Made in China

‘Made in China’ follows the life of Ho Ping, a 20 year old factory worker at the Selena shoe factory. They make shoes for Nine West, Clark’s and other Western companies.
Ho Ping, like her 6500 co-workers lives and works at the factory. They work from 7am to 7pm, fifty weeks a year, six days a week. With her earnings, 850RMB (£65) a month, she plans to build a house near her parents in Henan, 24 hours north of the factory by train. Ho Ping dropped out of school at sixteen, two years later she came to work at the factory. ‘It was interesting and exciting.’ For the first few weeks there was little pressure, we explored the local shopping departments on our day off and mistakes at work were forgiven. The next six months were really tough though, the work became extremely demanding and I began to miss my family and friends.’

by Polly Braden