Migrant workers band together

Instruments of change

Dreaming of becoming a rock star, Hu keeps creating lyrics and humming to himself, sometimes by the nearby Wenyu River. He has managed to sing for his neighbors and children around the community.

For the first time, he performed an original song called I Have Never Found Myself publicly at Apple's retail outlet in the Sanlitun shopping area of the capital on Oct 12, during the closing ceremony of a Today at Apple Creative Studios program.

The 12-week program, jointly initiated by Beijing-based China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation and YouChange China Social Entrepreneur Foundation, is one where young people, especially migrant workers, can take lessons to learn and improve their artistic and technological skills.

"I've passed through the crowd, in endless silence.

I've walked along the busy street, with winds howling beside.

I've tried thousands of ways to survive, nobody knows.

I've found the hidden sun.

I've discovered the lonely moon.

I'm just not able to have myself found, wandering like a dandelion."

The lyrics were written in 2015, when Hu felt he was trapped in the workshop of a Suzhou factory. His friend Xie Hangcheng, a music teacher for the community, helped Hu with arrangement and accompanied him on guitar, while another friend Chen Wei, who is visually impaired, played the drums.