in a small factory such as his can reach 100,000 – 150,000 euros per year, with about 20 percent profit. “I never thought life could be as good as this. In China, if you have a million yuan (100,000 euros) you wouldn’t need to work the rest of your life,” says Huang.
With disposable cash for the first time, the bosses can take time off to play cards, sing karaoke, enjoy a foot massage, or seek other pleasures. Indeed, theirs is a men’s world. Inside the restaurant, men talk business while their wives and children sit at an adjacent table. Rice spirit, beer, Red Bull and cigarettes are passed around endlessly, and it is anti-social to refuse. Huang’s mood runs high. “I’m on a lucky streak,” he whispers.
Junior colleagues who spotted Huang from across the street flock to join him in the restaurant. Seated next to him is Wei Fang, a swaggering 40-year-old with a crew cut who owns a profitable, mid-sized jeans factory. Tonight, drunk on rice spirit and success, he shares his mantra with those eager to follow his path.
“Invest, invest, invest,” says Wei, his index finger chopping the air with each word.
When the New Year comes, traditionally the most important dates of the calendar, Huang shuts down his factory and sends his workers to join 200 million migrants returning to distant provinces on overloaded trains and buses. They carry with them things they did not have before – televisions, toys, and mobile phone accessories – giving their families a taste of urban glamor.
Unlike his employees, Huang will not return to his ancestral village for the annual family reunion. He opts to celebrate his prosperous new reality. “We’ve come a long way, we’ve created our own destiny, and we’ve created wealth,” he says. “We dare to dream and we dare to do.”