Building Cities

Everyday I look out the window of my office and watch hundreds of ants constructing massive structure's of cement and steel and operating large yellow cranes - 17 of them on a clear day. The migrant worker is a vital part of Beijing life considering he builds everything I work, sleep, and eat in. It is estimated that the number of men wearing hard hats in Beijing amounts to the population of Philadelphia.

Most of these men want to help their families by finding higher paying jobs in the cities. I'm not sure how much training they go through to become a construction worker but it is my impression that they jump right into the mix (I suppose that's why Chinese buildings age faster than those built by professionals in the US). These men, usually living and eating in small temporary shacks on site, possess weathered faces, perpetually dirty clothing, warn-down shoes (never work boots), curious eyes, and of course the most distinguishing feature, a yellow hard hat (without that, they would just look like poor rural folk casually strolling Financial Street). Although migrant workers are putting up hundreds of buildings at once, because of their long work hours (Two 12 hour shifts sometimes) and their secluded housing, I have had very little normal interaction with them. Sometimes late at night, I'll be walking along a newly erected apartment complex and I'll run into two to three hundred of them strolling back to the canteen - and most are awed by my height considering most of them have the frame of a teenage girl.

The Hollywood true story behind these worker ants is that they are often abused by their contractors who can withhold money and cut certain national holidays short. The concept of labor unions is surprisingly making its way into places like Wal Mart (unlike the US) but it will be a long time before the migrant worker will receive these rights. One, because they are unaware that such rights should exist and two, China has nearly a billion rural workers waiting in line for a chance to make the big city salary. How much is a big city salary to them? With room and board paid for, about 1500 yuan or 200 US dollars..... every three months. Most of this money is sent home, and they continue to build, build, build.

But where they lack in intellect and modern thought, they make up for in courage and hard work. They should be admired and not looked down upon, for they are building a future for China with nothing but the break of their backs and the sweat of their brow (or something like that). When I think of the development of the American city, I always have that picture of those men sitting on the steel frame of the Empire State Building. Clearly, photography has become more advanced since then, but I challenge Chinese photographers to capture such an image that will help define this era of struggle and progress for future generations.

Even if its from a camera phone