Liu Jing's summer life: moving like a migratory bird

Liu Jing, 14, is a girl from the countryside of Yancheng, Jiangsu. Her parents make a living by collecting and selling wastes in Shanghai. After the school semester was over, like migrating birds, Liu left home and came to Shanghai to live with her parents.

Liu's family rented a room at Jiangjiatang, an urban village under demolition in Minhang District, Shanghai. The place is as quiet as a tomb and as messy as a dumping ground. Most villagers have moved away. Only migrant workers attracted by the low rent price continued to live here. For the last two months, her parents went out to work early and came back at dusk. So she had to stay at home and took up the household chores, including washing dishes, cooking meals, tidying the wastes her parents collected, etc.

Most of the time, Liu played alone in the village and her only intimate friend here was a stray cat whom she named Ah Huang.

The summer vacation is about to end and Liu is going to pack up and go back home to attend school. In her eyes, the two months is the happiest time for her in the whole year.