Year of The Dog: Inside The World's Largest Human Migration | VICE News Tonight Special (HBO)

Chinese New Year isn’t just a holiday. It's the largest annual human migration on Earth. And to Yang Jianguo and Liu Mingchun, it's the only time they get to reunite with their children 1,000 miles away.

For decades, migrant workers like Yang have been the engine of China’s spectacular economic boom. But while their work is welcome, their children are not. The high cost of living and strict city regulations make essentials like schooling and healthcare difficult to access, and families, like Yang’s, often separate. An estimated 61 million “left-behind children” only see their parents once a year during paid time-off for the Chinese New Year.

“Because we have to spend four days on the road, ” said Liu, “The only time we could get two weeks off is during the Chinese New Year, that’s when we can go home.”

Yang left his rural home in Sichuan at the age of 20 in 1997 and became one of 287 million Chinese migrant workers who moved across country for a better life. After dropping out of high school, he became a farmer, just like his parents. Then one day, his uncle gave him the opportunity to work at an urban clothing factory in Shenzhen.

“If I raise a pig in our home village, I’d have to wait for six months before I can sell it to make money, there’s no immediate income ” Yang said. “In Shenzhen, we get paid every month.”

Today, Yang and his wife Liu are among nearly 8 million migrants living in Shenzhen, a major financial center in China that links Hong Kong to its mainland. There, two thirds of the population lives without residency registration in the city, which prevents them from getting the same level of healthcare, education, and social security as urban residents.

When Yang and Liu’s kids were born, the young couple had full time jobs and lived in a company dormroom too small to raise them. Coupled with the other challenges of city life, Yang and Liu had to leave both children as infants back in their old village with grandparents, thousands of miles away. The two kids are now 9 and 15 years old.

VICE News followed the couple on a 30-hour train ride from Shenzhen to their home in Sichuan for their yearly family reunion.

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[VICENews]

"I miss my parents the most because there's no one to play with me.”

[littlevfunplay]

Those hard-working people are the main reason for Chinese economic boom, while they are paid so little and are paying such a huge cost. There are hundreds of millions of them, living the same lives as the video shows. Their kids and they deserve better lives. Thank you, Vice. You let the world know there are so many adorable, diligent people in China. Hopefully, their next generation will live a better life, and I believe it is heading that way.

[ANIMEX]

I wish I can like this documentary twice. Great storyline, very touching, beautiful videography and editing. Well done Vice.

[scottmead]

What a great kid, he's understanding of his grandpa, and shows sympathy toward the chicken. Don't ever change.

[imnotgovernorwatts]

Man good to see Vice go back to their roots, just plan ole good journalism with no narratives being pushed or narrator telling me whats happening, just a introspective look into some people half way around the world.

[matthewmckenna]

Hats off those parents. Who travel thousands of miles across such a massive country in cramped conditions. And using their hard earned money, with them not even having that much to begin with. just so they can see their kids.

[driveintherain]

Very touching and relatable story. For those who leave their homes for work or study, and for those who stay at home, the family reunion is like the fireworks.. beautiful but too soon to finish.

[EricTheBroBean]

Thats a brave kid, he even understands the struggle of his grandfather, but nobody to play with, damn..
Makes me think of how much we take our everyday lives for granted.
Very few people in this world has both freedom and economic stability..

[Harbour]

this is real, exactly what is happening in China from rural area and low income people perspective.
Policy is leaning towards this group, but still not enough for them. Hard working deserves good paid. God blesses them.
Thanks VICE!

[pratikshchauhan]

Maa your life was very hard....I can't stop crying.

[mkolars]

i live in China and i am heart broken to see these kids growing up without their parents, poverty is bad but being separated from your kids is punishment nobody deserves

[scottsause]

What a very tough life, It makes me think of the tough life my parents had & the hard work they put in to get me from Rural Papua New Guinea to now nearly finishing my Bachelor's degree at The University of Auckland in New Zealand. Hats off to all the hard working parents out there who sacrifice so much for us.

[Ben-qhmt]

Best vice video I’ve seen in awhile, no sensationalist bullshit just good ol insight into a country I know little about.

[shehroz]

This is a very sad situation for both the kids and the parents.

[user_cvwysmstt]

Wow, these people are inspiring. Here in Malaysia, sometimes the people are reluctant to go back for a family reunion, complaining the traffic jam in highways during Chinese New Year. Imagine 30 hours on road like these people!​

[ZeroPoint-ql]

the world needs more of this type of reporting. down to earth real. let us decide what we want to think just show us what's happening.

[MJFallout]

If you're learning Chinese, you might enjoy this because the parents and the children speak their Mandarin rather clearly, nicely accentuated. Not at all like the garbled, shouty, chopped-up mess you often hear from people that presumably are better educated than them.

[majow]

The people that have little are the kindest. Beautiful documentary!

[Monkeyabroad]

I live in Shanghai in the same tiny building as a family of migrant workers. Every day they wake up at the crack of 6am to begin their busy lives, and they wake me up every morning without fail, even when I wear earplugs to sleep. No matter how many times I tell them to please wake quietly, they converse loudly right outside my door and window at 6:30am. I respect their 7-days-a-week work ethic, but I loathe their lack of consideration for the neighbors. During the holiday, they all left home for a week and I slept like a BABY! It was great. I honestly wish they had a great time with their families because I know the struggle for them is real.

[crippletime]

The awkwardness when the parents got home was palatable.