Sign in or register
for additional privileges

Asian Migration and Global Cities

Anne Cong-Huyen, Jonathan Young Banfill, Katherine Herrera, Samantha Ching, Natalie Yip, Thania Lucero, Randy Mai, Candice Lau, Authors

You appear to be using an older verion of Internet Explorer. For the best experience please upgrade your IE version or switch to a another web browser.

Migrant Children in the Rubble



On a winter’s day during spring festival I venture out to a just open subway line, running south from Beijing’s West Railway station into the suburbs of Fengtai district. The city is empty, with much of the population back in their hometowns for holiday, a kind of proof that this is a city of migrants, and the sleek new subway stations and subway cars barely have any passengers. Towards the southern end of the line there is an interesting named station, something technical and futuristic like “such and such Science Park”, and it seems like it might be an interesting station to investigate.

We emerge from the tunnel, only to find that it isn’t in a developed science park at all, but instead among a field of rubble, demolished structures and bricks and trash from whatever was here before. There are no people at all. The winter wind whips through the empty desolate place.

Suddenly two children emerge, perhaps 5 or 6. They are playing with broken glass. We ask them “where are you from?”. They don't seem to know how to respond. My friend continues the line of questioning. They don’t answer, seemingly not understanding. He slows down his speech and they understand a bit, responding in highly accented mandarin. They are from another province, most likely the children of the construction that is going on.

But most migrant workers are home now. We look around and see construction sites, silent in the fading afternoon sun. We walk into some of them. Empty dormitories and equipment. We walk over to the where the science park is. . . futuristic looking buildings that are uninhabited and covered in dust. A pack of wild dogs walk down the empty street. . . a street to be inhabited in the future, but not yet. . . and seeming like some post-apocalypse where everyone has vanished.



For a moment, we are explorers on an alien planet, only filled with children, wild dogs, and empty monuments to a city long abandoned.
Comment on this page
 

Discussion of "Migrant Children in the Rubble"

Add your voice to this discussion.

Checking your signed in status ...

Previous page on path Rural to Urban Migration, page 2 of 2 Path end, return home

Related:  L.A. Songs: It Was a Good DayMaps of BeijingBeijing, ChinaMulholland DriveTian'anmenBeijing TaxiBeijing, January 2009Rural to Urban MigrationBeijingLine 13: Experiencing Migrations798Beijing Smog Map IIHutongsBeijing: Chang'an JieWudaokouEducational MigrantsBeijing FlybyKeanu & Man of Tai ChiTsinghuaSkylinesNorth Korean RestaurantTaijian BowuguanLong Live Shougang SteelWangjing: Korean MigrationBeijing: PastBeijing: YonghegongBeijing: GulouRecyling VillageLos Angeles: Light and DarkBeijing 1968Line I: Orientations & PlacesBeijing: Reading the City (Official Texts)L.A. Songs: Funtimes in BabylonLos Angeles: Reading the CityBeijing LiteratureYoudu 幽都Beijing by Peter CarneyBeijing, ChinaBeijing Death CloudBeijing Smog MapBeijing Subway VisualizationBeijing: Recycling VillageSanlitunL.A. Songs: Desperados Under the EavesBlade RunnerBeijing Capital International AirportBeijing Subway MapBeijing Cover ImageLos Angeles: FuturesBeijing SimulacraBeijing Airport - LandingBeijing Vimeo MoviesBeijing Tourism南锣鼓巷Beijing SkylinePinguoyuanBeijing MonumentsBeijing DoorsBeijing SkyL.A. Songs: HappyBeijing GhostsBeijing: Reading the City (Culture)Line II: Past and PresentBeijing FilmSeeing Foreign Bands in BeijingBeijing: BookwormTimeout BeijingBeijing: Asian Migrants and LaborersBeijing: First Ring RoadBeijing Subway Close UpBeijing to SeattleBeijing: A Global City?Expat MigrationFahaisiBeijing Light MapWelcome to the Northern CapitalBeijing PhotosBeijing: FuturesBeijing - ShichahaiThe 8th Ring Road: Limits/Speculative Futures/ConclusionsBeijing 1968 MapBeijing 1907Virtual Dubai: Spec Ops: The LineBeijing Music Scene