A 14-hour whirlwind of work

Shen Xiaohua's high-pressure workday in Shenzhen begins when she rises at 6 am. The 44-year-old domestic helper then has 50 minutes to wash, gulp down breakfast and cycle to her employer's home 3 kilometers away, where she begins preparing breakfast for the family she works for; a couple with two young girls.

After breakfast is over and everything cleared away, Shen usually spends the morning cleaning the three-room apartment on the 13th floor, from where there is a view of the wetlands that separate Shenzhen and Hong Kong. In spring, that sparkling scenery is often accompanied by a warm breeze coming in from the south. However, Shen has little time to enjoy the view or the breeze because she needs to finish in time to take a bus to another workplace by midday.

That is a hotpot restaurant about 7 km away, where she washes vegetables.