millions of male workers who leave their rural homes to work in large cities can only have sex with their wives for a fortnight every year at least 47 million women live in rural china while their husbands work away   leaving them desperate for intimacy when they return 'all i can think of when returning home for chinese new year is sex,' one migrant claimed and now a series of photographs, taken in shangnan county in shaanxi province, has captured the moment many of these migrants return to their own bedrooms wang libao (right) and wife zhu chunlian (left): when mr wang is away, his wife and children sleep on a 15 metre wide bed but when he’s home, the two children are sent to stay with grandparents  wang libao, 34, and his 30 year old wife, zhu chunlian,  got married in 2003, according to a report by people’s daily    mr wang works in a gold mine in lingbao, henan province, in central china he said that because he does not visit his wife in their three bedroom house very often their two children are sent to stay with grandparents when he returns although he has been back for a few days, mrs wang said she is already trying to persuade her husband to stay for three more wu maojiang (left) and wife wang xiaojing: mr wu says he spends about 20 days with his wife every year  similarly wu maojiang, 36, only gets to spent 20 days with his wife wang xiaojing a year the couple got married in 2006 and have a daughter, 8, and a five year old son in 2013, mr wu spent ¥36,000 (£3,820) buying a five bedroom house for his family but as mr wu has works away, including in shanxi, shaanxi and henan provinces in central china, it is his father who lives with his wife and children jiang quanbao (right) and wife: in order to support the entire family, mr jiang has been working even though he is very sick  but for some couples it is not just working away that prevents sex work injuries are also common as migrants choose to take on dangerous, but high paid, jobs such as coal mining jiang quanbao, 45, works at different coal and gold mines he does not get to spend much time with his wife, who he married five years ago a few years ago mr jiang was suffering from back pain when his body collapsed the doctors told him he had kidney stones and would require surgery mr jiang said he and his wife now don’t have sex life because of his poor health qiao chengfeng (right) and wife zhang juan (left): mr qiao, who got pneumoconiosis from long time mining, cannot go out for work any more due to health, he has not had sex with his wife for two years  qiao chengfeng used to work at different mines he is suffering from pneumoconiosis and doesn't have the strength to lift a bag of rice the 31 year old said although he sleeps with his wife zhang juan, 27, every day on the same bed, he has not been able to have sex with her for two years on hearing this, his wife, who he married in 2005, turns around to weep jiang kun (left) and wife: mr jiang and his late father are both miners he has decided to stay at home for two more weeks in order to spend time with family  jiang kun, 31, who is also a miner, said the reason many men spend so much time away from home is because it is not possible to feed the whole family by working in a nearby factory he added that this decision was made despite many men being aware of the dangers of coal mining mr jiang’s wife is two years younger than him the two have a nine year old son and a seven year old daughter he said he decided to return to work after the lantern festival, the fifteenth day after chinese new year, because he wants to spend more time with his family huang jiao (left) with her daughter and mother in law their house ms huang's husband left home in central china on the eighth day of chinese new year to return to his factory in southern china  but it is not just couples who have been together for years that are affected huang jiao, 26, got married around six months ago her husband works in an electronic factory in guangdong in southern china and earns some ¥3,000 (£318) every month ms huang said every year she only has opportunity to ‘be with my husband’ for a handful of days – the same applies for most of her female neighbours zhu xianshun (left), whose wife died 14 years ago, is taking care of his paralysed mother in law he has given up the idea of re marrying  zhu xianshun, 64, has been supporting his wife’s parents since his wife died 14 years ago his father in law passed away and his mother in law, 85, is now paralysed mr zhu, who has four children, thought of re marrying but has given up the idea he says no woman would want to marry a man like him yang fan (left) and wife: the couple married three years ago and now have a little daughter  yang fan, 22, married wife chuan zhenzhao in may 2012 and now have a little daughter mr yang did not graduate high school as he went out with his father to work because they both are working in coal industry, the family is financially stable the yang family even bought a pickup truck – a luxury for people with his background mr huang (right) and his wife: mr huang suffers from pneumoconiosis while his wife and daughter work in xi'an  mr huang, 48, suffers from pneumoconiosis he got the disease from working in coal mining and was diagnosed in 2009 in 2014 he developed a more serious illness mr huang says that this disease cannot be cured and many of his colleagues have died his wife chen qiuqin and his daughter work in xi’an, the provincial capital of shaanxi his youngest son is studying in a university in xi’an the bedroom of zhang chengjun, 28, who works as a welder in guangdong  zhang chengjun, 28, shows his bedroom mr zhang works in guangdong and is a master of welding he left home with his wife and four year old son mr zhang father says long term separation is not an option for young couples although it’s expensive to support the wife and child in the city, the family will be more stable and the couple happier
china chinese new year shangnan county
at least 47 million wives live in rural china while husbands work away . chinese new year is the only chance for them to 'be with' husbands . pictures were taken in shangnan county in central china . mining is the most common job for migrant husbands   but is dangerous . work injuries also lead to lack of intimacy between couples 