Fuzhou City
Fuzhou, the capital city of Fujian Province, has 1.5 million registered inhabitants and an estimated "floating population" of 250,0006. Substantial urbanization has been caused by the conversion of farmland around Fuzhou into industrial or special economic zones. Displaced workers from inland China also come into Fuzhou hoping for economic opportunity.
The people from the Fuzhou area have a long history of restless seafaring. The first Triad San Lian Hui originated near Fuzhou7. Criminal networks use contacts developed through historical smuggling of illegal goods to smuggle people out of China. Most of the illegal emigrants come from the counties around Fuzhou rather than from the city itself, apparently because the city's residents average higher levels of education and income than do the people from the surrounding area8, in places such as Changle, Lianjiang, and Fuqin.