SHENYANG, China — Not long past the break of dawn, after downing a bowl of hot porridge and dropping off his son at school, Zhang Yuzeng made his way to a street corner near the Nanyun River. There, under the poplar trees, he rummaged through his toolbox.

中国沈阳——天刚刚破晓，张宇增（音）匆匆喝下一碗热粥，把儿子送到学校，而后就来到南运河附近的一个街角。在那里的杨树下，他开始在工具箱里翻找些什么。

Pliers, check. Club hammer, check. Cigarettes, check.

钳子，有了。榔头，有了。香烟，有了。

Mr. Zhang hung a sign on his scooter — “Electrician, carpenter, plumber” — and pumped a techno mix through his headphones. Then he waited.

张宇增在他的电瓶车上挂了一块牌子——“电工、木工、水暖工”——耳机里播放着舞曲大串烧。他开始等待。

“There is no other way,” he said. “If you don’t show up, you won’t be able to make a penny.”

“没有办法，”他说。“如果你不来这儿，你一分钱都挣不到。”

Nearly every morning for the last two years, Mr. Zhang, 42, has advertised his skills and looked for work here at the Lu Yuan labor market in Shenyang, one of northeast China’s largest cities. Not so long ago, his prospects were decent: A day of painting walls or fixing toilets could fetch $50 or more.

在中国东北部最大的城市之一沈阳，42岁的张宇增过去两年来几乎每天早上都要到鲁园劳务市场，展示他的工作技能，寻找工作机会。就在不久前，他的前景还是不错的：刷墙或修马桶的工钱，一天下来曾经达到50美元甚至更多。

But as the economy has slowed and parts of the northeast have fallen into recession, temporary jobs have grown scarce in Shenyang. Restaurants are cutting back, and construction companies are struggling to pay workers. For the few remaining positions, the daily rate has dropped below $30.

然而随着经济放缓，东北的一些地区陷入衰退，沈阳的临时工机会日渐稀少。餐馆在裁人，建筑公司发不出工钱。所剩的那几个职位，日薪也降到了30美元以下。

At the Lu Yuan market, the days begin with muted promise, as hundreds of workers gather along the banks of the Nanyun before sunrise, smoking cigarettes, eating sunflower seeds and sharing jokes.

鲁园市场的每一天是在些许希冀中开始的，数以百计的工人天还没亮就聚集在南运河边，抽烟磕瓜子，讲笑话。

There are cooks who were once famous for elaborate buffets but now go hungry at night, and maids who spend their days tidying closets but live in squalid rooms that cost $1.50 per night. The workers wave signs and show off their tools, and pounce at the sight of halting cars.

这里面有厨师，曾经以制作丰盛的自助餐著称，如今要饿着肚子度过长夜；有白天给人整理衣橱，晚上睡在1.5美元一晚的肮脏房间里的保姆。工人们举着牌子，摆出他们的工具，一见到有车停下来就涌上去。

By early afternoon, after the street cleaners have swept away the last of the morning’s plastic wrappers and the construction vans have disappeared, the workers set out for home. Some wander the streets, depressed and defeated.

到了午后时分，环卫工人把地上的塑料包装纸清扫干净，建筑工地的面包车也都走了，工人们陆续开始回家。有的在街上游荡着，显得绝望而沮丧。

Shenyang, with a population of over eight million, was once a boom town, with its economy growing by 10 percent as recently as 2012. But under the pressure of a property glut and a downturn in manufacturing, the economy has slowed; last year, it grew by 3.5 percent.

拥有逾800万人口的沈阳曾经是个快速增长的城市，直到2012年经济增速还达到10%。但是在房地产过量供应和制造业滑坡的冲击下，经济开始放缓；去年增速为3.5%。

Mr. Zhang moved to Shenyang from the countryside when he was 18. With his knack for laying electric cables, he had grown accustomed to working almost every day.

