On the day we met, Gao was wearing an outfit she had made herself by repurposing material from a cheongsam. She has been sewing since she was 16 and has worked in many cities around Southern China. Gao is a family-focused woman and attributes her devotion to her astrological sign – Cancer. 

M: When you were really small, what did you dream of doing?

小的时候有什么梦想吗?

G: 小的时候，一般都是农村里，都是干的是农活，其实干农活挺累的，也没有什么积蓄，那个时候啊，我们那时候条件挺差的，我们就三姐妹啊，我就是老大啊，老大啊，一般都是要出来赚钱打工，所以我就没读书了，我就觉得有那么一技之长还是好的，就学了这个做服装。

When I was little, I lived in a village and I had to do farm work. Farm work is hard and we didn’t have much money. Life wasn’t easy then. I am the eldest in    my family and I have two sisters. Because I am the eldest child in my family, I needed to work at an early age to support my family. I quit school and learned to make clothes. I think that learning a skill was good for me.

M: How did you start to learn to make clothes?

你是怎样开始学做衣服?

G: 跟我一个表姐，因为那时候，师傅就要交钱，还要送酒送肉的，我没钱，就不能跟师傅学，所以我那个表姐是免费教的。

I learned [the skill] from my cousin. At that time, if you wanted to learn clothes making from a master you needed to give money, wine and meat to them. I didn’t have the money, so I learned from my cousin who taught me for free.

M: How much older is your cousin?

你表姐大你多少?

G: 大五六岁吧。不过她现在没做这行了。

5 or 6 years older. She doesn’t make clothes any more.

M: Did you learn how to sew in your village?

是在家乡就学会缝纫了吗?

G: 那个时候，我们是在湖北，学会了就跑到武汉去，在武汉做了就去了广州，广州又往汕头那一边潮州，在那边又做了，2009年来深圳，09年就是我那个妹妹，我那个妹夫在那个服装厂里面当翻译，那里面有个厂长，厂长他老婆也是一个人在家里面做这行，她说我把我老公也带会了，我老公以前不是做这个的，我老公以前是搞家电维修的，所以我把我老公带去了，我们两口子都在做，我带着他做衣服。

Yes, we were in Hu Bei Province. We went to Wu Han, the capital city of Hu Bei Province, [after] we learned the clothes-making skills [to get work]. [After that] we went to Guangzhou and then to Chaozhou (two cities in the Guangdong Province). I came to Shenzhen in 2009. My sister’s husband worked as a translator in a garment factory in Shenzhen. I knew that the wife of that factory’s owner had taught her husband how to make clothes and then opened a factory. I wanted to do that too so I also taught my husband how to make clothes. My husband used to be a home appliance repairman but he is now working with me. We have a small family workshop, cottage industry style.

M: Do you have a specialization?

你的专长是什么?

G: 缝跟裁，像他们那个一般大的要用电脑打版那个没做，他们要用手工打版。

Sewing and cutting. Big factories are using computers to make the pattern, but they cut the pattern by hand.

M: Do you have any aspiration to start your own business for selling clothes?

你有想过扩大你的作坊吗?

G: 可以搞大一点，但我老公也不是性格特别好的人。

Yes, I think we could do that but my husband doesn’t dream big.

M: So you dream big?

那你觉得自己性格适合吗

G: 我老公要是性格好的话可以搞大一点，但他性格不怎么好。

If my husband would dream big we could expand, but he doesn’t. His personality is not good [in that way].

M: If you had the opportunity to design your own clothes, would you do that？

如果你能自己设计，你会自己设计吗?

G: 自己设计没想过，只想说有什么料子适合我们这个年龄啊，可以拿出来穿啊，我就去做衣服。设计的话还是需要专业的训练，还要去学校学。去培训的地方学习。

I never thought about designing myself. I only think about what kind of fabric is suitable for women of my age to wear. Then I will make it. I think you need to go to school to get training in order to learn how to design.

M: When did you decide to go to the city？

你是什么时候决定来到城市的?

G: 那个时候我才十六岁，十六岁学会了之后我就想出来，出来赚点钱补贴家里面，因为我下面还有一个弟弟和妹妹，他们都还在读书啊，所以我就出来打工赚点钱去补贴家里。

I was 16 when I acquired the skills and I wanted to work in a city so I could make some money to support my family. My younger sister and brother were in school, so I decided to work in the city to make money to help my family financially.

M: What was it like when you first came to work in city?

当初在城市的工厂工作是怎样的?

