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From late 1990s to early 2000s, I often saw some men and women in their 40s or 50s, picking up rotten fruits and vegetables from the trash can at the backdoor of a supermarket every evening.

They were xiaganggongren (下岗工人, laid-off workers, or LOW). Due to unmarketability of low-quality products, countless state-owned factories went bankrupt, leaving about 30 million LOWs.

These LOWs only received minimal education and didn't have other professional skills, so they had to do the most menial physical labor, such as furniture carriers of home-moving companies.

Mr. Zhao (赵先生), my neighbor and a 62-years-old LOW, now is still pedalling his creaky ricksha to transport short-distance passengers, and earning a little money to barely make ends meet.