brother and the second brother have completely different personalities. The former is impulsive and violent, while the latter is calm and quiet. The first brother often got into fights with people at school, sometimes with a knife; so the family is very worried about him. The second brother spends most of his time reading and studying. Wusheng said: “The three of us don’t talk much. When things come up, we will help one another. We don’t really talk about our feelings. Maybe it’s because we already know each another’s sorrow and pains. There is nothing more to say.” In 2016, Wusheng chose her favorite subject, early childhood education as her major and her first brother chose his favorite subject, auto repair and maintenance, as his major. On the first day of school, she felt that her life was finally moving in the right track and had a direction. She suddenly had a lot of dreams: “The first one is to save money for driver’s license test so that in the future, I can drive my students to places to learn more about Chinese culture. I like martial arts novels and have a strong sense of justice and desire to help the weak, so my second dream is to visit the places mentioned in Jin Yong’s novels. My third dream is to find a boyfriend. The fourth dream is to devote myself to the study and to the profession of early childhood education, because my ultimate dream is to have my own kindergarten and my own bookstore.” Wusheng said, “I used to be a left-behind child; I know how hard that experience is when the feelings for the parents morph into hate and ignorance from the forced dependence and longing for one’s parents. Some of those negative feelings even last for a lifetime. I hope that I can open a kindergarten in the countryside and make it a paradise for children, where there is no depression and loneliness.” In the three years of secondary vocational school, Wusheng did very well and participated in many activities. Now she is an assistant homeroom teacher in a top private kindergarten in a county. She gets paid RMB 2,000 for this internship. The students and her colleagues like her very much, and she feels that she is getting closer and closer to her dreams. She took the preschool teacher qualification exam in early 2019, and is waiting for results. When the first brother was in senior high school, he had to change his major because of a fight. He had good grades that qualified him to take the college entrance exam but he decided to give up the opportunity. He thought he was old enough to work and earn a living instead. The family could only financially support one child to go to college. The second brother was good at studying and was admitted to the key senior high school in the county. Since childhood, the second brother has been getting the most attention and care. Although Wusheng sometimes feels this is unfair, but at the crucial moment, the first brother is willing to give the opportunity to the second brother. The first brother went to work in Guangzhou in early 2019.

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Wusheng said that if the youngest brother is admitted to a university, she will provide financial support for him. She said that this is “a sister’s obligation.” Their parents are still working in Zhejiang and still live in that place which is only 10 m2 . Wusheng remarks, “I will not leave my hometown. In recent years, we have implemented good national policies and my hometown is developing very fast. If I become a regular employee, my salary can reach RMB 6,000. My parents will come back eventually but not in the coming few years. They say they are still young, and they can work for the benefit of the children for a few more years.”

8 Education Transforms Lives Yan Xiaoxu 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Alias: Lily Occupation: Business Analyst Domicile: Henan (working in Beijing) Employer: An online financing company Age: 22 Gender: Female Ethnic Group: Han Level of Education: Master’s degree

Beijing gives young people a lot of opportunities but thwarts their sense of belonging due to the household registration and housing issues. When people don’t regard a place as their home or their city, they will eventually leave. Lily, female, born in 1996, graduated with a master’s degree in June 2018. Because she started school two years earlier than her peers, she was younger than the rest of her cohort by two years. She is currently working at an Internet finance company. Lily was born to a rural family in Luohe City, Henan Province. She has a younger brother, who is three years younger than her and works in the hair and beauty industry. When she was a child, her father was a migrant worker and only came home during the busy farming season. Her mother was a farmer in their hometown. So, Lily lived with her mother and brother when she was a child. Occasionally, their relatives’ children visited them, so she had a happy and busy childhood. Her parents have both received junior high school education. They are natives of Luohe City, Henan Province and live a simple and honest life. In Lily’s own words, they are “an ordinary but very happy family.” According to Lily, she has a pleasant and happy childhood. People in her hometown generally don’t care about children’s education, especially education for the girls. Many believe that they are going to join the workforce after graduation. It is better to seek employment sooner and to accumulate social experience. “Actually, the parents’ thinking actually affects their children’s thinking and planning for their own future,” Lily says. However, Lily does not agree with this point of view. She

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would like to prove through her own efforts that education will make a difference and can change a person’s life. She feels that she is fortunate that her parents are very open-minded. They always support Lily to continue her education and encourage her to pursue a better future. Her childhood dream is to receive a university education in Beijing. Now that dream has come true. She sums up her childhood as lucky, inspired and fulfilling, and she is very grateful to her parents. Lily had always been at the top of her class since she started elementary school. Lily never attended private tutorial classes due to financial and transportation difficulties, but went to every revision class organized by school for top students. When she was in elementary school, she attended the school training classes for the Math Olympiad competition and won first place in her town. While in junior high school, she joined the supplementary classes organized by the school. When in senior high school, because the education department did not allow schools to hold revision classes during weekends and holidays, her school sidestepped the rule and organized extra study sessions for students of two experimental classes. These students had regular classes in the school during the day. In the evening, they stayed behind in the teachers’ offices to study. The study groups were separated by genders and would stay at school overnight instead of returning to the dormitory. Although the learning environment was poor, Lily didn’t complain at all, because she was working hard for her dreams. She knew that studying hard, college education, and knowledge were the best ways to change her life. Before the college entrance exam, Lily felt stressed, anxious and lost, and often needed sleeping pills to help her fall asleep. The reason for her anxiety and doubt was that she didn’t know if her hard work would pay off and if her goal could be achieved. She had always wanted to be the best, and when she failed, she would feel upset and frustrated. But she never chose to give up or to let herself relax. Lily said, “When I am upset and frustrated, I will only give myself up to two days of wallow in self-pity. After two days, I have to lift myself up and get ready for a fresh start. Because I have chosen this challenging path, I have to endure whatever comes my way.” Lily was admitted to a major financial and economic university in Beijing. Lily said that the college entrance exam is the most influential event in her life. She believes that for rural students like her, it is not an overstatement to say that the college entrance exam can change a person’s destiny. Doing well in the college entrance exam opens up unlimited possibilities for the future. If one fails the exam, one has to go home and be a farmer, to living a boring and routine life. While she has no idea what it really means to live a wonderful life, but at least the college entrance exam gives her hope and a passion for life. While in the university, Lily was still a top student in all her subjects and was also active in extracurricular activities. For her graduate studies, Lily majored in finance, her favorite subject. After graduating in June 2018, she joined an Internet finance company as a business analyst with an annual salary of about RMB 250,000. Lily likes her work, the working environment and her colleagues. On the one hand, the work she is doing now is more in line with her major in college; on the other hand, she had also realized that she is good at data analysis and logical thinking during her studies, and now her work requires those skills. In addition, she feels that Internet

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finance is a fast-changing industry, which also motivates her to keep up with the times and to keep learning. Therefore, although it is very hard to manage working and studying at the same time, it is also very fulfilling. Lily likes reading, especially the classics. She said, “Other people’s inspiring and successful stories enhance my confidence and fighting spirit.” For example, she likes to read How Steel is Made and The Ordinary World. She has read each of these books at least twice. She always gains a different insight and perspective after every reading. “How one lives is a personal choice. All men are born the same but are distinguished by their individual experiences,” she said. Lily has always wanted to be a person with her own way of thinking, her own stance, determination, and growth, so she likes books. Through reading, one can acquire knowledge, form their own worldviews and personal values, and develops their own way of thinking. One then can develop their own criteria for judging right from wrong, an orientation for their pursuit in life and the ability to make decision amongst their options rather than being compelled to go with the flow. Therefore, she expects herself to constantly expand her experiences and her vision for life, make progress and changes, and keep growing. She has been determinedly working on self-improvement. Lily’s parents are very supportive of her love for reading. Although her family was poor when she was a student, her parents often took her to the library. Her parents thought that the family’s financial situation cannot afford to send Lily to schools in the city or to travel to places to learn more about the world. But they hoped that through reading, she would get to know the world beyond their hometown, and advance to a better and happier life in the future. Lily seems somewhat sad when being asked about what her hobbies are and her efforts to pursue them. She is a girl keen on pursuing knowledge and experience. She wants to learn to paint, to dance, and to play musical instruments. But because she grew up in the countryside, she has no opportunity to learn these things. She can only learn about them in books. However, reading is her hobby and a habit. She reads Chinese and foreign masterpieces, biographies, historical books, and literary essays. She said that reading makes her feel that she has spent her time well, her mind is comforted, and her spirit is enriched. Books have led her step by step to the present. What Lily wants most now is to visit other cities in China and travel around the world; she wants to step onto foreign soil with her own feet. Lily said, “I used to learn about the world, other cultures, and history from books. Now I want to see them with my eyes, to feel the historical charms of different cultures, and to enjoy the beautiful scenery. This is a wonderful world. I want to see the world, which will be a different experience. It will be a long process but I will take time to make it come true. That’s why I have to work hard now,” she said. Speaking of Beijing, Lily commented on the city from a “Beijing drifter’s” perspective. She believes that Beijing is a city that gives people great hope, huge pressure and unlimited possibilities. Studying in Beijing is her childhood dream. When she was a child, Beijing was a place of dreams and hopes to her. After she came to Beijing, she found the city bustling, energetic and inclusive. After joining the workforce, she feels the city is fast-paced and stressful. “Beijing is a fascinating

