The dream and reality for young Chinese workers

Foxconn workers on the sports field inside the factory complex.Zou Zhongpin / China Daily

The daughter of humble farmers, Sun finished high school about 16 years ago and left her hometown in Hubei province to work on the Foxconn production line.

"At that time, there wasn't much opportunity in my hometown," Sun says. "I was a worker like Jiang Caixia."

In many ways, 36-year-old Sun represents the changing face of the Chinese worker.

"I never went to college before I came here. But they had a program here at Foxconn. I got a technology degree (vocational qualification) by going to class after work."

Sun is now an assistant production manager and mother of two. Her working day is roughly 8 hours, with a 90-minute lunch break. She makes about 16,000 yuan ($2,550, 1,850 euros) per month, enough to employ an ayi, or nanny, to help take care of her children, aged 6 and one-and-half. Shenzhen is now her home. She owns a house in town with her husband, who also works for Foxconn.

The conditions and salary, Sun concedes, weren't always this good. But she says the catalyst that has defined modern China, rapid change, is now reshaping the lives of workers.

"When I first came here, we didn't know how to protect our rights," she says. "If there were extra hours, we were happy to work extra hours. We didn't know there were laws that say you are not allowed to work over a certain amount of hours. I used to think that working meant I just have to work hard. Now I think I have to work hard but I also have to feel happy in my work."

Jiang plays with an inexpensive Huawei handset. She says she can't yet afford to buy one of the more than 10,000 iPhones she helps make every week.

"My family wasn't doing very well and couldn't afford to send me to college, so I came here," she says.

A farmer's daughter, Jiang got a job with Foxconn two years ago. "I live here inside the factory in a dormitory," she says.

Her typical day begins with a meeting at 7:15 am, during which workers are assigned tasks. She starts her work at 8 am, has a 30-minute lunch break, and technically finishes at about 6 pm. If there's a big order in, she works from 8 am to 8 pm, with the last two hours paid at overtime rates.

"The base wage is 2,500 yuan a month," she says. "With overtime, I can get about 3,700 or 3,800 yuan."

Jiang says she's happy with the work and pay. So is Sun.

"It's not like what outsiders say, that we are a sweatshop factory," Sun says.