From the streets to the Great Hall of the People

By Tang Yue (China Daily) Updated: 2012-12-20 09:02

In desperation, she began switching off her phone when she went to bed, but the next day she would discover a huge number of messages - some of them abusive - complaining she could not be reached.

"I'm just a delegate, not the savior of migrant workers; I'm just a common migrant worker myself," Hu said at the time.

Zhu Xueqin was a migrant worker delegate to the 11th National People's Congress and so each March from 2008 to 2012, she traveled from Shanghai to Beijing to attend the annual plenary sessions.

From the streets to the Great Hall of the People

Zhu Xueqin, 35, who has worked for a clothing company since 1994, was elected as a delegate to the 11th National People's Congress. Provided to China Daily

"When the Party Congress was held last month, a lot of people asked me why I was staying in Shanghai, instead of attending the big event in Beijing? They just don't know the difference," said the 35-year-old, who has worked for a clothing company since 1994.

However, Zhu was not fully aware of how the system operated until she was elected in January 2008, and didn't realize she had been elected until her name was announced on the TV news. She remembered being nominated a few months before, but thought her chances of success were slim.

A few hours after the TV broadcast, the local labor union confirmed the news and informed Zhu that she would be going to Beijing the following March.

However, once the initial excitement waned, doubts began to creep in: Did she have the right qualities to be a successful delegate? How could she better represent migrant workers?

Zhu was unsure of her role and began to get insomnia so acute that in the 45 days running up to the NPC, even sleeping pills didn't work.

She underwent intensive training and visited a large number of factories to garner suggestions from other migrant workers.

However, the overwhelming media attention on the historic migrant worker delegates still exceeded her expectations: "On a few occasions, so many reporters besieged me that I had to have a police escort simply to leave the building" she said. "I was shy and afraid to take questions from the media, so I hid my delegate's certificate to avoid attention, but that was always in vain."

Ren shared the same dilemma.

To prepare for the congress, he spent a long time digesting the reports delivered at the 16th and 17th CPC National Congresses, fearing he wouldn't "grasp the key points of the new report quickly and accurately".

During the weeklong congress, he had to give as many as 10 interviews every day, some conducted well into the early hours. He also had to polish the speech he was to deliver at the Beijing delegation meeting. He revised it "16 or 17 times" in total.

"In the past, all I had to do was drive the cart and collect the garbage. I know I am good at it and am a responsible worker, but this (being a delegate) was really a new challenge for me," said Ren. "I went to sleep at about 1 to 2 am and woke up at about 5 am. The buffet was very tasty, but I still lost two kilograms."