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city but it’s hard for ‘Beijing drifters’ to develop a sense of belonging here.” She explained, “Beijing gives young people a lot of opportunities, but thwarts their sense of belonging due to the household registration and housing issues. When people don’t treat a place as their home or their city, they will eventually leave.” This gives her anxiety now, and she occasionally feels that Beijing is not a welcoming city. Looking forward, Lily still hopes to live in Beijing because “Beijing is culturally inclusive and has people from all over the world. Besides, the fast-paced lifestyle is suitable for young people. It is better to fight for the future when I’m young than to live with regrets at an old age,” Lily said. Lily feels that because she just graduated, she still can’t strike a balance between work and life, and often works overtime. She thinks it is important to have work-life balance while still working hard so as to gain a stronger sense of happiness. She hopes to be able to spend more time with her parents and have enough time for her friends. Lily thinks that having loved ones and friends are indispensable in life. “Friends are people who have a lot to talk about, have common interests and shared values, enjoy one another’s company and think of the others in their absence.” Lily’s friends mostly consist of her classmates and some colleagues. She enjoys chatting, eating out, shopping and sightseeing with her friends. They often talk about work; after all, most of their energy is spent on work. Speaking of the changes over the recent past decade, Lily said that 10 years ago, she was in high school in Luohe City, and now she is working in Beijing. Her living environment has changed a lot. Ten years ago, the pace of life was slow and the living conditions were relatively poor. Ten years later, she is very happy living in such a vibrant and exciting city even though life is stressful in Beijing. In general, the living conditions are much better, and the overall quality of life has also significantly improved. She said: “I am still very satisfied with my current living environment, but the Beijing government could have done more for the young population. I hope that big cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou can give more support to young people.” For Lily, dreams are a personal belief that gives people more incentives to become a better person and to realize their own values. People who have dreams will know what their future should look like, and have a clear idea of what they need to do at every step along the way instead of repeating the same routine day after day, every day until the end of life. Dreams should have different stages, consisting of the ultimate goal and the smaller goals along the various phases of life. Turning the overarching goal into smaller goals can make it easier to identify what needs to be done at each stage and to realize the larger dream. Lily set her goal in accordance with different stages of life: the life before college, the university life before graduation, the postgraduate life before getting marriage, and the life after marriage. Before going to college, Lily wanted to gain more knowledge, know more about Chinese culture and get into a good university, laying a foundation for a future that is full of possibilities through her own efforts. During her university days before graduation, her goal was to gain professional knowledge as well as to become a well-rounded intellectual and to improve her competency, in

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order to serve the society and to demonstrate a person’s social value through professional work. After graduating from college and before getting married, her goal now is to improve her professional skills, to give back to the society, to work toward a promotion in her career with a higher income so as to better support her aging parents and future kids, and of course, to solve her housing problem. After getting married and having children, she will have more roles to play in society. Her goal is to balance work and life, with a focus on self-development and mental health. “My goal is to balance and strengthen family care, career advancement, and self-improvement,” she said. Lily believes that everyone’s dreams are different and cannot be measured. She believes that reaching a certain state of mind or a certain stage in life can also be an aspiration. She feels that the aspirations of her generation are more abstract and diverse than those of the previous generations. Her parents’ dream was to own a house and to support their children to get into a good university. They rarely paid attention to their own improvement. She thinks the differences exist due to different levels of education and a society open to different thoughts. She thinks this is a very good phenomenon. Lily said: “The dream of the country is the dream of every citizen. The dream of every citizen collectively becomes the Chinese Dream. Only when every one of us is working hard toward our dreams, the Chinese Dream can be realized.”

9 To Bring the Sound of Music to His Hometown Liu Wanyun 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Alias: Xue Li Occupation: Student Domicile: Hezhang County, Bijie City, Guizhou Province Employer: N/A Age: 21 Gender: Male Ethnic Group: Miao Level of Education: Secondary vocational school

Xue Li, a student at a technical secondary school, has already experienced a lot in life. He thinks that his generation has different dreams from that of his parents’ generation. The previous generation might not have given much thoughts to dreams because they didn’t know much about the world. Their dream might be just to have enough food and adequate clothing. Now, with the progress of the society, everyone is constantly seeking improvement. People have more to pursue and to consider, which makes it more difficult to realize their dreams. “The dream of this generation is to have a job that you like and to have a stable

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income, in addition to fulfilling the basic needs. A better job requires a higher degree of education, which means more time and financial investment.” Xue Li, male, is a sophomore at a vocational school in Bijie City, majoring in early childhood education. An outstanding student at the school, Xue Li is the president of the student council and the merit student award recipient. He also won first place in the school piano competition for two consecutive years. Xue Li was born into a family of farmers. His parents and two sisters have no formal education. His two sisters are 11 and 9 years older than him. They got married long ago. As the youngest and only boy in the family, Xue Li is his parents’ favorite child. At present, his parents’ combined income is about RMB 2,000–3,000 a month, which is used for the daily expenses of the family and to repay the RMB 30,000 loan. As for his two married sisters, one is a migrant worker and the other is a farmer at home. Their living conditions are relatively good and they love their younger brother. When they have extra money, they would give Xue Li some pocket money. Xue Li is a qualified recipient of national fund for targeted poverty alleviation.3 He enjoys a subsidy of RMB 1,500 and a state scholarship of RMB 1,000 per semester. “My parents had to support three children before, but now they have only one child to take care of.” Therefore, the current financial situation of Xue Li’s family has improved greatly when compared to a few years ago. Although Xue Li is doing very well at school, his school experience has not always been so good. Xue Li had good grades in primary school, but he became more rebellious during junior high school. He was often bullied or even beaten by “rich classmates.” At that time, he didn’t dare to tell the teachers but told his parents. However, after the parents told the teacher, the problem was not resolved. “Teachers usually cared more about the students with good grades, or parents who were nice to the teachers.” One time, his classmates asked him for money, but he refused, so they pinched his hand until he bled. This incident left him scarred psychologically. After some time, Xue Li felt that he should not always be a victim, so he started to join some “gangs” and got involved in many fights. Over time, his grades fell and the teachers paid even less attention to him. His relationship with his parents turned sour, and he ended up failing to pass the senior high school entrance exam. After Xue Li graduated from junior high school, he worked in an electronics factory. He worked hard for 12 h every day, but only got paid for RMB 7/h. This working experience made Xue Li realize that it wouldn’t do for him to join the workforce and give up on continued education. So he returned to his hometown and attended the vocational school there. Because of his working experience, Xue Li can appreciate the learning opportunities even more. His daily life is filled with studying, piano and work. His efforts paid off and he achieved good grades. In the future, he hopes that he can get into college or even university to advance his professional education and skills, then find a stable job so that his parents can enjoy a better life. 3 Through

scientific and effective procedures, it identifies, assists, and manages the poor in accordance with the environment of different poor regions and conditions of poor farmer households. Generally, it aims to give assistance to residents living in poverty.

