Internal and International Migration by Hein Mallee Frank N. Pieke

Author:Hein Mallee, Frank N. Pieke [Hein Mallee, Frank N. Pieke]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Ethnic Studies, General, Regional Studies
ISBN: 9781136814372
Google: Q-tQAwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2014-04-08T05:56:17+00:00

Source: Wenzhoushi Tongji Ju 1995:25, 26, 41.

Some years back, a high ranking cadre from Beijing came to Wenzhou for an inspection tour. Being impressed by the high level of development of Wenzhou’s rural areas, he composed a poem before returning to Beijing. The poem begins with the following line:

Going from one village to another village, every village seems like a city.10

From how they talked about this event, it is obvious that they were very proud of the achievements of rural urbanization in Wenzhou.

When asked to compare their living standard now with twenty years ago, all people whom I talked with confirmed that they have become much richer. However, when asked why they are still eager to go abroad, their answer remains as simple as before: because we are poor, and we want to be rich there. “We are richer than in the past, but we are much poorer than our fellows in Europe” is the common sentiment among the people of Wenzhou’s qiaoxiang. The following quotation from one of my interviews may serve as an further illustration:11

Why do I want to go abroad? Very simple, to earn money, to become rich… Yes, I can earn money here. As a woodworker, I can earn more money than those guys who can only farm the land, but if I go to western Europe, I know I can earn much more. I can become rich very quickly and bring a lot of money back to do anything I want here. I imagine I can build a new and big house for my family, although I have this five-story house now and it is not bad. I will rebuild my family tomb, which will be among the best in this area, if not the best. Of course, if I have a lot of money, I may also donate some money for building a school or an old people’s home in my village (laughing) (…) Now I am waiting for my uncle’s help. I have two uncles living in the Netherlands with their families. My eldest uncle has agreed to arrange the relevant immigration procedures for me. I know it is not easy, but I am tired of waiting. You see, my passport has been in my pocket for more than five years now.”12

In Wenzhou qiaoxiang, whenever asked about their personal knowledge of Europe, the interviewees would without exception immediately talk about how high the wages are that people can earn there. Many interviewees know very well that the average wage of a cook in a Chinese restaurant in the Netherlands is about 2,500 guilders (about 830 pound sterling) a month. Without relating this wage to the Dutch cost of living, and without comparing it with the average income in the Netherlands, this salary seems astonishingly high in Wenzhou. In 1994, it was seventy-five times the average income of a peasant in Wenzhou, or about sixty times that of a peasant in Rui’an and nearly 140 times that of a peasant in Wencheng.13 Yet the

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