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Humans of Shenzhen


Workers' Poem (10): In Mist
July 2024: 又一生 农民工 稀里糊涂又一生 异地谋生万事难 醉来明月应笑我 只添白发未添钱 Translation In Mist By "A Migrant Worker" Blundering — another life drifted in mist,...
Albert Wang
Sep 261 min read


Workers' Poem (9): Fewer Storms Next Time
March 2024: 来世但求少风波 农民工 人生路上风雨多 满腹心酸谁人说 今生受尽万般苦 来世但求少风波 Translation Fewer Storms Next Time By "A Migrant Worker" Along life's road the...
Albert Wang
Sep 261 min read


Workers' Poem (8): One Tattered Quilt
January 2024: 一床破被 土木学长 一床破被天下游 建筑工地度春秋 可叹吾生命太苦 笑问苍天合适休 Translation One Tattered Quilt With one tattered quilt, the world becomes my bed,...
Albert Wang
Sep 261 min read


Workers' Poem (7): Unbound
January 2024: 无牵无挂 三和“大神” 无权无势无老婆 无儿无女无负担 无忧无虑无波澜 无牵无挂无羁绊 Translation Unbound No power, no prestige, no partner by my side, No son, no...
Albert Wang
Sep 261 min read


Workers' Poem (6): When Grown
January 2024: 成年方晓 三和“大神” 成年方晓世事难 一日三餐为油盐 尝遍坎坷人生路 诗词不能换酒钱 Translation When Grown Only when grown do I learn how harsh the world can be;...
Albert Wang
Sep 261 min read


Workers' Poem (5): The Poor
December 2023: 穷人 三和“大神” 初来人间不知苦 潦草半生一身无 转身回望来时路 才知生时为何哭 Translation The Poor I stepped into this world I knowing of no pain, Half a life...
Albert Wang
Sep 261 min read


Workers' Poem (4): Bow for Bread
October 2023: 含辛茹苦 现代·三和“大神” 含辛茹苦怕儿饥 常遭虾戏王八欺 若不一生求富贵 谁愿人前把头低 Translation: Bow for Bread I swallow bitter days so my child will not go...
Albert Wang
Sep 251 min read


Photo Essay: At Yulv, Urban Villagers Create Another World
November 17th, 2024: In Shenzhen, the skyline rises with glass and steel, but just beneath the city’s shiny surface, Yulv village remains...
Albert Wang
Sep 244 min read


Workers' Poem (3): Workday Liturgy in B Minor, a Villanelle
January 2024: When the foreman’s bell shatters the air to ash, Quivering elbows enter the conveyor’s pulsed refrain. (A hammer howls, and...
Albert Wang
Sep 91 min read


Workers' Poem (2): Silk, a Pantoum
June 2023: Synthetic silk sewing, stitching, scribbling the garment makers —Smoke was pumped into the sky—as usual. Fair factories...
Albert Wang
Sep 91 min read


Workers' Poem (1): Brave, New, Amnesiac World
October 2024: We flip to an empty page as your emptiness fails to flip The switch of our minds, dragging, droning, drowning, Pulses...
Albert Wang
Sep 92 min read


International Women's Day Keynote: In the Shadow of Pothos
For six weeks in my freshman and sophomore summers, I immersed myself in the world of textile workers—from fast fashion factories they...
Albert Wang
Sep 97 min read


TED Talk: How the Other Half Lives (Today): Hukou System & China's Urban Villages
April 2025: Have you ever tried to register for something and been told, “Sorry, your number isn’t on the list”? I went to the Guangzhou...
Albert Wang
Sep 96 min read
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