G: 那个时候辛苦啊，在武汉的时候天气又冷，手伸出来好冻人啊。每天搞通宵，货多得时候都是搞通宵，钱也没赚多少，工资低，他们说广州工资高，我就跑到广州来了，我那时候93年到广州的时候，工资也不高，但生活可以。到汕头那边去就生活不怎么好，工资还是高一些。所以现在就在深圳自己搞啊，虽然苦一点还是比打工强一些。就09年过来的，我小孩也在这里读书，小孩在这边读书    就比老家强一些，老家就是交通不方便，都是山路，读书都要走几公里的路。所以我小孩比我们那个时候幸福多了，受的教育也比农村好一些。

It was really tough. The weather in Wu Han was terrible. It was so cold in winter and we had to work all night to keep up with the production. I didn’t earn much because the salary was low. Someone told me that I could earn more in Guangzhou so I went there. I went there in 1993. Life there was fine but the salary was not high either. Then I went to another city. I got paid well but I didn’t like the life there. I came to Shenzhen at last in 2009. Although my work is hard now, it is better than working in a [big] garment factory [because I work mostly for myself]. My kid goes to school here. It is better than staying in the village because my hometown is in a mountainous area and my kid would need to walk several miles to go to school. I think my kid is happier than my husband and I were at his age and he is getting a better education that we did in the village.

M：What kind of dream do you have for your child?

你对孩子有什么期望?

G: 我希望小孩的生活会比我们强一些，希望他多读点书啊，做个有文化的人，不要像我们做体力劳动，像我们做体力劳动的就很辛苦。我们这个就很辛苦啊。要勤快做就攒的了钱。想偷懒就攒不了钱。

I hope that my kid will have a better life than we do. I hope that he can study hard and be a knowledgeable person. I don’t want him to do physical labor like we do. Our work is very hard. We can only make money by working hard. If we get lazy then we have nothing.

M: What kind of job do you hope he will have?

你希望孩子将来做什么工作?

G: 干什么工作没有想，只希望他们能干些适合他们的工作，他们喜欢的工作，他老说他想当老师，等他以后喜欢干什么就干什么。没有要求他。

I haven’t thought about it. I just want him to do something that he likes and [something that] suits him. He always says that he wants to be a teacher. I will let him make his own choice. He can do whatever he likes. I won’t force him [to do anything in particular].

M: Did your parents have expectations of you?

你的父母对你有没有设么期望?

G: 我爸爸也是个手艺人，他是做理发的，他就是靠这个手艺支撑家庭，他希望我能有个手艺养活我自己，他学理发的时候，我那个时候也喜欢理发，他不让我做那个事，他觉得做他那行累人，每天那两个脚都站得肿起来。所以他就希望我做衣服轻快一点，起码不用外面风吹雨打的，下雨都还要在外面干活。

My father is a craftsman. He is a barber. He supported the family with his craft. He hoped that I could learn a craft to support myself. I used to like doing haircuts for others, but he didn’t want me to be a hairdresser because he thought that it [would be] too hard for a girl. He needed to stand for a long time everyday to give people a haircut. His feet would swell from standing for too long. He wanted me to do something less tiring, like making clothes. At lease I can work indoors, unlike him. He had to work outside even on rainy days. (Barbers usually work outdoors in rural places in China).

M: What are your hopes for the future?

你对未来的期望是什么

G: 未来反正也做不了多久了，赚一点钱把小孩供上大学了，那时候就回老家啊。

I won’t be making clothes for too long. I just want to save enough money to put my kid through college. Then I will go back to my hometown.

M: Do you still have family in your hometown?

家乡还有家人吗?

G: 我老公他那里有个爷爷奶奶，我自己就有爸爸，没妈妈。

My husband’s grandparents and my father. My mother passed away.

M: Why do you want to return to your hometown?

为什么想回老家呢?

G: 中国人不是有那个传统叶落归根，老了时候就回去。再说我们老家有山有水挺安静的，是个养生的地方。

A Chinese saying goes that, “Though a tree grows ever so high, the falling leaves return to the ground.” I will go back to my birthplace when I am old. My hometown is a good place for retirement [because of the] nice view. 

M: Do you know why it is important in Chinese culture for people to return home when they are old?

你知道为什么中国的传统文化强调落叶归根吗?

G: 因为老家有房子，家里面也还有田有土，起码我们回去，他那个爷爷奶奶也那么大年纪了，要是有一天不在了，就更加想他们了，年纪大了要回去照顾他们了，身体也不好，现在他们有什么事，我们就回去住几年了。

We have a house to live in and land to till in our hometown. Our grandparents are old and in poor health. We need to take care of them. They don’t have much time left. We need to be with them. 

M: What is the biggest part of your identity？

你最重要的身份是什么?

G: 在外面打工的人啊。

Migrant worker.

M: You would put that over being a mother or wife?

你会认为你作为母亲和妻子的身份比打工者重要吗?

G: 三种都是，也是打工的人，是母亲是妻子，因为我是巨蟹座的，我觉得还是家庭最重要，还是以家庭为重。

I am a mother, a wife and a migrant worker. I think family is most important to me because I am a Cancer.

