People living in basements tell the broader story of a China on the move, which is undergoing the world’s biggest tide of migration and a generational shift to an urban income and lifestyle. 

As a photographer put it, “If I went into it hoping to document the tough and musty life of these migrants, I would have been inspired by their spunky fighting spirit and life-affirming aspirations.”

Migrant workers in China are those who leave their hometowns and move to larger cities in search of better-paying work. Migrant workers often do jobs that most urban citizens would not consider, from the most menial types of labor such as serving tables, working on the Foxconn assembly lines, to picking up and sorting garbage.