International migrant workers(2)

"Like most Chinese workers, when I first arrived, I lived in Baniyas Square, a derelict area in Dubai that is a melting pot of foreign menial laborers," said Mao. "It's the very bottom of the society, and I was completely devastated. Like everyone else in China, before coming here, I thought that Dubai was a heaven on earth, where everything is made of gold."

While it was true that one can see tremendous wealth in Dubai, said Mao, wage workers were not necessarily better off. "The local Dubai people are really rich, but we are not. We're just normal people working overseas," he said. "You certainly can't buy three houses on two years' income, as some people in China claim."

In his current job, Mao said he makes about 17,000 yuan ($2,745) a month. He said that the average monthly income for the roughly 200,000 Chinese workers in Dubai was between 8,500 yuan and 10,200 yuan.

"Most Chinese people here are working in sales, marketing, tourism, trade and hospitality," said Mao, adding that the most sought-after jobs for Chinese nationals working in Dubai were in retail for luxury goods.

"The average monthly salary working retail in luxury goods is above 17,000 yuan. Large companies like Louis Vuitton can pay even higher, maybe around 24,000 yuan per month," said Mao. "But waiters and waitresses in the hospitality industries earn quite a bit less, perhaps about 2,500 yuan to 5,000 yuan per month, with tips totalling 2,000 yuan per month at most. The recent post on Sina Weibo saying that waiters [in Dubai] can earn millions through tips is a complete lie."

African safari

Shi Zongjie, a 33-year-old rural migrant worker from Dingzhou, Hebei Province, worked for two and a half years on a construction site in Angola's western province of Lunda Norte from 2012 to earlier this year. He said that many manual laborers from his village had also gone to different parts of Africa for work.

"I earned much more than I would have in China. Subtracting the money I spent in Angola, I managed to save 220,000 yuan during my stay in Africa," said Shi. "In China, a construction worker like me can only earn at most 60,000 yuan a year, and save maybe half."

According to figures released by the Angolan Office of Migration and Foreigners, there are more than 250,000 Chinese working in the country. "The people there bring in foreign laborers to do jobs that the local people are not willing to do," said Shi. "On our construction site there were about 2,000 Chinese workers."

Shi is now in the process of applying for a working visa in Japan, also to do manual labor. "We all want to go to the developed countries, but the visas are very difficult to get," said Shi. "Some of the other men in my village went to Singapore and Saudi Arabia, but they told me that the heat was unbearable. So I'm hoping to go to Japan."

In addition to the difficulty of getting visas, said Shi, another stumbling block for manual laborers to go to more developed countries was the cost of visa agencies. While Shi only had to pay a 9,200-yuan deposit to go to Angola, which would be returned upon completion of his contract, in order to go to Japan, Shi will have to pay as much as 53,000 yuan, of which only 20,000 yuan will be returned..

"Although the wages [for Chinese construction workers] in Africa are rising, I will never go back there," said Shi. "I'm scared of being attacked by both malaria and unfriendly locals."

A better life overseas

In contrast, neither Hong nor Mao have any plans to leave their respective destinations any time soon.

Hong sees Chile as a simpler society, comparing it to China in the early 1980s, before the impact of sweeping market reforms.

"People in Chile seem not to be 'polluted' by market economy," said Hong. "The pace of life is quite slow, and it is very comfortable and relaxing to live here."

Nevertheless, Hong still works three jobs. In addition to running the shoe retail store, Hong continues to work as a real estate agent, and has also taken on a part-time role serving as a recruitment officer for Chinese students for the Universidad del Desarrollo.

"Chilean people think that Chinese people do not understand how to enjoy the life. They cannot understand why Chinese people can bear such an arduous life, living in a warehouse, working overtime, and being parted from their families for such a long time."

Mao likewise sees Dubai as holding greater promise than China in terms of developing a career. "Compared with China, where there is an overwhelmingly large population, intense competition, and where your business prospects are based only on who you know, Dubai has more opportunities for people who are willing to work hard," said Mao. "It is a rising economy and a place where you can be successful if you're competent and devoted."