张宇增在18岁那年从乡下来到了沈阳。靠着装修布线的手艺，他已经习惯了几乎每天都有活干的生活。

Now, sometimes more than a week passes without work. He worries that his wife, a waitress, might leave him. They have a 10-year-old son and a 20-year-old daughter, and their savings of about $3,000 are dwindling.

如今他有时会连续一周以上没有工作。他担心作服务员的妻子会离开他。他们有一个10岁的儿子和一个20岁的女儿，他们大约3000美元的积蓄正日渐减少。

“I’m sad,” he said. “I’m a man in my 40s, and I can’t give my family happiness.”

“我挺难过的，”他说。“我是个男人，今年四十几了，却给不到家里人幸福。”

As Mr. Zhang spoke, a beggar named Wang Baocheng appeared. Mr. Wang hobbles through the Lu Yuan market each day carrying a black trash bag filled with clothes and a statue of a monkey that he keeps for good luck.

张宇增说话的时候，一个名叫王宝成的乞丐出现了。他每天都会背着一个黑色垃圾袋在鲁园市场里蹒跚走过，袋里除了衣服，还有一只他认为会给他好运的猴子雕像。

This morning, his forehead was bruised and almost entirely purple. He tried to persuade a manager at a heat insulation factory that he was fit for work. The manager was dubious, accusing him of having a drinking problem.

今天早上，他的前额有一块几乎已经是紫色的淤青。此前他试图说服一个隔热材料厂的经理给他一份工作。经理不太相信他，指责他有酗酒的习惯。

“If you don’t hire me, I will lie underneath your car right now,” Mr. Wang threatened.

“如果你不要我的话，我就钻到车轱辘里去，”王宝成威胁道。

The man offered a 50-renminbi bill, about $8, and Mr. Wang took it and stumbled away.

那人递给他一张50元人民币面额的钞票，约合8美元，王宝成接过钱，步履蹒跚地走开了。

On another corner, Zhao Yan, 58, a widow, struggled to get attention from potential employers in passing cars. She was looking for painting work, but said it had become more difficult for older laborers, many of them illiterate, to land jobs. She wore a blue hat with a Superman shield to set herself apart.

在另外一个角落里，58岁的寡妇赵艳（音）难以获得乘小汽车从旁边经过的那些潜在雇主的注意。她想找一份刷油漆的工作，但她说上岁数的劳动者——其中很多都不识字——越来越难以找到工作。她头戴一顶带有超人盾牌图案的蓝帽子，以显示自己与众不同。

“It’s like a war,” she said. “Bosses are picky. They will choose younger people over me.”

“和打仗似的，”她说。“老板都挑得很，他们都喜欢找年轻的，不喜欢找我们这样年纪的。”

Ms. Zhao said she often did not have enough money for food, subsisting on pastries that cost a few cents. “Other people can eat cooked rice, but I only get porridge,” she said.

赵艳说她手头经常连买食物的钱都凑不够，只好吃售价为几毛钱的小吃。“别人能吃上干饭，而我只能喝粥。”

On a sidewalk near a gazebo, a group of construction workers cracked open eggs that had been boiled in tea. They joked that they lived in “lantian lüguan,” meaning “the blue sky hotel,” or outdoors.

在一个凉亭附近的人行道上，一群建筑工人正在剥茶叶蛋的壳。他们开玩笑说，他们住的是“蓝天旅馆”，意思是住在户外。

Still, some were confident the economy would eventually rebound.

不过，一些人仍然相信经济终将反弹。

“It can’t always be like this,” said Huang Wei, 58, an electrician. “It’s just like the stock market. After it declines, it will bounce back. But you never know how long that will take, and it’s hard for ordinary people to estimate. Fate is in the hands of the state.”

“不可能总这样吧，”58岁的电工黄伟（音）说。“这和股票一样，跌了就会升。不过也说不清楚要多久，我们老百姓很难估计，怎么着都是国家说了算。”

In a nearby exhibition hall, dozens of cooks gathered with cards pinned to their shirts identifying their specialties: pancakes, noodles, dumplings. They dressed neatly but not too neatly, they said, so the bosses would know they had experience. Workers who exaggerate their skills are often chased out of kitchens, they added.

