On the 11th day, at an open construction site on Tongjiang Road, several migrant workers from Rongchang County in Chongqing were toasting and chatting in front of a row of container-turned houses. "Come and have a drink," Lu Shaojie, a 37-year-old migrant worker, invited the reporter to join them in tasting a 5-yuan bottle of white wine. "Two liang a day, one bottle every five days." Lu Shaojie and more than 60 fellow townspeople all live here, driving piles at a nearby real estate construction site, with a monthly wage of only over 1,000 yuan.
"The house" was provided free of charge by the boss, with six people sharing one room. The migrant worker Lu Shaojie lives in a container next to a villa, with air conditioning, but it's still very hot. Behind Lu Shaojie are 13 container iron houses of various sizes, with the larger ones being 12 meters long and the smaller ones only 6 meters long. One room, about 8 square meters in size, has four bunk beds, making it difficult to turn around. The larger container houses are divided into two rooms with wooden boards, including couple rooms, offices, kitchens, and living rooms which are external rain shelters.
"After the work is done, we will take the 'house' to the next construction site," said Xiao Liu from the pile-driving project contractor. This kind of "container for people" is called "box-type movable board house", which is an upgraded product of movable board houses. In Shenzhen, there are specialized companies producing container houses, with a 12-meter-long container house costing about 12,000 yuan. The life span of this "box-type movable board house" is generally only 10 years.
Coming down from Youxiuzhou Bridge and walking along Nanjiangbin Road, what catches the eye first are the high-end villas worth millions near the river and residential buildings priced at more than 10,000 yuan per square meter. Here, Lu Shaojie and another small group of "cabinet clan" temporarily reside on barren land waiting for the developer to break ground.
"Although there are indeed some inconveniences, compared to renting a house, it can save a lot of money," said Lu Shaojie. He mentioned that he has been living like this for three years, and once he saves enough money, he plans to buy a 45-square-meter apartment in his hometown for his children, and that would be enough for him.