By Liu Jinsong (刘金松)
Issue 584, Aug 27, 2012
News, cover
Translated by Zhu Na
Original article: [Chinese]

On the evening of Aug 22 at the Beijing railway station, six-year old Liu Zongbo (刘宗波) played with his toy car as his mother and grandma sat waiting silently.

An hour later, the three generations parted. Grandma and grandson took the 17-hour train back to their hometown of Wuhu (芜湖), Anhui province. Liu's mother and father stayed in Beijing.

In China, there are tens of millions of children like Liu Zongbo who come to the big cities on their summer holiday to briefly reunite with their parents. These children are known as "little migratory birds" (小候鸟). When the new school term approaches, these little migratory birds begin to gather at train stations in the large cities, preparing for their return trip home.

"It's especially difficult to get train tickets during these few days," said Liu's mother. "It's about as busy as the Spring Festival travel season."

She wanted to buy a sleeper ticket for her child and his 70-year old grandma, but the tickets were sold out. They could only get hard seat tickets.

As of 2010, there were more than 220 million Chinese working or living in cities other than their hometowns. Spring Festival is typically when migrant workers go home to reunite with their family, and during the summer school holiday children come to the cities to visit their parents. These two times are often the only reunions parents have with their children during the year.

"If I don't bring him here during the summer holiday, the time he spends with us in a year won't be more than 20 days," said Liu's mom.

"It's too boring"

Liu Zongbo's grandparents have been looking after him in his hometown his whole life. His parents have been living in Beijing for more than ten years doing house renovation work, which isn't stable. Wherever there's work, they have to go. Often after finishing one project in the east of the city, they have to go to the west for the next one.

During the 44 days he was in Beijing, Liu Zongbo's parents only spent three full days with him when they visited a few tourist sites like Tiananmen Square, the bird’s nest and the water cube.

When asked if he'd eaten anything delicious, He thought for a moment and said, "KFC, ... and also Pizza."

Liu is more interested in the toy car in his hand though. It's the only one he got in Beijing, which was a present from a friend of his mom's. On the way to the railway station, he was still complaining that mom didn't get him any toys.

The six-year old doesn't realize that his parents are experiencing more pressure than ever before. "There's especially little work to do this year," Liu's mom said.

After Spring Festival, there were two months that the couple couldn't find any work. Later they found work, but it was off and on. They've only worked about three months this year.

Liu Zongbo's grandparents are also getting old and the farmland back home is all rented out. The couple's income in the city is the most important guarantee for the family.

Although he's already been to Beijing twice, Liu Zongbo doesn't like the city. "It's too boring," he says.

Besides the three days of sightseeing, most of Liu's 44 days in Beijing was spent at home with grandma watching TV in a small room in northeastern Beijing. He has no neighbors to visit or friends to play with.

Parents Had No Choice

Sometimes he would ask grandma if his best friend had gone back home yet. Liu's friend, like him, was visiting his parents in a different city.

"My classmates have all gone to the city," said Liu Zongbo.

But his mum corrected him, saying he was exaggerating. "About 80 percent of the children [in his class] have gone out," she said.

Sometimes Liu tells his mom that he misses his home in Anhui.

Liu's parents have thought about just bringing their son to live with them. However, it would not only add additional expenses, but one of them would also have to stop working to look after him.

"If only one person goes to work, there will be more pressure." Liu Zongbo's mom said.

When they first arrived in Beijing ten years ago, the rent was 100 yuan per month. Now it's 400 yuan and rising; and the living space is getting smaller and smaller – now only about seven square meters.

Liu Zongbo's mom thinks he would suffer too much living in Beijing. It's better to stay with grandparents in his hometown.

"It's a pity that he can't stay with us , but [we] had no choice," she said. "If we can have a local household registration, or hukou, it's ok to bring him with us. But it's impossible for people like us to get a Beijing hukou."

She also explained how tough the schooling situation is. One of her friends from the same hometown brought her child to live in Beijing. They managed to find a school, but after finishing primary school and returning back home for high school, the child couldn’t catch up with hometown classmates.

Beijing has begun to open up and has started to allow the children of migrant workers the opportunity to receive compulsory education in the city, but when it comes to the Gaokao college entrance exam, they still need to go back home to sit it.

Most migrant children will go back to their hometown to study during high school in order to adapt to life there. But some parents choose to leave their children behind the whole time in order to avoid the trouble of changing schools and homes in the future.

Nowadays, the Spring Festival and summer school holiday are the only chances for little migratory birds to reunite with their parents. Liu Zongbo often calls his parents from home but there’s always a sense of distance in communicating by phone.

Now Liu is closer to his grandma. "When we go back home and cook something good for him, he's happy," says Liu's mom. "But when we leave [to return to Beijing], he's not so sad."

Links and Sources
Economic Observer Online: Why Migrants\' Kids Dread Exams