中國，從1978年開發改革，農民進入城市工作，成為了不可檔的趨勢，這些農民後被稱為民工，他們遍佈於工廠、餐廳、建築工地、運輸業、幫傭保姆、垃圾工、理髮店、和妓院。 東莞，這座印刻著太多標籤的城市，是很多進城民工第一首選，每年有數以百萬計的打工妹行走在矛盾鋒刃上，從農村進入到城市，從挑剔的人才市場到忙碌的生產車間，從擁擠雜亂的出租屋到名目繁多的培訓機構，從燈紅酒綠的夜總會到幻想發財的傳銷窩點穿梭，女孩們追逐著夢想，但卻不知他們在追逐夢想的同時，他們的夢也正一步一步的走向幻滅….. 「工廠女孩」，為美籍華人女記者LESILE T. CHANG（張彤禾）於2004年至2007年間在東莞暗訪三年，深入接觸了以敏和春明為代表打工女孩，見證了她們夢想的萌芽與破滅，記錄下了中國工業化時代驚心動魄的一幕幕不為人知的故，剖析鮮為人知的中國…….

An eye-opening and previously untold story, Factory Girls is the first look into the everyday lives of the migrant factory population in China. China has 130 million migrant workers—the largest migration in human history. In Factory Girls, Leslie T. Chang, a former correspondent for the Wall Street Journal in Beijing, tells the story of these workers primarily through the lives of two young women, whom she follows over the course of three years as they attempt to rise from the assembly lines of Dongguan, an industrial city in China’s Pearl River Delta. As she tracks their lives, Chang paints a never-before-seen picture of migrant life—a world where nearly everyone is under thirty; where you can lose your boyfriend and your friends with the loss of a mobile phone; where a few computer or English lessons can catapult you into a completely different social class. Chang takes us inside a sneaker factory so large that it has its own hospital, movie theater, and fire department; to posh karaoke bars that are fronts for prostitution; to makeshift English classes where students shave their heads in monklike devotion and sit day after day in front of machines watching English words flash by; and back to a farming village for the Chinese New Year, revealing the poverty and idleness of rural life that drive young girls to leave home in the first place. Throughout this riveting portrait, Chang also interweaves the story of her own family’s migrations, within China and to the West, providing historical and personal frames of reference for her investigation. A book of global significance that provides new insight into China,Factory Girls demonstrates how the mass movement from rural villages to cities is remaking individual lives and transforming Chinese society, much as immigration to America’s shores remade our own country a century ago.

“出去”，农民工用这个简单的词定义他们的流动生活。“在家没事做，所以我出去了”，出去打工的故事就是这样开始的。 如今，中国有一亿五千万农民工。在南部工厂林立的城市，农民工在拉动国家出口经济的流水线上全力以赴。他们代表了人类历史上最大规模的人口迁移，是一百年来欧洲移民到美国总人数的三倍。 新一代农民工出现的时候，大多数人都认为，迁徙是一条追求更好生活的路。他们比上一辈更年轻，受过更好的教育，外出的动机也更多是因为对城市机会的追求，而不是受农村贫困所迫。 是自尊，而不是恐惧，让他们留在城市。走出家乡并留在外面——出去，就是改变你的命运。 当我想写本关于中国的书时，这个国家的农民工吸引了我——几百万人，离开村庄，去城市工作。直到后来，我才发觉，原来我跟我写到的那些女孩有着那么深的联系。我也离开了家，了解生活在举目无亲的地方那种孤独漂浮的感觉；我亲身感受到人轻易就会消失不见。我也更能理解那种全新开始生活的快乐和自由。 打工女孩的故事有某些共性。在工厂里你很容易迷失自我，那里有成百上千个背景相似的姑娘：在农村出生，没念过什么书，穷。工厂是做什么的从来都不重要，重要的是那份工作带来的艰难或机遇。打工女孩的命运转折点永远是她向老板发难的时候。那一刻她冒着失去一切的风险，从人群中脱颖而出，迫使这个世界将她视为一个个体。 在中国，外出务工已经有二十多个年头，绝大多数外国媒体都报道过工厂内部的恶劣环境，许多写中国农民工的书也并不真实。我希望能写点儿别的，写写工人自己怎么看待外出务工。我尤其对女性感兴趣。背井离乡，她们得到最多，或许失去也最多。