China's exceptional female workers making their mark in industries dominated by men

Editor's note: In industries dominated by men, some women have shown their resilience and made outstanding achievements, breaking stereotypes and inspiring others. Here are the stories of three such remarkable women.

Despite her smaller frame, 39-year-old Tang Chengfeng has devoted 18 years to the grueling craft of industrial welding in Southwest China's Sichuan province.

In this male-dominated industry, the senior technician has mastered advanced welding techniques, becoming a national model worker, a deputy to the National People's Congress, and a National March 8th Red Banner Holder in the process.

"The sparks from the burning welding rod are so beautiful," said Tang, describing her love for her work. "When the rod is melted and becomes a neat welding line, it's like magic."

When she began studying a welding major at a vocational school in the early 2000s, only eight other women were taking the course. After graduation, Tang was the only one who managed to find a job in her chosen career path.

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In 2007, she was offered a welding position at Sichuan Chuanguo Boiler, and immediately her mentor, who was also a woman, questioned her as to whether she could undertake such grueling work. Tang's reply was an unwavering "yes".

Every day since she has lived up to that promise, donning her heavy workwear daily and handling welding rods weighing over 10 kilograms. Burns from sparks, heat rashes and swollen, stinging eyes were routine hardships, but none shook her resolve.

During the day she learned from her mentor, and at night she turned to books to hone her craft. At break time, while the men took it easy, she'd often practice her welding with scraps of metal to refine her skills.

A full day's work on the assembly line demands standing for long periods and often squatting requiring lower body endurance. To steady her hands, Tang trained daily by carrying buckets of water weighing 10 kg or more.

"Both male and female workers do the same job. No one is spared from heavy labor," Tang said. "I remember a few years ago when we were working on small header tanks — each one weighed over 50 kg. Back then, we had to move dozens, even hundreds of those every single day."

Tang was inspired by her mentor. "Though we have disadvantages in strength, we are more meticulous, especially with precision components. This attention to detail often translates into higher quality and greater accuracy in our work," she said.

Over the years, Tang has shown her excellence in tackling urgent, difficult and important tasks, maintaining quality products and guaranteeing on-time delivery.

Beyond this, she successfully refined the circumferential welding process for small headers and optimized preheating technology, resolving long-standing issues like uneven temperature distribution and slow heating rates.

Her portfolio includes the production of more than 5,000 metric tons of headers and boilers to be exported to Iran, Thailand and Malaysia.

Over the past 18 years, she has been promoted to team leader and has won numerous awards in welding competitions.

Her colleagues have given her the nickname "Welding Mulan". The ancient legend of Hua Mulan is the story of a female soldier who disguises herself as a man to take her aging father's place in the army.

"Our company is indeed quite large, and since welding is the most critical process in boiler manufacturing, we take it seriously. All our welders must strictly adhere to welding procedure specifications, and workers are only allowed to produce after they are given a certification after long-term training," she said, adding that the boilers serve a wide range of industries, including chemical, metallurgical and petroleum.

"If welding is not done properly, it doesn't just damage the product — it can lead to severe accidents, even casualties. So, yes, I've gained a deep sense of achievement and honor from this hands-on work," she said.

One time at work, she was struck in the face by a grinding machine and bled badly. "I thought I would be blind, but I was lucky enough," she said, adding that despite the injury, she's never thought of quitting.

In 2019, she became a welding trainer, and has since taught some 600 workers every year. Two years later, her own workshop was established. Tang and her team today publish essays and guidebooks for welding workers.

The right stop

For Liao Sha, an exemplary bus driver at Guiyang Public Transport in Southwest China's Guizhou province, some people's preconceived notions about female drivers are "nonsense".

"Female drivers can better serve passengers with their unique carefulness, empathy and perceptiveness," the 40-year-old said.

Liao obtained her city bus driving license at 21. In 2007, she joined the Route 15 exclusive female driver line, the first of its kind in China established in 1999. Since then, she has reported no accidents during her work, and has won a good reputation.

"I think female drivers tend to be gentler and more careful," Liao said. "Male drivers might prioritize speed, whereas women usually double-check for safety before changing lanes — unlike some male drivers who might switch lanes on impulse. In fact, many female bus drivers are just as skilled, if not more so."

Liao said women are more detail-oriented and assess road conditions more carefully. They pay closer attention to passengers like children and the elderly. For example, slowing down when an older person boards or even offering a helping hand when they exit.

In 2018, while driving her bus Liao noticed a grandma with a young girl who looked sick. The young girl soon became unresponsive, showing symptoms of limb convulsions and a bluish complexion. Liao immediately changed the route to a hospital.

