Migrant workers display IOUs written by their employer as proof of unpaid wages in Shangluo, Shaanxi province, on Jan 5. Yan Wenqing / for China Daily

Chen Sheng, a carpenter from Sichuan province in the southwest, was luckier than Lyu: he was finally paid on Jan 25, after waiting about six months for his wages at a construction site about 1,000 km from his home.

But before he received the money, Chen and his 10-member family could only afford two meals a day, mainly rice and abandoned, half-rotten vegetables collected at a grocery market. He was paid 1,000 yuan when the construction project was completed in August, but no work has been available for months.

Two weeks ago, the family celebrated his mother's 70th birthday in their temporary shelter, a prefabricated hut at the construction site.

The elderly woman longed to go home, but Chen had no money to buy even the cheapest train ticket. Chen's eldest son complained that Chen was to blame for the old lady's suffering, and the birthday dinner ended with a fight between the two men.

Feng Qiang, the contractor who owes Chen his wages, claimed to be a victim himself. "The development company was supposed to pay me 17 million yuan by August, but by the end of last year, only 1.5 million yuan had been paid," he said.

Feng eventually used his car and his apartment in Zhengzhou as collateral and borrowed 3 million yuan to cover the migrant workers' wages.

Phone calls to Zhang Zhipeng, the chief executive of the development company, went unanswered.