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Xue Li experienced a major change in his relationship with his parents. In junior high school, Xue Li often quarreled with his parents. When he was bullied by his classmates, he told his parents, but they could not make the situation any better. Therefore, he once thought to himself that “parents and teachers are useless, I can only rely on myself.” The most rebellious thing he has even done was to skip one week of school and run away from home to a faraway place, without money or food. Finally, his parents found him with help from the entire village. After they got home, his parents gave him a good beating that evening. The change in his relationship with his parents began with an accident. Xue Li once passed out after a head injury and was taken to the hospital. He remained unconscious for half an hour so the doctor suggested transferring him to the county hospital. But because the parents had no money, they pleaded with the doctor to continue treating him with an intravenous drip. When he finally woke up after the second bottle of medication, “I saw the way my parents were pleading with the doctor and the way they were looking at me and I felt very sorry for them. I knew I had to behave from then on.” Now that Xue Li is attending the vocational school, his studies and his life are on the right track, and he has attained certain achievements. He is very satisfied with his life currently. “The teachers here are different from my previous teachers. They are very supportive of everything you do, and they give all the students equal attention. We have teacher and student relationship while in class but after class we are friends.” In addition, he is much closer to his parents now. He will call home every two or three days. When he needs money, his parents will give him RMB 200–400. He enjoys having the love and respect of his parents. “As long as I am doing the right thing, I will have my parents’ full support, even they have to borrow money from someone else to help me.” Now, Xue Li is debating to whether continue his studies or to work as a kindergarten teacher after graduation. On the one hand, he hopes to attain higher education to get a decent job with a stable income. On the other hand, in every conversation with his parents, Xue Li always asks if they feel tired or if the work is too much for them. He always asks them to stop working as migrant worker and to settle down in their hometown. Besides, they are nearly 60 years old and he does not want his parents to continue working for his sake. “If I see some achievements after all that education, I worry that they won’t be around to enjoy the love I give them.” Now Xue Li is no longer the ignorant and impulsive boy he used to be, but a levelheaded and thoughtful young lad. The student council he manages now has more than 400 members. He received some recognition from each one of them because of his maturity and hard-working spirit. He is basically in charge of leading the student members to organize some large-scale activities and to help teachers distribute the school notices. When it comes to his work skills, Xue Li believes that it is important to have an effective management approach and a good relationship with fellow students. Xue Li also has a very good relationship with the members of the student council. As the chairman, he holds himself to serious work ethics and never regards himself as being above anyone. When they are not working, they are still students and have fun together. Xue Li also believes that it is important to participate in some work besides studying at school.

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Playing piano is Xue Li’s favorite hobby. It could even be said that it’s an indispensable part of his life. “Playing piano can convey one’s emotions. You can convey your sadness or share your joy through piano. It has become something that I will never give up.” His love for the piano began with a band he saw in the park when he was working part-time. That was the first time he learned about the piano and the guitar. He was very surprised, and wondered, “What is that thing that can produce so beautiful sound?” So he used his own money to buy a second-hand electronic keyboard, and learned how to play by downloading instruction videos on the Internet. Although the self-study was very difficult when he first started, Xue Li believes that “You can learn to do something well if you like it; you can be a talented person if you work hard.” Inspiration from his idol, and an accidental occurrence became the driving motivation behind Xue Li’s determination to continue to learn to play the piano. Xue Li’s idol is Huang Jiaju, because Xue found that they have a very similar learning experience. They both came from a poverty-stricken family background and their first pianos were purchased with their own money. Huang later learned many musical instruments through self-study and he attained great achievements in music. His other form of motivation came from an incident that happened to Xue Li. He knew that there was a band forming in Guiyang, and he went to the audition. He didn’t get selected because he did not play well. Some people even asked him, “Why did you even bother to come for the audition when you play like this?” The success of his idol and the doubt cast by others greatly motivated Xue Li to work harder when practicing the piano. So Xue Li chose to major in early childhood education, a female-dominated field. He does not really want to be a kindergarten teacher, but because people in this profession use the piano a lot, so students studying this major can also take some music lessons with teachers. In addition, he makes it a routine to get up early to practice the piano for two hours at school. He said that he had won the school-wide piano competition for several consecutive years and wanted to stay on top. If others played well, he would be pressured to practice even harder. Because he can play the piano very well, he can play a few other instruments, such as guitar, through self-learning. Xue Li has attracted the attention of the teachers and students at school and has been invited to perform at the annual school event for prospective students. During these events, he likes to sing and play the guitar. He believes his efforts contribute to attracting more drop-out students to return to school. “I hope that those who failed the senior high school entrance exam like me can come to the vocational school to learn a skill instead of going to work. Education is good for them as an individual as well as for society as a whole.” His first performance on the stage was at the school’s art festival. “I didn’t practice hard enough so I never had the chance to get up on the stage. Now I can finally have my mom and dad watch me perform on stage. I’m most proud of this experience.” Speaking of dreams, Xue Li said that he used to think that the definition of a dream was something distant and something that could not be realized, hence the name “dream”. He thought dreams are similar to a fantasy or a daydream, that are impossible to achieve. He was very jealous of urban kids, because they can spend money to learn anything they like, while the rural children usually cannot get whatever

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they like, or it takes a lot of effort to obtain. Now he has a new understanding of dreams. His dream now is to share the joy of making music with others as a piano teacher, and ideally, to give free lessons, in his hometown. Many talented people in his hometown haven’t been exposed to music and they have no chance to play the piano. As for his long-term plan for the future, Xue Li hopes to become a music teacher, have a band of his own, and to travel to more places to perform. If time permits, he will teach more children to play the piano and contribute more to the society. Xue Li has been working hard and has partially realized his dream. He has met some friends who love music. He often brings them together and to instruct or teach simple techniques to whoever wants to learn piano and guitar. When he was home for the Chinese New Year holiday this year, he also invited several children to his place to give them piano lessons. They also played very well. “I am already on the way to my dream, but I still need some other qualifications. I need to have a steady income to continue with this endeavor.” As the times change, Xue Li thinks that his generation has different dreams from that of his parents’ generation. The previous generation might not have much thought about dreams because they didn’t know much about the world. Their dream might just be to have enough food and adequate clothing. But as the society progresses, everyone seeks improvement. People have more to pursue and to consider, which makes it more difficult to realize their dreams. “The dream of this generation is to have a job that you like and to have a stable income, in addition to fulfilling the basic needs. A better job requires a higher degree of education, which means more time and financial investment.” However, he does not want his parents to continue as migrant workers He is even more worried that if he does not do well, he won’t be able to honor his parents. “If you are still a farmer after so many years’ of hard work, it is very embarrassing.” Therefore, his only goal at this stage is to study hard, to have a good career and to give his parents a better life as soon as possible. For his future plans, he said that he has to consider and balance the family’s financial situation and personal planning and dreams.

10 To Achieve Financial Freedom Wang Jingjing 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Alias: Sisi Occupation: Online education teacher Domicile: Haidian District, Beijing Employer: A famous online education organization Age: 26 Gender: Female Ethnic Group: Han Level of Education: Master’s degree