"I pulled out the key, grabbed the grandma's bag, lifted the girl's feet and she held the head, running to the hospital," she said. "When I returned to the bus, to my surprise, all the passengers were still there. I apologized, but they said they stayed because they wanted to know if the little girl would be okay. I was so moved," she said.

The female driver team in Guiyang now has more than 30 workers, aged from 30 to about 50. Their route passes major attractions such as the Jiaxiu Pavilion, Hebin Park and the provincial museum. In 2015, the Route 15 team was designated as a "Lei Feng Unit" for its committed service. Lei Feng was a People's Liberation Army soldier and a role model of selflessness, modesty and dedication.

Despite being a bus driver for more than a decade, Liao's passion for her career remains the same now as on day one. "I thought, 'A girl driving a huge bus? So cool!'" she said.

Her pride in providing an essential public service overrides the lower back pain from sitting long hours, she said.

"I'm happy to serve the people. I believe every position has the potential to shine. Every job can turn ordinary tasks into something extraordinary," Liao said.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the mother of one voluntarily stuck to her post despite fear of infection. For her efforts, she received accolades, including being named as one of the nation's greatest bus drivers, Guizhou's greatest laborer, and a deputy to the National People's Congress.

Liao has participated in the customized design of two new routes — one targeted at farmers selling vegetables, and another aiming to better serve students attending school and the elderly visiting hospital.

"Women's value comes from self-recognition, economic independence and the belief that we have infinite possibilities, and every effort can make our world better," she said.

Empowered community

From her humble beginning as an electricity meter technician to becoming an industry-renowned skills master with multiple national patents, Meng Yuan remains dedicated to research and innovation in her industry.

The 47-year-old employee of the Guang'an branch of State Grid Sichuan Electric Power Co established her own innovation studio in 2014, after two decades of working at the front line.

A national-level studio, it has tackled key technical challenges in the electricity industry.

One such challenge was the corrosion of outdoor meter boxes. During routine meter replacements, Meng noticed the boxes, exposed to rain and sun, rusted easily. Replacing them required power outages and hours of labor.

"Could we speed this up without cutting power?" Meng thought. After repeated trials, her team invented a new meter box that can be installed without cutting power, slashing replacement time from 2 hours to mere minutes.

The invention won the Sichuan provincial excellence award for quality control, secured a national patent and entered mass production, significantly "improving efficiency and reducing costs", according to Meng.

In 2020, her team developed an artificial intelligence assistant for smart meters called Xiao Meng.

"This tool lets users check remaining power via voice command, offering real-time usage tracking. Elderly users can monitor electricity without leaving home," she said.

Expected to launch this year, the team has added a function monitoring household carbon emissions based on electricity usage to raise awareness of cutting carbon emissions. The device will be distributed free to some elderly people in need, while being sold via the company's e-commerce platform.

Meng has also helped enhance the data transmission channels of existing power information collection equipment. By integrating radio and television network fiberoptic technology with power data acquisition systems, residential areas adopting this fiber-optic transmission solution can achieve a 99.99 percent success rate in power information collection.

"Innovations aim to make electricity more stable, intelligent and user-friendly," she said.

Meng's studio has some 130 members, 90 of whom are young people. They have tackled more than 200 technical challenges, developed about 150 innovative solutions, and secured 94 national patents.

The studio has been honored with prestigious titles, including as a national-level skills master studio by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, and Sichuan's top 10 model worker and craftsman innovation studio.

The studio also serves as a mentorship platform where experienced workers train apprentices in areas such as rapid installation of smart meters and PowerPoint presentations.

Meng said the deeper meaning of her work is to "guard the lights of homes".

In May 2022 during the COVID-19 pandemic, Meng and her colleagues worked 22 hours to provide power for a newly built makeshift hospital. During the nearly monthlong battle to maintain power supply, working through the night and restoring electricity at dawn became routine. Yet Meng never retreated because of her gender. Whether hauling cables, transporting materials, calibrating meters, or connecting power lines, she always charged ahead.

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Her exceptional performance earned her numerous honors, such as national power industry technology expert, model worker of central State-owned enterprises, National March 8th Red Banner Holder, and deputy to the National People's Congress.

Her proposals to the congress have included optimizing electric vehicle charger layouts in older residential communities and thermal power plant expansions in Sichuan.

"Women have expanded their working fields in terms of occupation. For example, the power industry used to be dominated by men, but now many highly educated women also contribute to the sector," she said.

Women are also more confident in the workplace and in using their expertise. "We should embrace lifelong learning, take control of destiny and plan wisely," Meng said.

Contact the writers at chenmeiling@chinadaily.com.cn