(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-02-09 14:54

Free for a Walk

So instead they go for a walk.

The cramped passageways of the neighbourhood are very lively for this time of year - most of the people who live here are migrant workers. They haven't been able to make it home to Hunan and Sichuan.

For a good number of them, it'll be a full year before they get to see their families again

Tastes from home offer some creature comforts to those stranded. [Agencies]

Jin Xia, a cleaner, has only been here a few months, but is already missing her daughter terribly.

"She sent me a text message, wishing mummy and daddy a happy and healthy new year," she said.

"I don't dare to call her. If I did, I'd start crying. I can't bear to leave her. I haven't left her side in 11 years.

"So all I could handle was to send her a text message back."

A Year of Plenty

At night, the friends seek out some home comforts in a meal - spicy food from Sichuan.

A special fish is ordered; according to custom, eating it now will ensure a plentiful year ahead.

Zhang Dongshen and his friends are making the best of it.

"It's not so bad, I've got my fellow villagers here to spend the new year with me," he explains.

"It's pretty good. We eat, we walk, it's okay... Let's drink!"

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