history

history, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

Via Flickr:
his story is like many Chinese of his generation, after leaving his family farm, he moved to the city, worked for several years in a clothing factory in Shenzhen, Guangdong. His girlfriend (later his wife) stayed at home, whilst he sent "money home", he visited his family when he could afford it, usually once a year during "Chinese New Year",. Later he moved back to his village to take care of his aging mother (or father) family, then after a year or two, not being satisfied with living in a suffocating village moved to another city with his family (wife and son) opened a small store in a backstreet. This is a story repeated all over China for the last 25 to 30 years. - mid afternoon central Zhuzhou, Hunan, China

This guy was more than happy to tell me his story - his shared his life in a 'matter of fact' way that frankly is both inspirational and a little frightening, he seems happy (of course) but it is always very difficult to tell with Chinese men, laughing and chatting at 'every turn' but under that jovial facade lies a sadness that has grown from years of hardship, loneliness and repression

photo: mark hobbs