Before the PRC's economic liberalization, Dongguan had a population of less than 400,000. It relied for its growth on a large influx of people from the countryside, and became a paradise for labor-intensive industries. Large groups of migrants from the countryside would mill around outside factories hoping to find work.
開放前人口不到四十萬的小縣東莞，依賴大量農村人口湧入，曾是勞力密集產業的天堂，工廠圍牆外永遠聚集著大批渴望謀得一份工作的盲流，人力供應看似源源不絕。