Yutong's parents moved from their hometown in Anhui province over 20 years ago to find work in the northern port city of Tianjin, where the now twelve-year-old boy was born and raised.

He currently studies at a government-run elementary school and speaks with a local accent.

Although Yutong does not have Tianjin hukou (local residency), he still enjoys free tuition during the compulsory education period.

Half his classmates' parents are migrant workers.

Yulong's parents are part of a new group of migrant workers who have decided to settle in cities instead of planning to return to their villages one day.

Yutong's mother Tong Chunmei, 35, works in the household service industry with a monthly income of 3,000 yuan (476 U.S. dollars). She came to Tianjin with her cousin as she couldn't find a job in her hometown.

During her first years in Tianjin, Tong worked as a baby-sitter, waitress and sales agent earning only 100 yuan per a month.

But, even so, Tong chose to stay in Tianjin. She even brought her parents from Anhui to live with her. And then she gave birth to her son in 2000.

When Yutong was nine years old, Tong took him back to her hometown where they lived for a year.

During the one-year stay in Anhui, Yutong didn't get used to the different learning styles of his school there. There was more homework but curriculum was less interesting than that of his school in Tianjin, Tong said.

"I once thought of returning to my hometown due to the pressures we suffered, but finally I decided to stay," Tong said.

"After the trials of living in the two cities, we made our minds up to buy an apartment in Tianjin and settle down," she added.

Tong bought a 45-square meter apartment for 620,000 yuan (98,477 U.S. dollars) which the family had saved after years of hard work and frugal living.

Spring Festival has just passed and Tong's home is still adorned with decorations on the door to bring happiness and good luck.

"I'm now working for a Korean family, looking after the baby. The family treats me nicely and allows me to take days off at weekends and holidays to spend time with Yutong," Tong said. "They even gave a mountain bike to Yutong as gift."

Yutong's New Year resolution for 2012 is to enter a key middle school.

At the end of 2011, Premier Wen Jiabao stressed efforts to improve the education conditions of migrant workers at the annual central conference on rural work.

He urged more measures to help migrant workers to settle down in places where they are employed, while transferring industries to central and western regions to allow more farmers to find jobs near their hometowns.

Tong said that many policies have been introduced in recent years to help farmers, such as subsidies and better medical care for them.

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