One of the 200 million immigrant workers in China has written a book to reflect the life of this special group. Mr. Zhou Shuheng, 31 years of age, spent 17 months on the 450,000-character Chinese-style Peasant Workers.

Zhou referred to his work as a novel. But he admitted that 80 percent of content was based on his own experiences or real stories he had heard.

Zhou became a peasant worker when he was 17. During the next 13 years, he worked many jobs, including plastics factory worker, street vendor, rickshaw cycle rider, building materials salesman, etc.

"I remember, at the plastics factory, I worked 12 hours a day. Monthly salary was 120 yuan (US$17.6). But at the end of the first month, I didn't get a paycheck. Instead I owed the factory 80 yuan (US$11.7)," he told a local newspaper in Fuzhou.

As he wrapped up the book, he started posting some chapters on a Chinese Web site and drew half a million views, as well as many comments. An editor of that Web site decided to help Zhou publish the book. Zhou now is negotiating with several publishers and he expects the book to launch by the end of the year.