From Overseas Press

China's young college grads toil in 'ant tribes'

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-06-28 14:24

He wound up in Tangjialing late last year, about eight months after moving to Beijing. The village is near the software park where he landed a job, and he recruited two college classmates as roommates.

For about $90 a month, they got one of the better rooms, furnished with a queen-sized bed, two desks and a small wardrobe. It has a bathroom and, unlike the cheaper apartments, a small window that lets in slivers of light. They have attached a lounge-chair-like folding bed to the mattress in case someone rolls over or wants to spread out.

"When I first got here, Tangjialing felt claustrophobic with people living in such close quarters, but I got used to it and it quickly became home," Liu says.

On the evenings he and his roommates aren't clocking overtime, they grab dinner together—often instant noodles but sometimes stir-fried shredded pork and vegetable dishes bought nearby.

Entertainment is mostly chatting online with friends or playing computer games. Without much money, Liu confesses on his blog, life in the big city can be quite dull at times.

After taking a new job selling computer hardware in April, Liu's $30 share of the rent allows him to set aside much of his $400 salary for a nest egg that he hopes will help him start his own software company one day.

"I always ask myself if it's worth it," he says. "When I was in school, this isn't how I wanted life to be, but I chose this path so I can't look back."