mr. Ma and mr. Mao

Today we visited amongst others mr. Ma, a happy 65 year old living in a small danwei in the West Lake area of Lanzhou. Mr. Ma had been working in the danwei’s factory from 1974 untill 2005, when the factory closed down. Although he is from a village 20 kilometers outside the city, he still lives in Lanzhou, taking care of his grandchildren. They need to be in the city for their education. Good good study, day day up!

First day in Lanzhou

A day full of variety in Lanzhou. We are investigating socially problematic areas in this city and our first day consisted of: a very interesting interview with professor Chen, sociologist; interview with mr. and mrs. Li, who rent out rooms to migrant workers;  visit to former Danwei area; a visit to a school for children of migrant workers in a muslim area. See the results below:

scheme of the Chinese city by mr Chen, with the city expansion, Urban Villages, Danwei and new empty residential areas.

Vivian and Michiel interview mr. and mrs. Li on their rooftop; they rent out 12 rooms where migrant workers live. Read the rest of this entry »