Currently a journalist with the "News from the snake's mouth" from Shenzhen, Zhang Xinmin has been interested for ten years in the problems of population displacements in China. His work "the encircled city" comprises three chapters:"Borough", "On the way to the city" and "City". He tries to show the changes in the Chinese social structures by using a significant phenomenon: the integration of the peasants in the city after their departure from the country-side. The work of Zhang Xinmin testifies to the life of the peasants downtown and their progressive transformation into city dwellers. The details and the moments photographed reveal their living conditions and the contradictory attitude of the urban society towards them.