Xinjiang workers begin their new life

Yumerjan Erken arrived at Guangzhou Railway Station on Friday after a 50-hour trip from chilly Urumqi, in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, to find the southern city still basking in summer heat.

He is one of 489 people who traveled from Xinjiang on a chartered train to take up jobs with companies in Guangzhou, Huizhou, Foshan and Dongguan in Guangdong province under a workforce transfer program. They will all have to cope with a lot more than a change in the weather.

Yumerjan Erken was a farmer in his hometown in Shufu county, but he will now work with his wife, Nurbiya Yusup, at Guangzhou Fengli Tire and Rubber.