THE crowd gathered quickly. First one man spoke up, then another, then another. They talked with remarkable candour considering the presence of an outsider.
The mood was ugly and bitter. They were angry. As complaint after complaint tumbled out, the sense of outrage was overpowering.
If Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, Li Peng, Zhu Rongji and the rest of the Chinese hierarchy want to know what is going wrong with China's economic miracle they should drop in on this Pudong building site on the outskirts of Shanghai.
Scores of peasants toil to earn a living far from their villages, driven from home by poverty and the rampant corruption of local officials.
Some were barefoot; almost all were sleeping rough in ragged clothes. The message was clear - their patience was wearing thin.
''Of course, we hate the leaders,'' said Mr Wan, from a group in Anhui province. ''Only a few village leaders are good. But it is not one leader who exploits us, it is the whole class of leaders. That's the problem. It is systematic.
''It is useless to demonstrate but if anyone starts the demonstration we will join them. I will support anything that can improve the living conditions of peasants.'' Another said if things went on as they were there would be riots in the villages.