China's 'ant tribe' between dreams and reality
By Chen Siwu and Li Yahong
BEIJING - Every day, Yang Hongwei takes the bus home from work, staring
silently at the European-style villas, luxury sedans and twinkling lights from
the plazas he sees through the window.
The 25-year-old from northeast China's Heilongjiang province dreams of such a
life away from poverty, and that hope has kept him in Beijing for the three
years since he graduated from university.
Soon, Yang squeezes his way off the bus to the reality of his life: a
collection of ramshackle buildings clustered on garbage-littered
lanes at Tangjialing village in northern Beijing. He scoots home - a
10-square-meter room that costs 550 yuan (US$81), or about one-fifth of his
salary, in rent every month.
"It's very cold inside the house, as it has no central heating system, but I am
getting used to it," he says as he pulls his coat tight around his body.
Yang says many of his fellow graduates and tenants at Tangjialing have to
endure the same long and cold winter.
He also has to endure being alone in a money-centered society like Beijing.
"How dare I date a girl? That costs," he rues. He has not courted a girl since
coming to Beijing in 2006, after graduating from Heilongjiang's Daqing
Petroleum Institute.
Many other low-income graduates who have moved into China’s big cities share
Yang’s frustration over life as a migrant. Together they have come to be called
the "ant tribe", a term coined by Chinese sociologists to describe the
struggles of young migrants, who, armed with their diplomas, flock to big
cities in hopes of a better life only to put up with low-paying jobs and poor
living conditions.
Many live in villages with cheap rent, like Tangjialing. This village, for
instance, originally had a population of 3,000, but it has exploded to 50,000
with the influx new "ant tribe" villagers.
"They are like ants: clever, weak and living in groups," says Lian Si, a
post-doctoral fellow at the Center for Chinese and Global Affairs of Peking
University, who has studied the phenomenon. For two years, Lian led a team of
more than 100 graduate students to follow the groups in university towns like
Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan and Xi'an.
In his book Ant Tribe, published in September 2009, Lian estimates the
total population of the "ant community" in major cities across China at one
million, with about 100,000 found in Beijing alone.
Most are from poor rural families and take temporary and low-paying jobs as
insurance agents, electronic product sales representatives and waiters. Some
are either unemployed or underemployed.
Lian, also an associate professor at the Beijing-based University of
International Business and Economics, predicts that an increasingly challenging
job market will see the group growing further in number.
The number of China's graduates aged 22 to 29 has been expanding since the
country massively increased its university enrollment in 2003. Another 6.3
million graduates are expected to join migrant workers and other job hunters in
what promises to be a fierce labor competition this year.
On top of poor living conditions, the "ant community" also contends with a lack
of social security in Beijing, where the official average monthly salary in
2008 was about 4,000 yuan. The average member earns only half that.
As in the case of Yang, marriage, for now at least, does not seem to be an
option for the "ants", about 93% of whom are unmarried, Lian estimates. Soaring
housing prices and rents drive them to cheap rooms of up to 10 square meters in
villages. The rent for a single room downtown could be at least 2,000 yuan a
month, equivalent to a month's earnings for a young migrant.
Cheap accommodation means a long and crowded journey to work. As only six bus
routes link Tangjialing to downtown Beijing, a workday begins by wedging
oneself into a congested vehicle.
"It's hard getting on the bus," says Yang, who works for a software company in
Zhongguancun, often referred to as China's Silicon Valley. For him and many
other young and struggling migrants, the pursuit of the urban dream is the only
way to a better life for their families back home. Trekking back to their rural
communities is tantamount to an admission of failure to achieve their goals in
the cities.
Determined to achieve their dreams, the "ants" switch jobs twice a year on
average for better pay and personal development. Yang says he has changed jobs
"numerous" times in the past three years and is considering quitting his
current job. He is optimistic about getting a new one soon, having received
eight interview offers in a week after sending out his resume. The prospect of
landing a higher-paying job gives him hope he'll move out of Tangjialing soon.
"I hope I can leave soon; the sooner the better, but that needs money," he
says. "A fellow living upstairs stayed at the village for three years," Yang
adds with obvious envy. "Then he bought a home downtown after he was promoted
to department manager.
"For myself, I've set a timetable of three more years in Beijing. If I can't
improve my situation, I will return to my hometown."
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