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Sisi gave up her teaching job at a public school and works as an online instructor. She said, “If I don’t need to worry about the material needs in the future, I am willing to take some time off to teach in the poverty-stricken areas every year. The education inequality in different areas is too serious a problem. I was a victim myself, so I especially feel bad for those children in the poverty-stricken areas.” Sisi was born in 1992. After receiving her master’s degree, she worked as a language teacher in a public primary school. After one and a half years, she left the job and now is an instructor of a live online language program, with a monthly income of RMB 20,000–30,000 after tax. Sisi was born in a small village next to a county in Henan Province. Her father was a junior high school teacher and her mother was a primary school teacher. Both are regarded as intellectuals by the locals. Therefore, they paid special attention to Sisi’s education. When Sisi attended kindergarten, a teacher’s wage was only RMB 60 per month, and her parents’ income added up to RMB 120 per month. However, the kindergarten Sisi went to, the best one of the entire county, cost RMB 80 per month. Although she eventually went to the primary school in the village due to financial difficulty, it was enough to show her parents’ determination in giving her the best education. Sisi has a younger brother, born in 1997, and a sister, born in 1996. At present, the younger sister is a medical student at a major university in Guangzhou, and the younger brother has finished his college studies and is currently working in Beijing. Sisi was an outstanding student throughout her school days. She was the top student of her class from primary school all the way till senior high school. She scored high marks in the senior high school entrance exam and was admitted into the county’s major high school (she was the only student accepted from her village). During the three years of senior high school, she always had the best grade in her class of about 100 students in every midterm or final exam. In 2009, the college entrance exam in Henan Province was very competitive. The acceptance rate of the top tier schools was very low. In that year, Sisi already had the best score of her class in the college entrance exam, but she missed the getting into the top-tier schools by two points. She later attended a second-tier school. However, many of her friends retook the exam and got into a first-tier school. The decision not to retake the exam remains the deepest regret for Sisi. After graduation, she feels that holding the diploma of a first-tier school does matter in many ways. When Sisi began her university education, it was about the time the family had to spend a lot on her younger siblings’ tuition. Her father’s monthly income of RMB 2,500 was just enough to cover the family’s living expenses. Due to family’s financial situation, Sisi had no choice but to work part-time to pay for her own tuition and living expenses. Throughout the four years at university, Sisi did not spend a dime of the family’s money. She was the recipient of a National Scholarship and Outstanding Scholarships for four consecutive years and graduated with the honorary title of “Outstanding Graduate of the Henan Province”. Sisi worked as a flyer distributor and a tutor during her school years, and as a factory worker in the South during the

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summer and winter vacations. She also tried her hand at a business brokerage and running an afterschool class. These experiences gave her a taste of various aspects of life. Originally, her achievements were supposed to qualify her to be one of the school’s recommended students to continue advanced study at the major universities in Beijing. However, she was surprised to find out that she wasn’t on the school’s list of recommended candidates. Not being named one of the recommended postgraduate students, Sisi’s did not have many options left. Since she already missed the retake for the college entrance exam, and really wanted to go to the graduate schools in Beijing, Sisi decided to take the graduate school entrance exam. But, she had only one or two months to prepare. These two months of intensive study was one of the most memorable times for her. The final result was very good. She received the highest score, scoring a whole 40 points higher than the second highest score. Sisi was admitted to a Project 985 university in Beijing. This was like a miracle to Sisi and the one achievement that she is most proud of. At graduate school, Sisi couldn’t fully focus on her studies. Her younger siblings were on their way to university, and her father’s meager salary was far from enough to pay for their tuition. Sisi didn’t want her siblings to repeat her exhausting workstudy college experience. Therefore, Sisi began to look for part-time job opportunities in Beijing, and finally settled on a part-time position as a language tutor. Sisi was especially happy that the lesson fee was much higher in Beijing. For a one-hour lesson, she could earn RMB 25 yuan in Henan, but in Beijing, a one-hour lesson could earn her RMB 80 or even RMB 100. With the increase in teaching experience and unique coaching style, Sisi was able to make RMB 250/h. Some parents even paid her RMB 1,000 yuan for 2 h. Sisi basically used all her spare time to do oneon-one language tutoring sessions. When she had no class, her day was filled with private tutoring sessions from 8:00 a.m. in the morning to 10:00 p.m. in the evening. In between, she would just grab something simple to eat for lunch. In her second year of graduate school, Sisi bought a car for her father, and paid for her younger siblings to go to college. Sisi’s greatest hope is to make more money and give her family a better life. As the eldest daughter of the family, she believes she has the responsibility to take care of the family. In her third year of grad school, Sisi had other job opportunities: one was to join New Oriental as a Chinese language instructor and the other was to work as a Chinese language teacher in a public school. Because people started paying more attention to language and literature education, the entire language education market was booming, so working at New Oriental was a good opportunity for her. On the other hand, while the salary is not that good, a public school teacher can register as a resident of Beijing and enjoy winter and summer vacations on top of a decent social status. In addition, in spite of the state’s regulation, many school teachers still work for private tutorial institutions outside of school hours. “In this way, the income is not necessarily less than that teaching at New Oriental,” Sisi says. So, Sisi became a Chinese language teacher at a public school in Beijing. After working for a year and a half, Sisi received her Beijing household registration. Although she had established a strong bond with her students, she chose to leave. With many years of tutoring experience, the experience as a language teacher in

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public schools, and the credential of a graduate student, Sisi found a job as an online language teacher, starting with a basic salary of RMB 10,000 plus commissions on her course per month. Sisi has confidence in the potential of online education and can’t wait to join the online platform, hoping to make more money by riding the trend. After six months, she has a stable monthly income of RMB 25,000. Before long, Sisi could buy a house for her parents in their hometown. Traveling is Sisi’s favorite pastime. So far, she has been to Thailand, Japan, and Cambodia, including almost all the famous tourist attractions in China. She plans to tour ten European countries next year. The cost of each domestic trip is around RMB 5,000, and the international trip costs anywhere from RMB 10,000 to RMB 20,000. Sisi thinks that Europe trips are generally expensive. At present, her biggest dream is to be able to earn one million RMB a year and to help her loved ones live a good life. Before going to college, her goal in life was to have an impact on the world and to help a lot of people. Now that she is more mature, she knows that she can only help her family. “I had once been a dreamer, but reality is hard. I have my constraints. If I can, I want to do something for the society in the future,” Sisi said thoughtfully. Sisi is more open to new norms of consumption compared to the older generations. She would spend money on high-quality clothes and cosmetics, invest RMB 5,000 on a hair beauty loyalty card, and RMB 10,000 for a private trainer at the gym. Her biggest expenditure is her rent, which costs of RMB 4,000 per month, and cumulatively, RMB 50,000 a year. Sisi is still very satisfied with her current working environment. Her fellow teachers are straightforward and genuine, and they share similar world views. Her career is at a stage of rapid growth. Regarding the city of Beijing, Sisi said: “When I return to the countryside, the villagers usually look up at me, a college student who came back from Beijing; however, I have not found any sense of belonging in Beijing, mainly because I have not been able to buy a house or even a car in Beijing. If I can put a down payment on a house, eventually, I will also become a slave of the house as it is a life-long burden.” “Obviously, I know the country is getting richer and stronger. Do you remember our dream when we were high school students? If I could buy snacks in the supermarket without thinking back then, I would have been beyond myself! Life is getting better and better!” Sisi said with a smile. Although the country is rich and strong, young people are put under increasingly stronger pressure. When it comes to what country she likes to live in the most, Sisi says that it is the Nordic countries, where people enjoy good social benefit and live a decent life without such great pressure. “Yes, living out a decent life, it is the dream of most people,” she said. Sisi wishes to live in a future where she won’t be worried about needing money for material goods, to have a house, and not to worry too much about her children and household chores. She wants to have a life of her own in her 30s, instead of living by the labels of “someone’s mom” or “somebody’s wife”. Sisi believes that the true freedom is to be freed from material constraints and hopes that she can stop running in the rat race, and to stop chasing after money. In Sisi’s view, although her father’s generation was poor materialistically, they were rich in virtue and spirit, in comparison to her generation. The virtues and ideals