聚集在附近一个展厅里的数十名厨师，衬衣上别着能表明自身特长的卡片：烙饼，面条，饺子。他们衣着整洁，但又并非过于整洁，他们说这样一来老板就会知道他们有经验。他们还说，夸大厨艺的人常常被赶出厨房。

Outside the hall, a bulletin board promoted a government buzzword, entrepreneurship, and urged residents to start their own businesses. The display offered brief biographies of an eclectic set of role models — including Walt Disney, the inventor James Watt and the radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi — and explained how the toy manufacturer Mattel has turned Barbie dolls into valuable collector’s items.

展厅外，一块公告板被用于推销政府部门天天念叨的热词——创业——并敦促居民自主创业。公告板上简明地列出了沃尔特·迪斯尼(Walt Disney)、发明家詹姆斯·瓦特(James Watt)、无线电先驱古列尔莫·马可尼(Guglielmo Marconi)等来自不同领域的榜样的履历，还阐述了玩具制造商美泰(Mattel)是如何把芭比娃娃变成昂贵藏品的。

“Innovation is the inexhaustible source of the progress of a nation,” read one slogan.

其中一句口号是，“创新是一个民族进步的不竭动力。”

Workers ignored the display, gathering by the nearby noodle stands to smoke instead.

工人们不理会展板，而是聚在附近的面条摊旁边吸烟。

Mr. Zhang sat on a stool in his corner, passing the day listening to music and talking with friends. He had polished and organized his tools, tucking them away in towels and plastic bags.

张宇增坐在一张凳子上，待在自己的角落里，靠听音乐和与朋友聊天打发时间。他擦亮了自己的工具，并将它们进行整理，用毛巾和塑料袋裹好。

When a black BMW 740Li stopped on the street, Mr. Zhang and several electricians rushed to the passenger window. A man needed help hanging a light. After a few minutes of negotiations, the car sped away: The man had refused to pay more than $30, and the workers said the job was too far away to be worth taking.

当一辆黑色的宝马740Li在街道上停下来时，张宇增和几名电工冲向了乘客一侧的车窗。一名男子想找人帮忙装灯。经过几分钟的讨价还价后，那辆车疾驰而去。那名男子最多只愿出30美元，工人们则表示工作的地方太远，不划算。

On days like this, Shenyang can seem especially gray. The river flows slowly. Arguments break out over jobs, sometimes turning violent. People talk about solving their problems by jumping into the river. Usually, they are joking.

在这样的日子里，沈阳可能看上去特别沉闷。河里水流缓慢。工作机会可能会引发争吵，有时甚至会演变成暴力冲突。人们说着通过跳河来解决自己的问题的话。不过通常，他们只是在开玩笑。

Mr. Zhang said he often felt frustrated by the uncertainty of the job market. As a child growing up in a village in the eastern province of Shandong, he had dreamed of becoming a soldier. But his family did not have the connections to get him into the military, and he did not attend high school.

张宇增说，他常常会因为劳务市场的变幻无常而感到恼火。在山东的一个村子里长大的他，孩提时曾梦想着成为一名军人。但他家没有能让他参军的关系。他也没上过高中。

When he moved to Shenyang in 1991, his ambitions were revived, and he became a carpenter, thinking he could one day be a boss. “I was like a newborn calf, unafraid of tigers,” he said, invoking a Chinese proverb.

1991年去沈阳时，他有了新的抱负，成为了一名木匠，想着自己有一天能当上老板。“我当年是初生牛犊不怕虎，”他说。

Now, Mr. Zhang said, he had no choice but to return to the Lu Yuan market each morning, even if his prospects are dim. “I have no other options,” he said.

现在，张宇增说，他除了每天早上回到鲁园劳务市场外别无选择，哪怕找到活儿干的希望渺茫。“我没有其他选择了，”他说。

A friend motioned to the water. “There’s always the river,” she said.

一个朋友指向了那条河。“你可以跳河啊，”她说。