Chasing a dream in the capital

"Every worker or dream chaser coming to Beijing has their own reasons. No one here lives blindly," said Chang Hailong, a 34-year-old food deliveryman from Songyuan, a city in the northeastern province of Jilin.

Having only been in Beijing for a month, Chang is still curious about everything in the capital.

"I had the idea of starting a business in Beijing about 15 years ago, when I graduated from senior high school in my hometown," he said, with a wry smile. "But I was held back by my father, who wanted me to take his position at the Daqing Oilfield because it was a job for life."

When he was 19, Chang inherited his father's job, taking responsibility for mapping and measuring the oilfield. "Actually, I didn't like the job, but I agreed to my father's request," he said.

Two years later, he started work as a forklift truck driver at a chemical factory in Jilin.

"Life was boring in the factory. I worked from 9 am to 2 pm, but most of the time I had nothing to do because the forklift trucks were only occasionally used to carry products," he said.

"I got quite good pay there; enough to provide for my wife and 7-year-old son."

Last month, Chang quit his comfortable life and traveled to Beijing to find a job.

"For me, it's a new start," he said. "I was afraid before I came to Beijing, because I'm 34 years old this year and I could not have borne the blame from my family if I'd failed to find a job. However, it's my choice; Beijing has been my dream city since I was in senior high school."

New to the food delivery market, Chang has performed poorly, compared with his peers. "I was fined about 200 yuan ($30) because of late deliveries. I'm still not familiar with the community I'm responsible for, so I have to waste time asking for directions to restaurants and customers."

Chang said he works from 7 am to 10 pm, and he dare not take a nap at noon in case an order arrives. Also, he skimps to keep his food expenditure below 20 yuan a day. Although he earned 7,000 yuan in his first month at work, he paid 1,500 yuan for rent.

"I'm okay with the life, but I want to give a better life to my wife and little son," he said. "The financial pressure will spur me to work harder and become the delivery champion of my station."

He said he has become more emotional since he started doing the job. "Every 'thank you' from a customer is like applause for my work. It's different from my previous job as I get more human contact and meet different people every day."

Though he is satisfied with his new life, he is still concerned about injury insurance and work safety.

"We have no official employment contracts. As for insurance, the company takes 100 yuan from me every month. They say it is for insurance, but I have no idea what insurance they are talking about. Also, it's unavoidable that I have to run red lights, as I have to rush to deliver food in just 38 minutes (the company's guaranteed maximum delivery time). I hope the time can be extended someday," he said.

In the near future, Chang plans to open a restaurant in his hometown, and he hopes that his job as a food deliveryman will help him gain a better knowledge of people's favorite tastes.