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of the younger generation are very shallow. The purpose of making money now, is to have financial freedom later, and live a truly happy life. She is particularly afraid of getting married and having children, and living a boring life day after day. What currently gives her distress and anxiety are: (1) Not knowing how to advance in her career so as to achieve their goals in life. (2) She has been single for a long time, and is now looking for a boyfriend. Although she is afraid of getting married, she is longing for love. In addition, by choosing to stay in Beijing, she has already given herself even greater anxiety and worry. According to Sisi, the most fulfilling thing that has happened so in her life, is that all the efforts she has made so far have paid off. Whether in school or at work, her current achievements in learning and work are accomplished through her own efforts. The most frustrating thing to have happened in her life was her relationship with her first boyfriend. He was her first love, whom she broke up with after nine years of on-again-off-again due to differences in their worldview. “Love is not something that can be managed and maintained solely through one’s own effort.” She wants to stay in Beijing, to make more money and to advance in the society, but her boyfriend hopes to return to his hometown, to have a stable job with a decent wage and a comfortable working environment. The difference in worldview lead them to quarrel endlessly, and their relationship ended when they started discussing the possibility of marriage. What Sisi misses the most is the simplicity of life when she was a school girl. Although they didn’t have much and the food that the school provided was terrible, however, she felt fulfilling, relaxed, and life was fair. Nowadays, she always has a sense incompetence and insufficiency. Sisi’s father is 53 years old. He graduated from junior college and taught in the junior high school in the county. His current monthly income is RMB 3,500. Her mother, 48 years old with a high school education, mostly does farming. She has a very good relationship with her parents. Although her mother is quick-tempered, her father is very tolerant. Her healthy and happy family is the foundation of her positive and optimistic spirit at work. Her father had retaken the college entrance exam five times, but he still could not get into any university. This is her father’s greatest regret and contributed to his timid and cautious characteristic. Her mother dropped out of school as a high school sophomore to take care of the blind grandmother. Sisi has inherited her mother’s filial piety. No matter where she goes, she still has the deepest concern for her family. Previously, her father used to be the greatest and most serious person in Sisi’s world. But, when she got to university, she had some disputes with her father because she felt that he had been too timid in making decisions such that he missed many opportunities. In the past two years, Sisi felt sorry for her mother and has become more understanding of her sacrifices that she made for the family. In terms of communication with her parents, her family is relatively open and relaxed, and they can talk about almost anything. As for dreams, her biggest dream is to have RMB three million in cash and an annual income of RMB one million. After her freshman year, Sisi realized the importance of money, and felt that money could solve many troubles. During her freshman year, all her friends had a mobile phone. She was the only one who had

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no phone to communicate with her family and realized that she had to work hard to make money. Sisi thinks that the reason why her dream is linked to money is closely related to her family’s financial situation. In her freshman year, her family was not able to support her living expenses. She had to be self-reliant by working part time. After that, she discovered her own potential to make money. In fact, she doesn’t have a strong desire for material things. What motivates her to make more money is to provide for her family, including her parents and younger siblings, a better life. Now their life has indeed improved greatly when compared with the past. In addition to her materialistic needs, Sisi also has her own dreams. The first is to be able to do something in the field of education that can improve the educational equality; the second is to travel around the world and to gain more knowledge and receive more education. “If I don’t need to worry about my material needs in the future, I am willing to take some time off to teach in the poverty-stricken areas every year. Education inequality is too serious a problem. I was a victim myself, so I especially feel bad for those children in the poverty-stricken areas.”

The Generation Born in the 2000s Du Jing, Zhao Chen, and Wang Jingjing

1 Generational Differences of the Chinese Dream Du Jing 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Alias: Xiao Long Occupation: Student (middle school) Domicile: Ningxiang City, Hunan Province Employer: N/A Age: 15 Gender: Male Ethnic Group: Han Level of Education: Junior high school

Xiao Long believes his parents expect him to get into a good college, while he hopes to have financial freedom, to have the money for chemistry experiments, and to travel the world. Xiao Long is male, was born in 2003 and is currently 15 years old. He is enrolled in the 9th grade at Jinhai Middle School in the “N” county. He is in the priority class at this school and ranks in the top 10 amongst students. His previous schools, the county kindergarten and Chengnan elementary school, were all relatively good schools in the county. Xiao Long said his parents are happy with him as long as his grades aren’t too terrible, and they have no exceptional expectations that they want him to achieve. The standard he sets for himself is to achieve grades that are “at least in the mid- to upper-level cohort.” He is the class representative for English and political science. He has a lot of friends and his best friend is a classmate who ranks number one in D. Jing (B) · Z. Chen · W. Jingjing China Development Research Foundation, Beijing, China © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 L. Mai (ed.), The Chinese Dream and Ordinary Chinese People, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4952-0_9

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the class. They have been best friends since elementary school. His friend’s parents are both teachers and know his own parents well. He was mostly taken care of by his mom as a child. Between the ages of one and three, his paternal grandparents took care of him during the day, and his mom did the evening shift. Between the ages of four and twelve, he was picked up and dropped off at school by his paternal grandparents and saw his parents every day. By middle school, he was at a private boarding school and came home only on the weekends, and spent his winter and summer breaks with his parents. Currently, he has passed the exams to get into the major high schools in Changsha. After winter break, he will begin a boarding high school where his parents can visit him once a week. When talking about his dreams, Xiao Long believes his parents expect him to get into a good college, while he hopes to have financial freedom, to have the money for chemistry experiments, and to travel the world. His hobbies are solving the Rubix cube, riding the bicycle, playing cards (a popular local game, which, during the interview, his friends were playing in the next room). His favorite book 100 Years of Solitude, is also one which really influenced him, since he felt its depictions were vivid and powerful. His favorite subject is chemistry and he hopes to have a career related to chemical-engineering or chemistry. In the future, he hopes to work in Changsha, a thriving city, where he’ll be close to his parents. Xiao Long believes his hometown is a great city, with good environment and people. Back when there were no traffic lights, cars would stop for him when he crossed the street, yielding to pedestrians. He thinks that while there are obstacles like trade wars which hamper the country’s development, there is a bigger impetus for development, and the future will be even better. For his extracurricular activities, Xiao Long has taken up Chinese traditional painting, calligraphy, and taekwondo because he was interested in these activities, but now that he’s in 9th grade, he’s too busy with school and has stopped doing them. The middle school he is in really values education and the teachers are all hired from good public schools. Every year, the students take exams to be divided into the priority class, the regular priority class, and the regular class. Currently, the priority classes have already had one round of exams where the students were reassigned into either a slow class (goal: county high school) and a fast class (goal: Xi’an Jiaotong University’s gifted class or the Yali High School of Changsha). The “N” county is under the Changsha jurisdiction, and some major high schools in Changsha would also recruit talented students here. Xiao Long has already passed the exams for Xi’an Jiaotong University’s gifted class, as well as the Yali High School of Changsha. His family has chosen the latter high school for him.

2 Growing Up Amidst Changes Zhao Chen 1. Alias: Su Su 2. Occupation: Student (11th grade)

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Domicile: Beijing Employer: N/A Age: 17 Gender: Female Ethnic Group: Han Level of Education: Senior high school

Su Su is 175 cm tall, she has short hair and she likes to frown. She is learning how her past arrogance was caused by her material wealth, money, and her family background. Without them, she is no longer sure about her identity. She has also realized she should have the ability to support herself. Su Su is female and born in 2003 in Suzhou City of the Jiangsu Province. Her father was born in the Zhejiang countryside in 1972, while her mom was born in Suzhou in 1976. Her father has a Ph.D. from a military academy and her mother has a college diploma. Su Su’s father was born into a poor family. His mother passed away early; he also had a younger sister, and a father who worked as a farmer. His father wanted him to go to school and get a government job but he didn’t like studying, so his father beat him and made him do farm work, which started at 4 am and didn’t end until 6 pm. He felt so exhausted from doing farm work that he agreed to go to school. In 1991, when Su Su’s father was accepted to a military academy in Jiangsu, his father told him, “Don’t come back to the village, we are depending on you to change our lives.” Su Su’s father remembered his father’s teachings and worked really hard at college. Because of his rural background, he wasn’t spoiled, he was willing to do every task, and he was liked by his school officials. Of course, he had great professional qualifications too, with a concentration in strategic planning. He later stayed at the college to pursue a graduate degree. He was introduced to Su Su’s mother by the college officials. Su Su’s maternal grandfather was the principal leader of a government organization in Suzhou, and enjoyed an affluent lifestyle. Su Su also has a maternal aunt who left for college in Australia. Su Su’s mom has congenital heart disease. In spite of having had surgery, she has health problems, which affected her studies. She only got a college diploma from a local school and then worked at a bank. Su Su’s mother is tall, thin, and very pretty, and she has a good family background, which made Su Su’s father like her right away. In order to pursue her, he did all the housework in her house for three years. Su Su’s maternal grandmother said, “This kid is pretty honest, he’s just not rich.” After some consideration, Su Su’s mother agreed to be with Su Su’s father. In 1998, Su Su’s parents got married. Because Su Su’s mother has a heart problem, she was always afraid to get pregnant. As Su Su’s mother got older, Su Su’s father wanted a child, but her maternal grandparents vehemently opposed the idea. “She can’t cope with her heart disease,” and even scolded Su Su’s father.

