The issue of migrant workers is a pisive one in China's capital.  Most Beijingers are well aware of the need for workers from the countryside to do the jobs that they are not willing to do. 

Migrant workers are the force behind Beijing's rapid development over the last couple of decades.  Nowhere was that more evident than in the run-up to the Olympics, when sporting venues and transport facilities sprang up at astonishing speed. 

On the flip side, there is still widespread prejudiced against migrant workers.  Many Beijing residents often see them as rude and uneducated, and perceive them as second class citizens.

That issue was brought to the fore once again by a new government policy aimed at giving the children of migrant workers access to compulsory education at public schools in Beijing. While the aim of the move is to give equal education opportunities to all, some in Beijing question whether it's practical to introduce a further burden into the city's already strained education system. 

Much has been made of migrant workers' official exclusion from city services such as health and education due to the lack of an urban hukou, or residency permit. But as if this were not enough of a challenge for China's 211 million migrants to overcome, they also face illegal exploitation by unscrupulous companies who maximise profits at the expense of their workers. Rights groups have warned that in a flagrant breach of Chinese employment law, greedy bosses do not sign contracts with migrants, do not offer them medical insurance or compensation in the event of work-related accidents and frequently withhold their salaries.

When you think of museums, words like ancient, priceless, rare or exquisite come to mind. But in the northeastern suburbs of Beijing, there's a museum which seems a world away from those concepts. And it details the often-ignored parallel history between a special group of migrant workers and the development of China.

These are various temporary residence permits from different cities through the years. They used to be like lucky charms for millions of migrant workers, because if you were unfortunate enough to come across the local police without it, you would likely be fined, arrested or sent home.

But this was never to happen again after Sun Zhigang, a college-educated migrant worker, was beaten to death in police custody after being detained for not carrying a permit in 2003.

Well from the financial aspects of China's newly announced growth figures to an unexpected literary by-product.

One of the key factors to this phenomenal economic success is the country's army of migrant workers. These are the source of the cheap labor that fuels China's manufacturing and service industries.

And as BON's Tom Mackenzie reports this often looked-down-upon sector of society has now produced a best-selling novel.

Last Thursday in Zhengzhou city, Henan province, a red Mazda 6 was initially witnessed to be driving slowly through an open ground where many migrant workers usually rest at about 10pm with both headlights switched off. The driver suddenly turned on the lights and accelerated toward some migrant workers resting on the ground. Several people were hit including Liu Hui, who was run over by the car and suffered chest injuries.

As the summer vacation is coming to its end, those migrant workers’ children who come to cities to spend the vacation with their parents, who are also known as migrant birds, are returning to their home town for school. As BON’s George Liu had found, the migrant birds’ vacation is quite different from those children from cities.

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