Sun Yuchen, Tan Yifan

    cicitan2011@gmail.com

    AFTER having a day off Tuesday, thanks to this year’s 11th tropical storm, Typhoon Kalmaegi, Wang Hua, a professional tower crane worker, is now back at his office — a small room with glass walls at the top of Pingan International Finance Center, the soon-to-be tallest skyscraper in Shenzhen that is under construction in Futian’s CBD.

    Wang, 48, has to operate the crane on the top of the tower for eight hours a day. He said that each morning he has to take the elevator to the 100th floor and then climb steel ladders up five more stories to reach his less-than-1-square meter glass room.

    Such a journey is both challenging and rewarding, said Wang. He also said he “is finally achieving something” after 20 years of hard work.

    Working with 18 other crane operators, Wang, as the team leader, has to shoulder a bigger responsibility. He said he has to check the equipment from time to time for safety issues.

    To save money for his wife, son and daughter, Wang usually cooks for himself. He said he once spent four years in Beijing and didn’t have time to go back home.

    Now, with an annual salary of 80,000 yuan (US$13,028), Wang is satisfied with his work. He takes photos in his spare time, and some of his articles and poems have been published by his company’s magazine.

    Wang joined China Construction First Building (Group) Corporation Limited in 1987 and has worked on the construction of several famous buildings, including the China World Towers in Beijing and CCTV’s new headquarters.