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By chance, Su Su’s mother became pregnant. She was very hesitant about keeping the baby. Giving birth was dangerous, but not giving birth would bring about family conflict and perhaps end her marriage. In the end, Su Su’s mother decided to go ahead with the pregnancy. In 2002, Su Su was born, and her mom maintained her health, so the family was overjoyed with this happy event. When Su Su’s father finished his graduate degree, he stayed at the college to teach, and even earned a Merit Citation Class II for his teaching expertise. In 2004, Su Su’s father got a chance to earn a Ph.D. at the National Defense University. He was tempted, but with Su Su so young, it would be a lot of work for her mom. However, her maternal grandparents and mom all agreed this was the best for his future, so at the end of 2004, her dad became a Ph.D. student at the university. He thought it was great; not only could he improve himself, help contribute to the country, but the accommodations were great too. He had a daily food stipend of over RMB 100, which was more than enough. In 2008, Su Su’s father finished his Ph.D. and was selected to be a staff officer at a senior agency in the People’s Liberation Army. The whole family was happy for him. Now, they just had to find a way for the husband and wife to end their long-distance relationship. Su Su’s maternal grandfather had some connections, so he got Su Su’s mom a job at a Beijing bank. Starting in 2009, Su Su’s parents lived in the same city. Her father got quickly an apartment in Beijing, and Su Su’s maternal grandmother came to take care of her. Su Su was pampered since birth. She never lacked anything, she was always daring and did what she wanted. In class, she would challenge her teachers. Her piano-playing was very good, and she often performed, which made her even more confident. In 2009, Su Su was enrolled in the best elementary school in Haidian District. Su Su said, “Growing up, I was never afraid of anything. I thought there was no point to a lot of things done by the school. I wanted to be a pianist and tour overseas, so physics and chemistry didn’t matter to me. I just wanted to do well in English and piano. I didn’t care about what the teachers told me either.” She didn’t know what failure was, but she didn’t know what happiness was either. If someone told her, Su Su, your life is so amazing, she would retort, “I’m not happy at all. I have to go to school every day, and go to classes I don’t like. I have to wear uniforms too. I have no freedom at all.” In 2015, Su Su got into a middle school that was beyond most people’s fantasies. But her family also entered a period of crisis. Her maternal grandfather was investigated for corruption (“Shuanggui1 ”). His life collapsed, which also affected the life of her grandmother, mom, and dad. The whole family was depressed. Her grandmother and mom reflected afterwards, yes, there were probably warning signs, since they never had to watch what they spent over the years and lived in

1 It

is a special intra-party disciplinary practice adopted by the Party’s disciplinary inspection commissions and supervisory commissions, requiring a Party member to cooperate during questioning at a designated place and time.

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luxury. How could the grandfather’s income have sustained all that spending? Her grandmother had no job, her mom didn’t earn much, and her aunt was still abroad. Her mom could no longer work at her old bank, and it was difficult to transfer to another bank given her age. After her resignation, she found a job at a private company, and took a big drop in her salary, from earning over RMB 20,000 a month to around RMB 10,000 a month. Her dad, for whatever reason, transferred out of Beijing and moved to the Chongqing military region to work. Her family was separated again. Her grandmother cried every day. She would say, “How did I not know what kind of person he is after all these years together? How do I go on after this?” Her grandfather was detained. Due to the number of people connected to the case, the many incidents that had occurred and his failing memory, he was repeatedly interrogated. There was almost no chance for them to visit him. Nobody knew his latest condition, and they could only get some information about him through hometown connections. Su Su’s family entered into another period of silence. It was like a morgue in her house. Su Su felt that this event has had the biggest impact on her young life. “I don’t have the face to go to school. I’m sure my classmates and teachers would make fun of me and my reputation is as low as it can go.” Her mom comforted her, “You’re just a kid, no one would know, and the school wouldn’t know either, so just go to school.” But Su Su cared about her reputation, she didn’t understand why the grownups didn’t follow the principles and rules they always talked about and demanded of her. Su Su said, “It’s like there’s a rock sitting on my chest, and I can’t move it. I feel like someone is always looking at me or talking about me. I feel fearful and I have a sense of shame all the time.” Su Su turned 17 years old this year. She didn’t do well on her senior high school entrance exam and only got into an ordinary high school. She is learning how her past arrogance was caused by her material wealth, money, and her family background. Without them, she is no longer sure about her identity. In high school, Su Su failed almost all of her science classes, and barely passed her math class. She didn’t understand anything in class, and couldn’t learn even if she wanted to. She had almost no friends in class and she didn’t like going home either. She has also realized she should have the ability to support herself. Su Su has never given up her passion and love of piano and would practice for hours daily. She said, “Playing the piano makes me calm. It’s a different world, where there’s nothing but the rhythm and myself. There are no worries at all.” She wants to go to a music academy in America when she is 18, and then to stay in America. Even if she goes back to China she wouldn’t go to Beijing or Jiangsu province, she’d go live in a big city, and work as a pianist or a piano teacher. Studying music in America would cost a lot, but Su Su believes her parents would support her. Her parents are supportive, and plan to help Su Su pay the RMB half a million per year for studying abroad. Her mom said, Su Su didn’t do anything wrong, and it’s normal for her to want to escape. Even the grown-ups want to escape and they are blaming each other. They want to give her a new environment.

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3 A Person’s Transformation is Priceless Wang Jingjing 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Alias: Yao Fei Occupation: Student (a vocational high school in Chengdu City) Domicile: A village within Mianyang City, Sichuan Province Employer: N/A Age: 18 Gender: Female Ethnic Group: Han Level of Education: Second grade, vocational high school

Four years ago, Yao Fei was the youngest person at the drug rehab clinic. During those two years, she missed her home and her grandmother every day. She wanted to go back to school and regretted taking drugs. She knew studying well and getting into college was not just her own dream, but the dream of the many people who have helped her. She didn’t want to disappoint the people who care about her. If she ever got into college, she’d thank them first. Yao Fei was born in 2000, and she is currently enrolled in a vocational high school in a county of Chengdu City in Sichuan Province. She is a popular person at school and also the president of the broadcast club. She has hosted many events at school, and even won First Place at a national speech competition in 2018. She calls this award her proudest achievement. To her teachers, Yao is a dedicated and hard-working student; to her classmates, she’s mature, funny, and caring. Anyone who has heard her story would feel genuinely happy about her transformation. Just four years ago, 14-year-old Yao was sent to a drug rehab clinic for two years; she was the youngest person there. The two-year experience at the clinic gave Yao a wake-up call and made her try for a fresh start in life. She calls those two years the turning point in her life. In July 2000, Yao’s mother, and Yao’s father, who was only 23 years old then, had Yao out of wedlock. Yao’s father hid the birth of his daughter from his parents. Although there was a child in the picture, the relationship didn’t last. Yao’s father had a bad temper and would hit her mother. After eight months, her mom abandoned Yao and left, not to be heard from again. Yao’s father, who was an irresponsible young man, left Yao be cared for by his parents. Yao thinks her father is a selfish person; he was a party animal in his younger years, lacked a sense of responsibility, and rarely took care of her. Yao didn’t communicate with her father until she began vocational high school. Before that, she rarely talked to him unless she asked for money, and any conversation they had turned into arguments. In spite of lacking the love of her parents, Yao considered her childhood to be wonderful, since her paternal grandparents adored her. She didn’t lack love in her life and “lived well.” However, inter-generational parenting had its own problems, mainly being that her grandparents couldn’t understand some of her ideas. Her grandparents

