At midday parents arrive at the Eastern Pearl School on an assortment of vehicles as they pick up their children, drop them off, or deliver hot lunches at the front gate. Most ride bicycles, pedal carts or motorcycles. A relatively wealthy few drive up in cars or vans. All, however, have one thing in common. They are migrant workers or entrepreneurs who have come to Dongguan, a manufacturing centre in China’s southern Guangdong province, in search of a better life.