李宁卖豪宅救李宁公司:a bomming city-shenzhen的全文

SHENZHEN: Zhang Yingqiao has a good memory. She can easily recall the halcyon days of 25 years ago when she was just 4 years old.

"I can still remember the boundless rice fields, the small land lot in front of our home in which we were asked to help grow vegetables. It was a village and we were farmers," Zhang, who now works for a Taiwan-funded shipping company, said.

But the rice field has been replaced by dozens of skyscrapers and the small village where Zhang and her father and grandfather's generations were born and brought up, is encircled by the city's busiest commercial area.

Shenzhen, a former fishing town that borders the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, had the course of its history, as well as its 300,000 residents' lives, completely changed when it was appointed as the country's first Special Economic Zone in 1980. The central government granted it the most preferential treatment, allowing it to become an experimental field for market-oriented economic reform.

"Life would be totally different without the policy," Zhang said. "I've seen with my eyes how hard my parents were working in the field to support the whole family. I was too young then or I would have been very anxious about my future - a poor farmer's future."

At that time, there were stories of people entering Hong Kong (then under British rule) to try their luck.

Zhang has witnessed groups walking past her home towards the border not far away. Some of the exhausted adventurers, dressed shabbily, stopped to beg for a meal.

They got their strength up before attempting to dodge patrolling sentries after swimming across Shenzhen River, which divides the cities. After climbing a heavily guarded hill they enter the "promised land" - Hong Kong.

"I just could not figure out how attractive Hong Kong was," Zhang said.

Thanks to the government's actions the people of Shenzhen, mostly farmers and fishermen, began an exciting new chapter of their lives in 1980.

Hubei Village, where Zhang lives, is among the oldest in Shenzhen, with more than 500 years of history. Villagers from three neighbouring settlements share the same family name.

Zhang remembers the government gave every household 100 square metres of land on which to build houses. In return, cranes were erected upon the farming fields in the village.

In 1984, her family moved into their new home, a three-storey building, and rented vacant rooms to migrant labourers to pay back their debt.

The great demand generated by the rising number of migrants who flocked into the area in the hope of making their fortune in the boom town led to a shortage in the supply of accommodation.

In 1996, as many villagers have since done, Zhang's parents pulled down their old home and constructed a six-storey building, which has been turned into several two-room and one-room apartments specially catering to those who wish to rent.

As a result of the widespread extension work, the buildings in the village are so close people in neighbouring houses can shake hands when stretching out of the window.

But the buildings bring in regular revenue and residents can earn between 70,000 yuan (US$8,630) and 100,000 yuan (US$12,330) without extra work.

The villages have gradually been turned into joint stock companies, paying out dividends every year on the back of rent. They also offer job opportunities for the younger generation.

To encourage children to study diligently, the villages reward excellent students and those that win places to study at university.

"More and more young people leave the villages, stepping out of the protection of their father generation. But we are still members of the village, a nominal village though, and know it's the place we are rooted," said Zhang.

"We aboriginals always bear in mind the late leader Deng Xiaoping, who masterminded China's reform and opening up, and brought happy lives to us. We also have confidence that the current government could create a better future," she said.

While Zhang's family was busy building a new home in 1983, Jiang Weiqiang came to the city with his parents from another town in Guangdong.

More than two decades later, Jiang, who was educated to undergraduate level in the city, asked a new friend he met in a bar: "Do you like Shenzhen? Why did you come to Shenzhen?"

"These are the questions that I often ask new friends since I tried to find out their feelings towards the city. For me, it's a home, I love it and care for it," Jiang said.

But some of the replies make him a little uneasy.

"Many of them said they won't stay here long. As long as they make a big fortune out here, they will leave," the 29-year-old property consultant said.

"In some big Chinese cities like Guangzhou and Shanghai, even Hong Kong, the mainstream of the society is local residents who are willing to regard the city as a home. Thus, they would have the sense to cherish the environments, maintain the social order, save energy and establish friendly neighbourhood relationships," Jiang said.

"But in Shenzhen, the city has developed too fast over the past 25 years driven by tens of millions of migrant labourers, people could not feel it, which I believe is the cause of most of the social problems," he added.

Official figures show the city had a population of 10.35 million by the end of June, of whom only 1.71 million have acquired permanent residency.

Jiang plans to open a bar for migrants, to create somewhere they can relax and forget about unpleasant experiences and homesickness.

"The migrants have to face much bigger challenges than the local residents since they can only depend on themselves. I hope I can provide a place for them to have a rest and to relieve their emotions," he said.

"Shenzhen is a wonderland with numerous opportunities. Everybody can succeed as long as you devote yourself and concentrate your efforts to the job you have taken. Besides, it should become a warm city and home to people from every corner of the world," he added.

Editor: Yan

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