Media Mirror Image
Zheng Xin · 2022
The new generation of rural migrant workers grew up during China’s reforms and opening up to the outside world. They differ from the older generation of rural migrant workers in that they have higher and different expectations regarding their work and their lives. The older generation of rural migrant workers invariably were “passing travellers” in the cities. They hoped to obtain wealth from the city which could not be gained living in rural areas, and thus enjoy a better life in the village. Other than this, they had no further expectations of life in the city. However, the new generation of rural migrant workers is different. The gradual enrichment of their material lives has caused the level of their needs to evolve from labouring on the edge of subsistence into a developmental mode. The advancement of mass media and telecommunications technology, along with higher levels of education, have enabled them to form pluralistic values and open-minded new ways of thinking, spurring their attraction to urban culture and the urban way of life.