Fortune does favor the brave

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-30 09:33

Commuters trying to squeeze into a packed bus at Tangjiajing village in Haidian district.

Waking up on his hard bed on the lower bunk, Liu Yanbing felt a tickling sensation in his nose.

When he sneezed, a cockroach scuttled out of his nostril.

This was life in his Xiaoyuehe dorm, when he moved in three years ago.

But three months ago, he joined the ranks of "the rich" - a relative designation among those living in Xiaoyuehe - when he got a job as a software engineer in a State-owned enterprise, earning an envious monthly salary of 6,000 yuan ($878).

Liu's success is hard won. He started just like the others in Xiaoyuehe, working in a small business and earning less than 2,000 a month.

He worked extra hours to sharpen his skill set and his competitive edge.

His efforts paid off last year when he landed his current job with a monthly wage of 5,000 ($732). This year, he got a 1,000-yuan promotion.

Liu is used to hard work and paid his own way through college by doing all kinds of odd jobs.

As a freshman, he distributed promotional fliers in the streets and did sales promotions in supermarkets. He tutored during his sophomore and junior years.

Liu says he doesn't really like living in the capital, because, "it's too crowded, too noisy and too expensive".

But he's not leaving any time soon. "Beijing provides young people with plenty of opportunities and things to learn," he says.

He hopes to climb the corporate ladder in the future and eventually start his own business.

"After all, men live to struggle upwards," Liu says.