Apr 08 2008
How Li Luyuan became middle-class
Li Luyuan is a 20 years old illegally born third daughter from rural village in Jiangxi, first came to booming Shenzhen as a sweatshop worker couple of years ago, earning $197 at peak-season per month - factories depending on their incoming orders. With her sheer determination, and only a middle school degree, she became a real estate agent with a base salary of $39 per month and 10% of what she sold/rent. Quickly, she was snatched by another agency (for her tone of a saccharine saleslady?) that offered her $132 base salary. Six months later, she earned $790 commission in one month, ($263 for most months, and her base salary has gone up to $184). She moved from dozen bunk beds room to a flat. What I found sweet is in her free time, she likes to stay in the book store reads on poverty alleviation in rural areas and child psychology. As we all know boats do not rise equally with the tide, it’s the individual’s effort to ultimately settled on how successful one would be in life. Without the sweatshop, her first step, I would wonder where she’d be today. And most of her roommates at that factory are still work there.