Xiao He left Zhangmutou for Shilong to restart his career as a migrant worker.
He left one of Dongguan's biggest townships for its smallest because Shilong, which literally means "Rock Dragon", has been moving smoothly when many companies in other townships have closed shop or declared bankruptcy, apparently because of the global financial crisis.
"I need to find a stable factory that would pay my wages on time. That's why I've come to Shilong," the 27-year-old Henan resident says as he queues up for an interview in front of Huanan Parmacy's gate.
Xiao is not the only worker to leave Zhangmutou. Some of his former colleagues in Smart Union, which declared bankruptcy on Oct 15, have joined him, too.
Shilong shifted from labor-intensive to technology-intensive production more than a decade ago, and that's why so many workers are flocking to the township, says Li Jianmin, director-general of Shilong's business and trade office.
"This is a market rule, a result of industrial transformation," Li says. Such a transformation has just started in other parts of Dongguan.
More than 80 percent of the 200 firms in Shilong are part of the electronic or IT industries. According Bendibao, a Dongguan-based consultancy firm, Shilong produces 2.4 million cameras, 1 million computers, 1.5 million personal computer (PC) monitors, and 1.8 million laser printers a year.
Just five days after Smart Union folded up in Zhangmutou, Japanese camera maker Konica Minolta transformed its 14-year-old production unit in Shilong into an independent company. Japan-based electronics firm Kyocera and British retail giant Tesco, too, have set up shop in the town.
Shilong was a different township in the 1980s and early 1990s, when textile was its leading industry. As Guangzhou Daily has reported, Shilong had more than 100 textile mills then.
Not everyone is happy about the change, though. Take Xiao, for instance, who says: "The job market is more demanding in Shilong than anywhere else in Dongguan." That's why he's not too confident of finding a job there.
But for his interviewer, Xiao's worries mean Dongguan is headed in the right direction. "Employers in Shilong prefer younger workers, who are normally fast learners and have a more promising future," says the interviewer, an HR manager with Huanan Pharmacy.
"Electronic, hi-tech, and pharmaceutical firms can help raise the quality of workers in Dongguan. And Shilong wants to take the lead in that direction."
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