Notes

Narrator: During the last few decades, an economic revolution has taken place in China. In Chinese cities economic regulations have been relaxed and people are buying, selling and building to make money.

The result is the biggest economic migration in world history, as tens of millions of Chinese move from the countryside to urban areas in search of wealth and success.

Sun Feng came to Shanghai from his village a year ago. He is not alone: of a population of 20 million, over three million people in Shanghai are migrant workers. However, the only job he could find was one of the most dangerous in the city. He is a window cleaner, washing the city’s skyscrapers. It is terrifying work. Sun Feng would like to buy a car, but the ones in this showroom are a fantasy for him. He must save the small amount of money he earns to feed his wife and baby daughter back in his home village.

High above the Shanghai streets at night, Sun Feng is still hard at work. Many Chinese companies want their windows cleaned at night so their workers are not disturbed during the day.
Sun Feng is unsure about the rich new World full of luxuries he has found in Shanghai. He believes that if China continues to develop economically, the country will lose some of its traditional, simple culture.

Sun Feng: But if everyone wants lots of luxuries, then how much money is enough?

Narrator: It is the Chinese New Year and Sun Feng is going back to his village to celebrate. When he left home his daughter was a baby and he hasn’t seen her for a year. He misses her. It is one of the many sacrifices he has made by moving to Shanghai, following the economic dream of millions of Chinese people hoping for a better life.