From Somewhere to Nowhere

China's Internal Migrants

Trucks thunder along a wide expressway in Anhui Province, sending the dust swirling. A man can be seen at the side of the road, still a long way away, a traveler. Slowly he comes closer. He is carrying a bag on his right shoulder and a bundle on his back.

"Where have you come from?" I ask. "From somewhere," he says. "And where are you going?" "Nowhere." He laughs, seemingly satisfied with his answer, then continues on his way.

In recent years, I have been a traveler myself in China in search of migrant workers, trying to better understand their lives and the broader social transformation the country is undergoing. My journeys have taken me from rapidly expanding urban centers—China’s major economic hubs—to poorer, less developed provinces.

Income disparities between urban and rural regions have contributed to large-scale internal migration, with many rural residents moving to cities for work. The power of money — that's something you can experience tangibly in China. It is not just a release from poverty, it also subverts social structures, tears families apart and shows no consideration for children.

During my travels, I met many migrant workers, both at their workplaces and in public spaces. Some took the time to speak about their lives and invited me to visit their living conditions. In some cases, I was also able to travel with them to their home villages. They let me take a little part of their lives away with me and pass it on as a few photos, a few stories. They took me with them on one stage of their journey.