I’ve been trying to take advantage of free time afforded by the holidays to do more recorded interviews; before all of the migrants go home for the Spring Festival – not quite sure what I’ll do for those three weeks. Many migrants report that the past few months have witnessed average incomes decline by about 2/3 (across all categories of employment my limited sample covers). Apparently a lot of the large concentrations I’ve been seeing is seasonal – many who have full-time jobs will also work part time as hourly laborers in an effort to earn money prior to returning home in January / February. That being said, most people interviewed also acknowledge that there are simply more migrants out than usual. 

Again, nothing really new – this post from Freakonomics ‘Where Life Revolves Around Your Cellphone, the Factory Floor, and Forged Diplomas‘ features an interview with Leslie Chang, author of Factory Girls:

A major part of the curriculum involved how to lie your way through job interviews into an office position. This ultra-pragmatism is pervasive in Chinese society today; people are less concerned with abstract notions of right and wrong than with getting things done. In economic terms, this fosters a business climate in which companies copy each others’ products, steal employees and business plans, and compete ruthlessly over tiny profit margins. But with little trust or sense of long-term planning and investment, they find it hard to grow and develop their businesses.

This system also takes an emotional toll on individuals. Everyone I knew in Dongguan had stories of being cheated and robbed and lied to, and over and over people told me, “You can only rely on yourself.” But even though this is a world marked by corruption and deceit, it is at the same time highly functional. It just functions by its own set of rules.

And another migrant picture. These particular migrants (from elsewhere in Hubei) prepare a mean bowl of  delicious Wuhan specialty sesame sauce noodle:

In Beijing for the next ~4 days, watching people run around in circles, so blogging will resume next week. Until then, food: As another alternative to strictly Chinese food, Lanzhou or Xinjiang Noodles are an excellent choice. It’s basically the Pho of most Chinese cities. I’ve taken a liking to this particular shop, which isn’t far from the University. It’s run by a family of Muslims. It is interesting how some of the locals occassionally treat them – the other day I was eating and a gentleman next to me started asking one of the young girls “do you really speak common Mandarin? I don’t think you understood what I said. Why don’t you understand?” In these rare instances I become rather agitated, and tend to violate the prime directive and start engaging the individual in question, trying to determine if they are just mean people, or mean only to non-Han minorities. You find all sorts.

I liked this picture so much I even made desktops:

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Here’s a sample of the delicious hand-made noodles, for only 4Y:

I find this picture oddly compelling. It’s also important to note the extensive availability of fruit here. The best prices can be found at mobile street-stalls like these:

Picture and instructions after the jump.

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Uighur Muslim migrants continue to make China liveable, by offering alternatives to the homogenous flavors of greasy-oversurgared-MSG-ridden-Chinese fare. The most common are simply barbecued sticks of meat, lamb being the most delicious (see second picture). All provided by friendly fellows like these:

And they also have simple types of Naan, again, an excellent alternative:

All for only ~$1.20.