Big bucks, bad backs await cotton crew

XI'AN: Liang Fengling from Longxian county, Shaanxi province, is looking forward to making some good money over the next few months, as a cotton picker in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

"This will be my second time. Last year, I earned 4,000 yuan ($580) for a month's work," the 34-year-old mother told China Daily shortly before boarding a train at Xi'an railway station yesterday.

"Picking cotton is really hard work and I have to leave my children behind, but I can make a lot of money doing it."