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Xu Niubi, a 45-year-old farmer from the hinterlands of Chongqing, would never have thought of living on the country's coast one day and making a living by raising ducks -- something she had never tried before.
But, last summer, Xu's family had to wave goodbye to the steep hills farmed by her ancestors for generations in Yunyang County of Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, which will be submerged by the Three Gorges Project -- the world's largest hydropower station.
They are now living on Shanghai's suburban Chongming Island, raising hundreds of ducks.
Before settling down in the eastern coastal city, she and her husband Zhou Qiyun had made noodles and farmed in their hometown for decades. They were told in 1999 that they would have to make a way for the gigantic project.
Xu's husband came to Shanghai to have a look before making the final decision. "It's not too bad. I think we'd better move there and start a new life," he told his wife after the trip.
Besides receiving relocation compensation, he was told that the local government would give each family a plot of land and a house. The government would also pay them two years medical insurance, as well as their children's school tuition fees.
With a notion that they would continue their noodle business in Chongming, the family traveled down the Yangtze River in August 2000.
On their arrival, they found everything was as the government had promised -- a newly built two-story modern style house, together with daily necessities offered by the local government and neighbors.
Local Shanghainese even helped Xu's family plant crops on their land, so that they would not miss their first harvest in the new residence.
There was only one exception.
The couple found with much disappointment that people in Shanghai, unlike their old neighbors back in the hinterland, don't like noodles so much and "our noodle business was in danger," Xu said.
"Though the land can produce enough food for us to make a better living in Shanghai, we still need to find some other way of supporting ourselves," she added.
Looking at a small pool next to their new house, the couple decided to venture a new business -- raising ducks. Xu's family has raised more than 10,000 ducks this year, earning around 6,000 yuan (US$725) by selling them to a local food business.
"We want to raise more next year if possible," said Xu, who was busy sterilizing a new wood house for her ducks.
"Life is always hard, but it's getting better," said Xu, who is one of 1,210 migrants who have moved from Yunyang to the suburbs of Shanghai.
In addition to their financial situation, migrants are also concerned with the new environment, as most of them had never been to Shanghai before.
Zhang Tonggui, 78, moved to Shanghai with his 67-year-old wife and three sons. He left his hometown only once before for three years to join the war in the Korean Peninsula in early 1950s. Zhang made the decision to move to Shanghai without much hesitation.
"I support the government's decision," said Zhang. "But I really don't like the dishes here in Shanghai. (They) are too sweet. We prefer spicy food."
With chilli seeds taken from his hometown, Zhang now cooks dishes with chilli powder.
The old man also complained about the weather here. "It's too cold here in winter, and there is too much wind," he said.
However, the elderly couple still felt satisfied and optimistic enough to live with their sons in Shanghai, despite the discomforts. "We are getting used to the new life here," said Zhang.
Zhang's children did a good job after settling down in Shanghai. His youngest grandson, a junior high school student, won a prize this year, and one of his sons is now employed as a construction worker in the city's downtown area.
All the migrants' families in Chongming have telephones installed thanks to financial support from the local government.
They make phone calls to their friends and relatives in the hinterlands when they feel missing home.
"Yes, I miss my classmates and teachers in Yunyang very much. I often call them," said a 7-year-old boy from a family surnamed Zhou.
The boy's mother, Lu Yongmei, said that the boy had felt homesick many times after they moved to Shanghai last summer. But so far, they could not afford the trip which would cost some 600 yuan (US$72) for each person, said the 34-year-old woman, who now works at a local packaging business, besides doing farm work.
"We have to save money for the coming years. My husband hopes to open a grocery store here," said Lu.
She expressed a wish to visit her relatives in Chongqing along with her family. "Hopefully we can take a trip back to Chongqing within five years."
Migrants and natives live in harmony and there are very few disputes between them, said Ni Hanpei, a local official in charge of migrant affairs.
Xu Niubi's neighbor Ding, however, said there was not much communications between local residents and immigrants because of their different dialects.
"Their dialect seems like a foreign language to me," said Ding, a native in her 50s, who cannot even speak putonghua.
"I can understand nothing of what they are talking about," said Ding, this includes her immigrant neighbor Xu Niubi.
Immigrant families usually gather together to talk with each other in free time but their children, who can speak putonghua or have learned the local dialect, already play with local kids.
"Migrants may adapt to the new environment in a short period of time, but it will take ages to fully integrate them into the host community in terms of their mentality, life style and so on," said Vice-Mayor Feng Guoqin.
After settling in Shanghai for one to two years, intermarriage between immigrants and local residents becomes popular.
Xiao Nianhe, a 49-year-old migrant farmer, said his grandson will be one-year old next February when the Chinese Spring Festival comes. Xiao moved to Chongming in August 2000.
His elder daughter married a local taxi driver in 2001. "My other daughter has also fallen in love with a local man," he said, adding that the man was an experienced tailor.
At least 12 cases of intermarriage have taken place during the past two years, according to the local civil affairs authority.
"It has become a fashion here," said Ni Hanpei with the local government. "More are now falling in love, helping them live more harmoniously in their new homes," said the official.
(China Daily December 25, 2002)
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