Chinese graduates' ant's life

By Yang Xi
0 CommentsPrint E-mail China.org.cn, November 19, 2009
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Currently, there is a group of college graduates called "Ant Tribe" in China, and they live in a compact community. The reason behind the name is that these college graduates are similar to ants: They are fragile but intelligent and live closely together.

There are 100,000 Ant Tribe members in Beijing alone, with masses of other members in other cities, such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xi'an and Chongqing. The total number hits 1 million across China, according to statistics. As the global financial crisis has worsened, members of the Ant Tribe will continue to exist for a long time and will even possibly expand, explains Lian Si, a young scholar with a post doctoral degree from Peking University.

First survive and then live

Most of these college graduates are engaged in insurance sales promotion, electronic products sales, and food and beverage services. Many of them have not enjoyed any insurance benefits and have not even signed labor contracts with their employers. They do not have stable jobs and earn little money. Thus, they choose to live in the areas conjoining the town and rural areas, where living costs are low and transportation is not bad. Tangjialing in Beijing is one of the well-known places where these people live together.

Tangjialing is a village off the northern 5th ring road of Beijing. Streets and rooms there are narrow, noisy and dirty. Small restaurants, barbershops and clinics, as well as illegal places of entertainment, are very common at the village.

Zhang Yonggang, a young man from Hebei, came to Beijing this June. He is now sharing a 13 square meters room with two of his classmates at Tangjialing. "The rent is 400 yuan (US$59), with 100 yuan (US$15) extra in heating fees during the winter. We share the rent and each of us also has to pay 10 yuan (US$1.5) every month for water utility fees," said Zhang.

"We are all working at a software company, and our monthly salary is 1500 yuan (US$220). We also have 200 yuan (US$29) of subsidy a month and enjoy insurance benefits," said Zhang. "One of my neighbors is engaged in insurance sales promotion. He has basic salary and royalties but is not insured by his company." Zhang and his roommates usually cook by themselves to save money. They can only feed themselves and do not have enough money for their parents.

As a commuter, Zhang said that it was terrible to take the bus because there were too many people. Additionally, he often has to work extra hours without any pay. However, the truth is that the company never worries about where to find new employees after someone quits. "If you don't like to work overtime, you can just leave. Many people are waiting for your job," Zhang said. One of his roommates hoped they could move to an apartment after they earned some more money.

Close attention is given to the Ant Tribe

Higher education in China has developed fast since the college enrollment expansion plan was launched in 1999. More and more college graduates start their career in big cities where opportunities are more readily available. They flow into large cities to realize their dreams and live together because of a sense of identification.

Only 15 percent of these graduates in Beijing are local residents. Tang Jun, president and CEO of New Huadu Industrial Group Co., Ltd., appealed to education institutions and departments to pay more attention to the current situation of college graduates instead of just focusing on employment rate figures.

The Ant Tribe generation is optimistic and not afraid of challenges. They are looking forward to a bright future and believe that they can realize their dreams through continuous efforts.

The public began to pay closer attention to these groups of graduates after a recent research report on the Ant Tribe submitted by Lian Si. Beijing is preparing to make laws for them in order to improve their situations.

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