Making ends meet . . . since China embarked on its policy of economic reform, millions of job-seekers have flocked to booming Guangdong province every year in search of work.

If the flow of job-hunters is indicative of the economic trend, then Harbin should be the next boom centre in the north.

In front of a department store in Harbin, women from Jiangsu province brave the freezing temperature offering to mend clothes, each job bringing several yuan in income.