Olympic impact on China’s migrant workers

This village is quieter than usual, and many of the huts where migrant workers normally live are locked up. These workers are some of the untold thousands who have left Beijing during the Olympics, going home to their villages until they can come back and work again. This resident explains many construction workers have stopped their work and security is strict during the Olympics. The man still has work with a German company who is running tents during the Olympics. A few construction workers decided to wait it out here too, despite the lack of work. This worker says he’s feeling the pinch of not working, but he says the Olympics are still a good thing for the glory of the country. He’s missing out on at least two months of income because of the pause in work. Still many of the workers are excited about the Games, or at least the idea of the Games, more than the sports themselves. Down the lane, another worker says that’s a common attitude for the middle generation, because guys his age didn’t have the luxury of playing sports when they were growing up. But his ten year old daughter does have time for sports, and loves watching the Olympics. The dad pats her proudly on the shoulder, and he says her generation is going to do great things for China. in the meantime, no one in the village seems to mind not working if it means the Olympics will help China achieve its dream of greater glory.