An old man sorts through rubbish looking for items to sell as crowds swarm Bamboo Pole to buy everything from firewater to firecrackers for Chinese new year's celebrations in January.

CHINA'S DIVIDE CHINA'S DIVIDE Population: 1.3 billion Rural: 737 million Urban: 577 million Average annual income Rural resident: $690 Urban resident: $2,300 Source: Chinese government's Central Rural Work Leading Group, Xinhua News Agency, CIA World Factbook Enlarge By Calum MacLeod, USA TODAY Liu Yulan, 50, watches her sons, from left, Liu Shulin, 18, Jiang Hong, 23, and Jiang Cheng, 20, play cards outside their parents' home in Eight Pine Three Village. Their reunion is marked by worries about the future and employment. Return of jobless strains China BAMBOO POLE, China  In times like these, people take their problems to Gao Guohe. The fortuneteller's services are available for just 60 cents — cheaper than a pint of sorghum liquor at the distillery down the lane, and far more sobering. "I tell the truth, even if it's bad news," promises Gao, 76. Lately, it's been mostly bad: Thousands of his neighbors have come home, some for good, after the financial crisis sweeping the globe cost them their jobs at factories 1,300 miles away. PHOTO GALLERY: The jobless flood Bamboo Pole From his perch on a bamboo stool near the town market, Gao listens to their worries. Some are timeless — "Can my son find a wife?" — but most are contemporary. "They ask 'Can I find a job this year?' " Gao says. Nationwide, the Chinese government estimates that the number of jobless migrants looking for work may reach 26 million — a gargantuan figure even by Chinese standards, greater than the population of Texas. Some of them came home to lush but poorer places such as Bamboo Pole that largely missed out on China's economic boom of the past two decades, forcing officials in Beijing and elsewhere to find a way to reincorporate them into the labor force — or face possibly dramatic consequences. "We must find jobs for the returning migrants, or there could be social unrest," warns Liu Yanguan, 57, the official responsible for creating businesses in Bamboo Pole. China's growing unemployment could strain U.S. relations over trade matters as the United States seeks China's help to deal with North Korea's nuclear program. If unrest grows, "China could become more belligerent internationally. It is in our interests to keep the passions down," warns Dorothy Solinger, a political science professor at the University of California-Irvine who studies China's migrants. Workers' protests defy ban Even the communist regime's strict ban on political protest hasn't fully suppressed public anger over the reversal of China's economy, which slowed sharply in recent months because of plummeting demand for its exports of toys, shoes and other products in the USA. Workers have protested outside shuttered plants for lost pay and rioted in front of government offices. The concern is shifting to China's countryside, where 56% of the country's 1.3 billion people reside in a world distinct from the gleaming skyscrapers and superhighways of prosperity found in booming cities such as Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing. For Lei Sanjun, 25, who spent seven years making sneakers in the coastal factory city of Dongguan in Guangdong province, government help will take too long to transform Bamboo Pole. "My hometown is backward. Just look at the poor roads and few factories here," he says. The average income for Chinese farmers is about $690 a year — less than a third of what is paid in urban areas. The shortage of well-paying jobs explains why as many as half of the laborers in Bamboo Pole, population 50,000, decided to seek factory jobs — and why their return is so problematic now. "It'll be a troubling year," predicts Victor Shih, a Northwestern University professor who researches China's economy. Many of the jobless migrant workers will stay in cities to try their luck, possibly at smaller salaries. For those who go home and stay, Shih says, rural life will come as a shock. "These young people were farmers, but they have lived in big cities, and their expectations are now a lot higher." Chen Xiwen, a top rural planner for the Chinese government, says new arrivals will face entrenched rural problems such as pollution and land expropriation. He encourages government officials not to use force to break up protests. The government in Beijing is trying to counteract any problems by investing in job training programs and new roads to boost the rural economy. "This is a big, historic opportunity to invest in rural infrastructure," says Wen Tiejun, an economist and expert on rural areas at Renmin University in Beijing. "The government must act now." Worries over work The mood appears calm for now in Bamboo Pole, where people shop with baskets strapped to their backs. Some traditions highlight China's ancient culture: For good luck, residents seek out Chen Xiankuan, the town's top calligrapher, who transcribes respectful messages to his customers' ancestors on posters, which they hang in their homes. Yards from the calligraphy shop is an Internet cafe, where the three Jiang brothers are together for the first time in four years for the Lunar New Year celebration. The festival was mixed with fears about finding work. The two older brothers lost their factory jobs, while the youngest works on building a kindergarten in nearby Deyang to replace the one leveled by the massive earthquake May 12. The financial crisis "is like an economic earthquake for us migrants, as factory bosses lay off workers," says Jiang Hong, 23, the eldest, who used to make insoles for tennis shoes. "I have been very depressed. Most of my friends don't want to go back to the factories, as the wages are low," he says. "But if we stay home, we The middle brother is in similar straits. Jiang Cheng, 20, made electric switches for toy cars until the factory went bankrupt in September, and the 30 workers lost a month's wages. Of the 45,000 workers who returned this year to Jintang county, which includes Bamboo Pole, about 13,000 lost their jobs or quit over lower pay because their hours were cut, says Liao Xiangui, deputy director of the county labor department. Local governments are trying to help. Sichuan province started offering $11 million in training vouchers, at $73 a person, to teach workers new skills. "We have set up 15 training centers for returned migrants in Jintang, and there are already over 2,000 workers receiving the courses," Liao says. There are also programs to assist farmers and migrant workers to set up businesses at home. "We encourage them to become 'little bosses' of their own," says Liu, the Bamboo Pole official. Returning migrants "often have good commercial contacts and economic knowledge. We can help them find an existing building or factory and convert it to their needs." Jiang Hong is turning his back on factory life. He hatched a plan to find a chef in Chengdu, the heart of spicy Sichuan cuisine, to teach him that trade. "I haven't cooked before," he admits, "but if I work hard, I could be like my friend who studied cooking for 10 years and now earns $1,020 a month in a restaurant in Japan. That's a job I could do when I am 40 or 50. Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more