M: What year are you born in?

你是哪一年出生的?

G: 1975，属兔。

1975, I was born in the year of the Rabbit.

M：Is there anything else you would like to tell me? What would you like to share that we haven’t talked about？

你还有什么想说的或是想分享的?

G: 希望以后的生活好一点，深圳的房子这么贵，想给我的孩子买一套房子回去。还是希望有个房子，车子就快了，今年就打算买车子了，买了车子可以开回老家，只差一个房子了，最大的心愿，老家有房子还是不够，还是想在深圳买个房子给儿子。

I hope my life can be better. Although house prices are really high in Shenzhen, I still want to buy a house for my son. [My husband and I] plan to buy a car this year. We can drive our new car back to our hometown. We have a house back in our hometown. My biggest wish left is to buy a house in Shenzhen for my kid.

how does GAO think about her clothes?

G: 我自己做的。

I made [my outfit] myself.

M: Can you tell me about how you chose to make your clothes this way?

为什么要选择做这样的衣服呢？

G: 就是老板有一个裙子，我就不喜欢裙子，我就把它加长了一点，那个连衣裙很短，就加长了一点，裤子是自己裁的，我就不喜欢裙子，所以我就裁一条裤子，它原本袖子是个短的，我就把它加长了。

I know a clothes shop owner who sells dress. I got one but I don’t like wearing dresses so I transformed it into a shirt and a pair of pants. The sleeves used to be short but I made them longer.

M: Why would you want a longer sleeve?

为什么把袖子加长呢?

G: 因为我的胳膊粗嘛，胳膊粗的话这个就特别紧，加长点看起来就没那么粗。

Because I have fat arms. Short sleeve would show my arms but long sleeves wouldn’t.

M: How did you get the dress?

你是怎么获得这件裙子的?

G: 我不是买的，在东门那不是有个东门批发市场吗，我在那个老板就东门市场那改的。

I got this in the wholesale market in East Gate [a marketplace where you can buy clothes at a low price]. I asked the shop owner I know to help me transform the dress.

M: Is there a reason you chose that color?

你为什么会选择这种颜色呢?

G: 因为它就一个白色和这个颜色，我觉得这个颜色深点，白色不经脏嘛。就只有这两个颜色。

[The dress came in] only two colors. White and this color (blush). This color is darker so it is more dirt-proof.

M: Do you design? How much of your own clothes do you design?你会自己设计衣服…有多少衣服是自己做的?

G: 有些，有些是自己做，有些是自己改，像这样的衣服，我改了几件小孩穿的，小孩穿的连衣裙，就像我们这样的话，胸围大一点，小孩的话就平一些，就不用这么大的胸围。小孩子穿的这个短一点，我给我弟弟的小孩做，因为我弟弟有三个女孩子，我老公的妹妹也有一个女孩，我就是给她们做的，我就给那些小女孩改的，我就一个男孩子。

I have made some of my [own] clothes and I also change the design and style of my clothes into something I like. [For example] I have changed dresses like this into one-pieces for little girls. [Because] adult dresses [have a] bigger bust size, I would tighten the bust size so it fits a little girl. I would make one-pieces for my brother’s kids. He has three girls and my husband’s sister has one girl. I would make one-pieces for them. I don’t have girls. I only have a son.

M: Do you…. how do you feel about fashion and making your own clothes?

你为什么会选择自己做衣服呢?

G: 因为我十六岁的时候就开始学手艺，就是学这个，所以一直搞这个行业，没有换，所以对做衣服有一定的感情，差不多简单地那些我自己都会裁。

I started to learn this craft when I was 16. I have been doing this for a long time. I have never done anything else. I am attached to clothes making. I can do almost all kinds of sewing.

M: Did you make this outfit you have on a pattern or did you make it….

你是根据一个版型来做这件衣服还是….

G: 有个版，这个就是有个版。

Yes, there is a pattern for the clothes.

M: Why did you choose to do the traditional design?

为什么会选择做比较传统的衣服?

G: 这个旗袍好像有三年了，那个老板专门做这个旗袍，旗袍款式，我一般做得都是男装，但那个老板做得时女装。一般给他做完了之后有点布尾，一般觉得那个布太浪费了，然后有空就自己把它裁出来啦。

I made my outfit three years ago from a Cheongsam. That shop owner I know specialized in making Cheongsam. I mostly do men’s wear but that shop owner does women’s wear. He would have some fabric left. I hate to waste it so I would make clothes with that fabrics with the help of the owner.

M: Do you sell the clothes [you make]?

你会买自己做得衣服吗?

G: 一般都是送给我朋友，前两天有个裤子，这个裤子吧，我帮我那个朋友做了两条。

I give [them] to my friends. [For example] I made two pairs of pants for my friends a few days ago.

translation by zhu lei