Writing in an Abandoned Factory District废弃工厂区的字迹

Jiushuikeng in Guangzhou was once one of the most densely industrialised areas in the Pearl River Delta, where large numbers of migrant workers lived and worked. I first learned about the area through Lü Tu’s book New Chinese Workers: The Lives of Women Workers. By the time I visited, many factories had already closed or relocated. The dense rhythms of production and migration had given way to vacant buildings, rental notices, and increasingly quiet streets.

During one visit, I noticed the unfinished words “I love you” carved into a roadside tree, beside a person’s name. It reminded me of a line written by the poet Zheng Xiaoqiong during her years as a factory worker: “Huangmaling, all you gave me was pain, tears, and a love that could never be fulfilled away from home.” I began examining the surrounding trees and found that many of the banyans were covered with writing and symbols.

Some inscriptions contain dates, including 2004 and 2016, while others have become difficult to read as the trees have grown and their surfaces have accumulated dust and damage. Much of the writing concerns emotion and personal circumstance: “I love you,” “I hate you ten thousand times,” “a bitter life,” and, occasionally, words such as “brightness.” The writers cannot be identified, and the fragments provide no complete narrative. They remain as small and direct assertions that someone was once there.

Today, far fewer workers remain in Jiushuikeng. Rental advertisements cover the village, yet tenants are increasingly difficult to find, and few new words appear on the trees. The factories, workers, and social world that once occupied the area have gradually disappeared, while the inscriptions continue to exist, merging with the trees’ natural textures and wounds.

Writing in an Abandoned Factory District records the personal traces that remain after industrial production has withdrawn. Industrial relocation is usually described through factory closures, population movement, and abandoned space. These incomplete words momentarily return attention to the emotions, loneliness, anger, and desires of the people who once lived and worked there.

广州旧水坑曾是珠江三角洲工厂最密集的区域之一，大量外来工人曾在这里生活和劳动。我最早通过吕途的《中国新工人：女工传记》了解到这个地方。真正来到这里时，工厂已经大量搬离或停产，曾经密集的生产与人口流动只留下空置厂房、招租广告和逐渐冷清的街道。

在一次经过旧水坑时，我偶然在路边的树上看到一个未写完的“我爱你”，旁边刻着一个人的名字。这让我想起郑小琼在工厂生活中写下的句子：“黄麻岭，你给我的只有疼痛、泪水，以及一个外乡无法完成的爱情。”我随后开始观察周围的树木，发现许多榕树表面都留有文字和符号。

其中一些刻字带有明确年份，如2004年和2016年，另一些已经在树木生长、灰尘覆盖和表皮损伤中变得难以辨认。内容大多与情感和个人处境有关：“我爱你”“恨你一万次”“命苦”，也偶尔出现“光明”这样的词。它们缺少完整的叙述，也无法确认书写者的身份，却像一种直接而微小的存在证明。

如今，在旧水坑工作的工人已经大幅减少，出租信息仍贴满村庄，新的租客却很少出现，树上的文字似乎也停止增加。工厂、劳动者和曾经的生活秩序逐渐离开，这些刻字则继续留在树木表面，与自然生长的纹理和伤痕混合在一起。

《废弃工厂区的字迹》记录工业生产退去后仍然留存的个人痕迹。宏观的产业转移往往通过工厂关闭、人口离开和空间空置被描述；这些残缺的文字，则使曾经生活在这里的人的情感、孤独、愤怒和愿望短暂地重新显现。