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were both farmers, with a relatively old-fashioned way of thinking, and they earned a meager income from farming. Her grandmother would play cards or go to the temple, and her grandfather liked smoking and drinking, rarely ate breakfast, and also played cards. They were very devoted to her, however, and also cared about her schooling. Yao’s grades in elementary school were decent; her grandparents constantly monitored her studies and told her that only by going to college could she change her life, so Yao tried very hard at school. Her father did not care about her grades, and Yao would be jealous of kids that had both parents at home. What really stuck in her mind was one instance, during an end-of-semester exam, she was supposed to write an essay called “My Mom,” for which she got only 40 out of 100 points. In elementary school, Yao’s grades were alright; she usually scored 90 points or more on essays. But Yao, who hasn’t seen her mom for years, could not write a single word for this essay, so she messed up the test, failed the subject, and got scolded at home. In middle school, studying became harder for Yao. Math, in particular, was her worst subject. She lost interest in studying, and began thinking of dropping out, which was also caused by events in her family. As soon as Yao entered middle school, her grandfather was diagnosed with end-stage stomach cancer and passed away a year later. Yao was very close to her grandfather and the loss hit her hard. What made Yao feel even worse was when her father, her grandfather’s only son, didn’t come home for the funeral. This incident further damaged the relationship between Yao and her father. Her father’s coldness angered Yao, who felt that she would never be able to forgive him. After her grandfather passed away, Yao lost all interest in studying. She filed for a leave of absence from her school, which required a medical letter that she couldn’t obtain, so she just dropped out. Yao didn’t dare tell her grandmother, whose fondest wish was for her to keep studying, that she was not going to school anymore. She lied and told her grandmother that she was just taking a break for a few weeks and would go back later. After a few weeks, Yao still didn’t go back to school. Her grandmother began nagging her about school, however, by then, Yao had started hanging out with some hooligans in the city. Yao was young and she lacked judgement, and she began to use drugs. Yao’s father would still give her money for living expenses, but this was the lowest point in their relationship. She hated her father, and every conversation between them turned into a shouting match. After using drugs for almost a year, Yao was arrested and sent to a drug rehab clinic. She didn’t know if her father cared, since he never showed interest in her, but her grandmother was devastated by this, and heartbroken. She promised her grandmother that she would change. Her grandmother believed her and wanted to give her a second chance. Yao was the youngest person at the rehab clinic. During those two years, she missed her home and her grandmother every day. She wanted to go back to school and regretted taking drugs. Other than her family, Yao has the most gratitude for the police officers at the Sichuan Rehab Clinic. The director at the clinic left a memorable impression on her. When he asked her what she really wanted to do, she said she wanted to go home

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and to go to school again. Yao knew she wouldn’t be released right away, but the officers created a class for young people like her and also had officers at the clinic teach them. Because of her good behavior, she was released one month early. Yao only wanted to go home, and to go to school again, but after checking with all the high schools in Mianyang City, no school would accept her—someone with a bad past. She felt desperate but it was the rehab clinic director who gave her hope. He used all of his connections to help the young people at the clinic to find schools. Finally, Yao was accepted by her current vocational high school, which was willing to give her a chance, and didn’t reveal her past to ensure she could be treated like a typical student on campus. In addition to the officers at the rehab clinic, the employees at the community anti-drug organization were also very involved with her improvement. Yao felt very lucky that she has met great people like this. Putting into consideration her family’s financial situation, the rehab clinic paid for her tuition. At the new school, the teaching director also helped her a lot, as “he has helped build my confidence.” Yao loved broadcasting and hosting, so she joined the broadcast club and quickly became the club president. What makes her feel the happiest at school are the noon and afternoon broadcasts. When her voice can be heard on campus, she feels very accomplished. Last year, when she competed in the final round of the speech competition, the officers from the rehab clinic also came to cheer her on. When she won the competition, they were so happy for her. Her days at school are not without their challenges; the biggest of which is still studying itself. Her grades are about in the middle of a class that has 30–40 students. The reasons being, on the one hand, she favors some subjects while neglecting others. Her grades in math and English are very poor. On the other hand, she didn’t really study much in the 7th grade and dropped out in the 8th grade, so without having a middle school education, high school classes are tough for her. In the vocational high school, there are classes geared for those who will take the college entrance exam and classes for those who will work after graduation. Yao was in the college entrance exam class, but with her difficulties in studying, she has decided to transfer to the class who will work. Yao thought that going to college would be a fantasy with her poor grades, so she has decided to go to the class for work and get a job after graduation. After hearing her idea, Mr. Yuan, the teaching director, talked to her. Mr. Yuan thought Yao has the ability to go to college, and disagreed with her decision to give up her college plans. Yao’s grandmother was also confident about her potential, and believed that she could get into college. Her family and her teacher’s support renewed her confidence, and now her biggest dream is to get into college, and to major in broadcasting and hosting. Yao’s father didn’t expect her to go to college, but only hoped that she has a stable life. Her father, born in 1977, is his parents’ only son. In his younger years, he has lied to his father and gotten involved in a pyramid scheme, tried and failed at starting a furniture store, and has no sense about money making. He likes to drink, has a bad temper, and would go out to play cards and come home drunk. The birth of his daughter didn’t make him more mature either. In her impression, he’d only come

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home once every three or four years. This Chinese New Year, surprisingly, her father has come home. Yao’s father has not gotten married. Currently, he operates a tea house with his girlfriend in Zhejiang Province. Yao guessed that her father makes about RMB 10,000 per month. He would send her a WeChat payment of RMB 200 every week. In addition to sending her money, they do not communicate very much. He would call her once a month, but only to ask her where she was and what she was doing. There are no warm memories of him in Yao’s mind. What makes Yao particularly upset is that when her father calls her grandmother every week, he will always yell at her, and Yao feels terrible about how her grandmother is treated. Recently, her grandmother wanted to fix her kitchen, since the ceiling beam is almost falling down, but the construction would cost seven or eight thousand RMB. Her father didn’t want to pay, and her grandmother didn’t have any income, so the project is on hold. Yao’s father doesn’t own real estate and her family home is owned by her grandparents. Her father has not purchased any properties while working in another area. While her father’s temper is as bad as ever, after Yao started vocational high school, their relationship has been less stressful. They would fight, but less frequently. Her father used to just order her around, but now he’d try to respect her opinions too. To Yao, he seems to hold a down-to-earth attitude towards money making. Yao said, in the past, her father’s punishment for her would be cutting off her allowance, but now, he actually cares about her. If she stayed out late or went out, he’d check with her grandmother on her. Yao believes that her two-year stay at the drug rehab clinic has made her father reflective. Yao feels that her family is pretty happy now, with her biggest fear being losing her grandmother. Yao has no memory of her mother and doesn’t want to look for her either. Her grandmother said there’s only two reasons that she hasn’t come to look for her—one, she has passed away, or two, she has started another family. Yao thought that there’s no reason for her to look for her mom. A few years ago, she had thought of looking for her mom, since the villagers said she really looks like her. She wanted to know what her mom looked like, but a few days later, she changed her mind. When it comes to idols, Yao likes Xue Zhiqian. In spite of the negative press about him, she thinks he has talent. Another idol of hers is Zhang Yunlei, who has overcome a lot of obstacles to keep going, it’s very inspiring to her. She admires Zhang for continuing to work after the many challenges in his life. In her free time, she would watch fantasy dramas like the Journey of Flower and movies with Chow Yun-Fat. For friends, Yao has a good friend from when she was younger. The two families lived close by, with just a river between. When Yao dropped out during middle school, her friend continued going to school and was eventually accepted by Nanjing University. Yao was happy for and envious of her friend, but given their different experiences, they grew apart and stopped communicating as much. Her friend’s family, knowing Yao’s past, also didn’t want their daughter having too much to do with Yao, forcing them to see each other less. Yao’s friend could be considered her idol too, who also inspires her to get into college.

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Most of the friends Yao has now are from her class and her dorm. The one subject they talk the most about is college. Yao’s dream is also to get into college, and to return to her home province of Sichuan to be a broadcasting host. In addition to college, Yao also hopes drugs that could be eliminated in China, so the substance could stop ruining people’s lives. Yao’s biggest regret is dropping out of middle school and getting involved in drugs, which has almost ruined her life. When Yao talks about her country, she is proud of its development and prosperity. She also believes the country would become better and better, and she feels that the city she is currently living in is improving. When asked if there’s a place in the world she really wants to live in, if money wasn’t an issue, she resolutely said she still wants to live in her hometown in China. She really believes in China’s future and also wants to be together with her grandmother. She knows her grandmother’s biggest wish is for her to get into college. She doesn’t know about her father’s dreams, and they’ve not discussed it either. She knew studying well and getting into college was not just her own dream, but the dream of many people who have helped her. She didn’t want to disappoint the people who care about her. If she ever got into college, she’d thank them first.

