Portraits of Chinese Workers

Deng Tao, 21, from Changde, Hunan
With 6 million people, Changde is hardly a small town. But in China, it's decidedly second tier. So after spending his first 18 years there, Deng Tao was ready for something new. "I wanted to go out after staying in one place for so long," Deng says. So after completing vocational school, he left for Shenzhen, the coastal town that has become China's fourth largest city virtually overnight. "I came here with friends," he says. "We thought it was pretty fun." Still, Deng has noticed that things aren't quite normal on the factory floor. "A lot of people have left. Perhaps it has something to with the financial crisis," he says. "Our sales haven't been that great, so wages are pretty low."

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