[Photo/Fjsen.com]

Time: 5:30 am

Location: Dongdu Lu

Figure: Ding Zhiniu

Reputed as “beauticians of a city”, sanitary workers in Xiamen are clad in orange. These industrious figures are seen everywhere in the city, on high streets and back alleys, in blistering heat and freezing cold.

Ding Zhiniu and his colleagues work in shifts cleaning an 8,800-square-meter area on Dongdu Lu. Ding’s six-hour shift starts at 5 am.