The medium they work through is the dan-wei or "unit"; every person in mainland China belongs to one, whether he or she works in a factory, school or office, and the name of one's "unit" is often more important than one's own name in identifying oneself.
「單位」就是你工作的地方，不論學校、工廠或辦公室，每個大陸人民都屬於某個「單位」，它有第二個公民證的作用。中國大陸的人常被問「你是哪個單位的」，而不大注意他們的姓名。