Appendix

Abstract: Improving the intergenerational mobility of Chinese residents is a necessary condition to achieve the Chinese Dream. Based on the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) data (1989–2015) and the China General Social Survey (CGSS) data for 2012, 2013, and 2015, this thesis analyzes the current situation and trends of the intergenerational mobility of Chinese residents, and makes international comparisons. It is found that (1) The intergenerational income elasticity of Chinese residents is around 0.3; since 2000, the intergenerational income mobility of Chinese residents has seen an upward trend. The intergenerational income mobility of rural households is higher than that of urban households; and the intergenerational income mobility of males is higher than that of females. (2) Although both urban and rural households show upward intergenerational occupational mobility, the parents of rural families are more likely to pass on unfavorable socioeconomic status to their children. (3) Regardless if it is in the 1990s or at present, the intergenerational income mobility of Chinese residents is higher than that of the United States and Brazil, and lower than that of Australia, Canada and developed Northern European countries. This thesis proposes that the government can promote the balanced development of education by increasing investment in education; further reform the household registration system, break the urban-rural dual system and improve the long-term mechanisms for promoting entrepreneurial activities and employment so as to improve the intergenerational income mobility of Chinese residents. Keywords: The Chinese Dream; intergenerational income mobility; intergenerational occupational mobility; international comparison

The Current Situation, Trends, and International Comparative Analysis of Intergenerational Mobility of Chinese Residents Yang Mo, post-doctoral fellow, School of Social Sciences, Tsinghua University and China Development Research Foundation © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 L. Mai et al. (ed.), The Chinese Dream and Ordinary Chinese People, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4952-0

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Introduction On November 29, 2012, Chinese President Xi Jinping first proposed the “Chinese Dream” and pointed out that accomplishing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation has been the greatest dream of the nation since modern times. Since then, Xi Jinping repeatedly mentioned the “Chinese Dream” on many occasions. The term appeared 13 times in the report of the 19th CPC National Congress. The Chinese Dream is not an illusory concept; it can truly be achieved through collective efforts. For the country, the “Chinese Dream” is “to achieve the great rejuvenation of China”; for the people, the “Chinese Dream” is “to have the opportunity to succeed in life and make the dream come true.” The “Chinese Dream” is comprised of the dreams of thousands of people, and social equity and equal opportunity are the necessary conditions for people of all social standings to achieve their dreams. Intergenerational mobility is an important indicator for measuring social equity and opportunity equity. The higher the intergenerational mobility, the smaller the influence of the parents’ income and social status on their children. Children born in the middle and lower classes of the society have a higher possibility to move up through social standings through their own efforts and achieve their dreams. On the contrary, the possibility for success is smaller. At present, terms such as “wealthy second generation”, “second generation officials”, and “second generation peasants” are being used, indicating that the solidification of China’s social stratification and the issues around this phenomenon have begun to attract people’s attention. Low intergenerational income and occupational mobility will lead to the solidification of social stratification and hinder people from realizing their dreams. In addition to a wide range of public opinions, a large number of scholars have studied the intergenerational income mobility of Chinese residents. Some scholars believe that the intergenerational income elasticity of Chinese residents is rather high and the social stratification is firmly solidified. For example, Gong et al. (2012), based on the Urban Household Education and Employment Survey (UHEES2004) by the National Bureau of Statistics in 2004, used the instrumental variable method to estimate the intergenerational income elasticity of Chinese urban households in 2004 which was 0.63. It shows that the children’s income in China depends on a large extent on the income of their parents. Yuan et al. (Yuan 2017), based on panel data of the China Health and Nutrition Survey from 1989 to 2009, used the method of instrumental variables and discovered the intergenerational income mobility of Chinese residents was between 0.5 and 0.6, meaning the intergenerational income mobility of Chinese residents is lower than the vast majority of developed countries. Another group of scholars believe that the intergenerational income elasticity of Chinese residents is acceptable and shows a trend of continuous decline. Shijun and Guitian (2013) used the panel data of 1989–2009 China Health and Nutrition Survey and found that the intergenerational income elasticity values in 2000, 2004, 2006 and 2009 were 0.66, 0.49, 0.35, and 0.46 by means of optimized estimation methods. China’s intergenerational income elasticity is generally declining.

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From the perspective of international comparison, some scholars have also conducted a comparative study of intergenerational mobility between China and other countries. Mainly based on occupational distribution, they have conducted comparative research from the perspective of intergenerational mobility of occupation (intergenerational mobility of occupation is called social mobility by sociologists). For example, Ji (2014) compared the intergenerational occupational mobility of the United States, India, and China and found that young people in India and China were hindered by insufficient resources and a lack of attention paid to human capital accumulation and they also faced friction with their employers in the labor market. China’s household registration system limits the range of employment options for young people in the country. These factors have seriously hindered the improvement of labor productivity in China. Takenoshita (2007) compared the social mobility of China, South Korea and Japan and found that China and South Korea had higher social mobility than Japan. Li et al. (2015) selected China and the United Kingdom as research objects and found that from the perspective of absolute mobility, China’s social mobility had a tendency to converge toward the UK. However, in terms of relative mobility, there was a stronger inequality in China. Even if the same set of data is used, estimated results of intergenerational income elasticity may differ due to different estimation methods. Solon (1992) analyzed the estimated results of intergenerational income elasticity. The intergenerational income elasticity would be underestimated if the conclusion of ordinary least squares estimation (OLS) and the method of income smoothing (using the father’s average income within a certain period of time to estimate his permanent income) were used, while the intergenerational income elasticity would be overestimated by means of estimating the father’s income level with instrumental variables. Therefore, when analyzing the intergenerational income mobility of Chinese residents or making an international comparison, it is necessary to conduct separate discussions on different estimation methods. So, what the intergenerational mobility of Chinese residents is like, what kind of changing trend the intergenerational mobility of Chinese residents shows and how we can further effectively improve the intergenerational mobility of Chinese residents are all worth exploring in depth. This thesis sets off from looking at three aspects including intergenerational income mobility, intergenerational occupational mobility and intergenerational mobility of socioeconomic indexes. This paper will analyze the status quo of the intergenerational mobility of Chinese residents from the perspectives of income, occupation and socioeconomic status, conduct an in-depth analysis of the intergenerational mobility trends of Chinese residents, and make international comparison based on the intergenerational income mobility metrics.

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The Status Quo of the Intergenerational Mobility of Chinese Residents Considering that occupation is not only linked to the individual’s educational level and personal health, it also affects his or her political participation. The socioeconomic index is mainly based on the occupation’s prestige which is a combined measurement of personal income, occupation and education. This thesis starts with the three aspects of intergenerational income mobility, intergenerational occupational mobility and intergenerational socioeconomic status mobility, and analyzes the current situation of intergenerational mobility of Chinese residents’ based on income, occupation and socioeconomic status. (1) Intergenerational mobility of income The intergenerational mobility of income is the extent to which a person’s income level is affected by the income level of his or her parents. According to the theoretical model of Becker and Tomes (1979), the intergenerational income mobility is mainly measured by the elasticity of the child’s income level compared to the parents. A lower intergenerational income elasticity indicates less influence of the parents’ income to the child’s income and a higher intergenerational income mobility. According to the analysis results of the theoretical model, the intergenerational income transfer between parents and the child can be shown by formula (A.1): ysi = ρy f i + εi

(A.1)

ysi and y f i represent the deviations of the logarithm and logarithmic mean of the permanent income of the children and parents respectively (ysi = log Ysi − log Ys , y f i = log Y f i −log Y f ), in which ρ represents the intergenerational income elasticity. In this model, the income of parents and children is based on their permanent income. If the income of a certain year was used instead of permanent income, there would be errors in measurement. The convergent result of intergenerational income elasticity by probability is: p lim ρˆ = ρ

σ 2f σ 2f + σε2