A Chinese Laid-off Woman in National Day Vacation

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, October 04, 2002

A Chinese Laid-off Woman in National Day Vacation

Chen Lijing, a woman in Hebei Province, north China, lost her job two years ago. She was this year able to take her son to visit Beijing during the National Dayvacation.

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Chen Lijing, a woman in Hebei Province, north China, lost her job two years ago. She was this year able to take her son to visit Beijing during the National Dayvacation.

After watching the national flag-raising ceremony in Tian'anmenSquare, Chen said she wanted her 11-year-old son, who was excited to see such a huge crowd of people, to learn more about patriotism.

From her cheerful expression, it is hard to imagine Chen was once worried about how to make a living after she was laid off from a textile factory at the age of 36 in 2000.

Chen had to rely on her own hands to make her living. At first,she got up at four in every morning to make pancakes and sell themas a street breakfast. With her hard work and honesty, Chen won the trust of more and more customers, and many people traveled a long distance to buy her cakes.

After two years, Chen used her savings to open a small shop to sell items in daily use. "The shop has become too small to cater for customers' needs," said Chen. "I'm considering renting a bigger house and employing others to run a small supermarket."

It only takes two hours and costs only 20 yuan (2.5 US dollars)to travel by train from Baoding, Chen's hometown, to Beijing. Despite the short distance and low cost, Chen has not visited Beijing for more than ten years, as in the past she was always struggling to make a living.

"Now I am an employer, and I can arrange my time and money myself." said Chen, adding that she deliberately chose Beijing as the first place to travel to.

Chen said from the capital of China, she can feel the great changes that have taken place in the whole country. She wanted to give her son and herself a lesson in patriotism.

Chen met many other families also traveling to Beijing during the National Day vacation for the same purpose. Trains were crammed with countless people from all over the country but Chen decided to be part of the crowd and feel the charm of Beijing's autumn and of China.

Chen's son said that his mother had promised to take him abroadnext time, to somewhere like Singapore, Malaysia or Thailand.

Source: Xinhua News Agency

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