LUNAR NEW YEAR: CHINA'S MAD DASH HOME FOR THE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 001156 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/16/2032 TAGS: PGOV PHUM ELAB SOCI CH SUBJECT: LUNAR NEW YEAR: CHINA'S MAD DASH HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS (WATCH YOUR WALLET) Classified By: Political Section Internal Unit Chief Susan A. Thornton. Reasons 1.4 (b/d). Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) China's annual rush home for the Lunar New Year, a holiday that stresses family unity, hit its peak February 15-16, with throngs of travelers flooding bus and train stations in big cities around the country. More than 100 million migrant workers are set to return to their hometowns. Despite the festiveness of the holiday, anxiety and headaches abound, both for travelers and relatives back home. While migrant workers have new mechanisms for securing back pay, wage arrears remain problematic for many, especially in the construction industry. Even if a worker can afford a ticket, securing one can be a nightmare, with scalpers snapping them up and hawking them at a hefty commission. Crime annually spikes in the Lunar New Year timeframe, especially burglaries of empty homes and muggings of travelers flush with cash. An increasing number of migrant workers simply choose to stay in the city. Those who do make it home are often greeted by the culture clash caused by the village's conservative mores colliding head-on with the bad (or unusual) habits workers carry back from the boomtowns. End Summary. On the Road Again -------------- ¶2. (C) According to official statistics, there will be a record two billion "individual trips" taken during the peak Lunar New Year travel period, many involving migrant workers returning home, said Wang Zhiyong, a scholar at the Institute of Population and Labor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The "individual trip" measurement counts one person, one ticket and one one-way journey from point A to point ¶B. Official media reported that as of early 2007, there are some 147 million migrant workers in China, although contacts said the true figure is probably much higher. Whatever the actual total, it is likely that more than 100 million migrant workers will travel home for the holidays. Wang said some 90 percent of them will choose to take the bus because of cheaper tickets and more convenient timetables. Pressure on the rail system in recent days has been especially intense, Chinese media has reported. A government order not to raise fares during the holiday peak, as is common practice, has caused a rush on tickets. Trains are packed, The Beijing News reported February 6, and some are squalid and standing room only. Air tickets are generally too expensive for migrants, whose average monthly salary is RMB 900, or USD 115, Wang related. Wage Arrears: An Improving Picture -------------- ¶3. (C) Affording the ticket home can be a challenge and often hinges on whether a worker has received a paycheck on time. There has been no significant change in the number of wage arrears cases, said Shi Fumao, Executive Director of the Beijing Legal Aid Office for Migrant Workers, basing his assessment on his office's caseload in 2006. But Shi said the situation is much improved in terms of the ease and success rate of winning wage arrears cases in court. He attributed this to a new rule announced in 2006 allowing migrant workers holding IOUs from their employers to take their cases directly to court. In the past, workers were required to seek redress first through the local Labor and Social Security (LSS) bureau, a cumbersome process that rarely yielded results. In addition to the new judicial "green lane," Shi said the courts have made pursuing wage arrears cases easier in other ways, such as waiving fees for migrants without requiring them to produce documents proving that their income is below the poverty line. He related one anecdote about a case in which a judge berated an employer, saying wage arrears was not just a labor issue, but also a political issue, threatening China's "harmonious society." ¶4. (C) Despite the improved climate, many migrants still face hurdles in getting paid. This is particularly true in the construction industry, said Wei Wei, the founder of the Little Bird non- governmental organization, which advocates on behalf BEIJING 00001156 002 OF 003 of migrant workers. In one recent week, Little Bird helped some 6,000 migrant construction workers in Beijing connect with volunteer lawyers who helped them secure back pay, Wei Wei reported. Wang of CASS separately concurred that arrears are common in the construction industry, noting that companies handling public building projects tend to be least reliable in providing timely pay packets. Local governments often fail to compensate the companies on time for completed work, leaving the firms unable to meet financial obligations to their workers, Wang said. Psst: Wanna Go to Wuhan? -------------- ¶5. (C) Even if a migrant has money to pay for them, tickets can be a nightmare to secure, our contacts said. Scalpers and travel agencies tend to snap up tickets and then sell them for a commission. Despite highly publicized official efforts to crack down on scalping, the practice remains rampant. Police have ratcheted up their presence at Beijing's main train station, parking security vehicles on the plaza in front. The vans have signs in their windows urging travelers to report illegal sales of tickets by calling a special anti-scalping hot line. One scalper told poloff that while the police have "given him trouble" lately, his business remains brisk. He has to be discreet about transactions, conducting many in the darkened stairwell leading to the upstairs waiting rooms in the departure hall. But the potential windfall makes the risk worth it. The scalper offered to sell a one-way ticket to Wuhan for RMB 400 (about USD 50); the regular fare is a little more than RMB 200 (USD 25). The Annual Crime Spike -------------- ¶6. (C) Scalping is not the only illicit activity occurring in the run-up to the Lunar New Year. Though no reliable statistics are available, talk of a holiday crime spike is swirling in Beijing. Wang of CASS said the threat of migrant workers mugging people and burglarizing homes is "real and not exaggerated." Even if they have no difficulty with wage arrears, many migrants want to return home with extra cash for their families. "The pressure to provide is intense," Wang said. While separately acknowledging that this is a stressful time for migrants, Wei Wei rejected the idea that they are more likely than other disadvantaged groups to commit crimes. With workers in all fields receiving their annual bonuses, wallets are bulging at this time of year, increasing the temptation for pickpockets, migrant or otherwise. In addition, with so many people traveling, empty apartments constitute an easy target for burglars, Wang of CASS remarked. Some Stay Put -------------- ¶7. (C) At the same time, Wang said proportionally fewer migrants are deciding to leave their new homes for the holidays. In 2003, some 64 percent of the mobile workforce headed back to their hometowns, while in 2006, the figure had dipped to 61. Some media projections indicate this year could be even less. The People's Daily reported on February 14 that some 720,000 migrant workers in Guangzhou have opted to stay in town for Lunar New Year. The newspaper said the main reason migrants remain is to "keep working," although travel congestion and difficulty buying tickets also play a role. As many as 100,000 relatives of migrants will flow into Guangzhou for the holidays, the article reported. Wang made a similar point, noting that people have embraced their new lives and find traveling home burdensome. In addition, reliable statistics are unavailable, but increasing numbers of successful migrants are bringing their spouses and children to live in cities with them permanently. Shelling out for three tickets home instead of one can be prohibitive, Wang said. Culture Clash at Home -------------- ¶8. (C) For migrants, the relatively conservative mores and slow pace of the village contrasts sharply with the modernity of the boomtowns where they work. BEIJING 00001156 003 OF 003 In connection with this, tension often awaits migrants who do head home for the holidays. Wang of CASS remarked that in his native Jiangxi, migrants from Guangzhou have imported bad habits from the big city, particularly gambling, that grate on locals. In addition, family members and other neighbors often see the returnees as flush with cash. Requests for loans can be overwhelming, Wang said. ¶9. (C) Li Yinhe, China's most famous sexologist, told of a New Year story that is circulating in Internet chat rooms. One young woman who migrated from her hometown in the central Chinese countryside to the coast to work in manufacturing seized on cutting edge fashion in the big city. She bought the latest clothes and shoes, cut her hair short and dyed it red. When she returned home for the Spring Festival last year, her grandmother took one look at her and dropped dead on the spot. Li said the truth of the story is secondary to its message: The people back home often don't recognize the migrants who return after life- altering experiences in the boomtowns. SEDNEY