For five years, Wang Xuemei, a 28-year-old Beijinger, has been a director in charge of a neighborhood committee. While the job sounds innocuous, in China, such a career move is considered highly unusual for a young, modern woman with a college diploma.
Committees link almost every neighborhood in the country and positions are largely filled by retired people who wear red armbands and keep watch, informing higher-up officials about what happens at street level. With the help of local governments, the committees keep tabs on almost every aspect of residents’ daily life, including such things as birth control, security and hygiene.
In February 2000, a few days after the Chinese lunar New Year, Wang learned that the local government was recruiting a group of neighborhood committee directors. Normally, retired or laid-off workers without higher education take these positions.
“I signed up without any further thought, and I succeeded. I was very excited,” Wang said with a smile. At that time, only 23 years old, Wang had been an office director for a human resources company for two years, and had a college education, majoring in finance.
“I am not a person who likes to sit quietly in the office, and maybe that’s the reason why I like this job so much,” she explained. “In my mind, there is no other job than this, which can serve the people directly.”
Wang said that grassroots community work is in a transformation from administering to serving residents, and she thinks it will play an increasingly important role in society. “I am willing to become a cornerstone for the success of this change,” she added.
While studying at college, she hoped to one day make enough money to take her parents on a trip around the world. “Now I’m afraid my wish will not be fulfilled. My income is far less than that of my classmates,” she said.
After a short training period, Wang took up the job as director of Beiwutiao Neighborhood Committee in Xicheng District. She said the poor office environment--eight people packed into a room measuring about 13 square meters--didn’t frustrate her, as she had steadied herself in advance.
In the beginning, Wang was overwhelmed with passion for her work. As a director of the committee, she originally thought that her job was just giving guidance on keeping the neighborhood clean and getting rid of mice as well as encouraging residents to participate in activities. But the reality was far different.
Under the guidance of her predecessor, Wang said that her first year on job passed without great event.
However, as the old director’s leaving approached, Wang felt the weight of responsibility on her shoulder growing heavier. She knew she would soon face all difficulties by herself. Shortly after the director’s retirement in June 2001, Wang experienced her first real test in the job, an experience she says she’ll never forget.
A divorced man in his 50s developed a mental illness. The only relative nearby was his sister, but the man would beat his sister the moment he saw her. Without any better solutions, the sister called the neighborhood committee for help.
Wang tried to help, and said the most difficult thing was preventing the man from leaving his house and getting lost due to the mental disorder. As neighborhood committee director, Wang shouldered the brunt of the work of looking after the patient.
Every day that hot summer, Wang would stand near the man’s door and keep watching when he left to use the public toilet, as he didn’t have one at home. “How embarrassing it was for a woman to stand at the door of the male toilet! Everybody was looking at me strangely,” she recalled.
More difficult experiences followed, and as time went by, Wang found the job much harder than expected. Two years after starting, she wanted to give up.
“I had actually packed everything in the office, and prepared to leave the next day,” Wang said, adding the work required much more than she could give. “At that point of my life, I felt I could see no hope for the future.”
Wang called some friends she met in job training. Two of them had left their positions as they had found better jobs. The ones who stayed shared their experiences with Wang and encouraged her to stay.
In April 2003, she moved to Guanyingyuan residential community, a better neighborhood down the street. After a three-month trial period, Wang was selected as director of the neighborhood committee. She was informed that the overall quality of residents in that community is good, as they are more educated and have an awareness of how to protect themselves through the law.
“Now is the time to improve myself. I have to learn more to communicate and deal with high-quality residents,” Wang said.
As Guanyingyuan is newly established, residents seem to lack a passion for public affairs and don’t have a strong sense of community. “It’s a tough task to mobilize the residents to participate,” Wang said.
Pointing at one of the buildings, she continued, “It’s a building for teachers in the community. If some of them are willing to work as volunteer teachers, then families needing tutors can save money. More activities can be held if more volunteers appear.”
After getting married at the end of 2004, Wang’s husband tried to persuade her to give up the job. Wang said she just smiled in response, but isn’t sure whether she can go on with the job if she has a baby.
“I really like this job,” Wang said. “When the community matures, I will feel my efforts are not in vain.”