Ren Riqing lives in a mud hut next to her field. A water buffalo is lying in front of her door. Dogs and chickens are running around looking for food. Ren’s house has no running water.

Like most of the women in her village, Ren Riqing looks after children: “This is my nephew. His parents work far away in a factory in Wuxi. It’s not as strenuous as working here in the fields. I have a son and a daughter -- they’re also in Wuxi. If things go well, they come back once in two years. Travel costs money. It makes me sad, but what can I do?”

Located in the south of the poor Henan province, Ren Riqing’s village is a typical example of China’s migration process. There are an estimated 120 million urban migrants already and the figure is rising.

Education

Zhou Feng comes from the same village as Ren Riqing in Henan province. He came to Shanghai ten years ago: “When I was young, there was so much poverty in the country that we just didn’t have any other choice but to leave. Today, it’s different. Life in the country has improved. Young people in the country at least finish primary school now before they leave.”

But Zhou Feng didn't have the chance to finish primary school before he had to leave his village. Today, he regrets his lack of formal education. Nonetheless, he is now the director of a small construction company.

Successful migrant stories such as Zhou Feng's are helping to accelerate the migration process in China. One of Zhou Feng’s young employees, the 16 year-old Zhou Yue, also comes from the same village. Zhou Yue’s parents were already migrant workers.

His grandparents looked after him in the village when he was small: “I didn’t want to go to school any longer. My friends from the village thought the same. There’s nothing to do there. I wanted to see the world. I am a painter-decorator now: I work eight hours a day, which is not that taxing and I earn approximately 120 euros per month. It’s not very much but it’s enough to buy me food and clothes. I go shopping and to Internet cafes.”

No rights

However, despite the benefits of living in the city, migrant workers have no rights or social security. They accept this because the wages are appealing.

For example, the hourly wage for cleaners in Shanghai recently tripled to approximately 1.5 euros, says Huang Xia from Anhui province. “I work ten hours a day, seven days a week. Every year, I send a few hundred euros home, for my children's education and for my parents. When my children grow up, I will bring them to Shanghai.”

Usually migrant workers go home during the spring festival but this year many are being forced to stay in the cities because of the bad climate conditions. Those stranded in stations all over the south are hoping for a let-up in the weather so they can see their children and relatives as soon as possible.