A special train carrying more than 500 migrant workers left the railway station in Suihua, Heilongjiang province, on Thursday for the rice fields of the Sanjiang Plain.

Zhao Zhongshan, 50, who rents 37 hectares on Jiangchuan Farm on the plain, was waiting to pick up nine workers from the train and bring them to his farm.

"Last year, thanks to the migrant workers, rice planting was finished on schedule, and I had a good harvest," said Zhao. "The profit from my rice farmland reached 120,000 yuan ($18,500). This year, I hope the transplanting of rice seedlings will go well and we can receive another good harvest in the autumn."

Due to the climate, the best period for planting rice seedlings on the plain is May 5 to 25.

Because there are not enough local farmhands, groups of migrant workers move to the area for three weeks every year. Most of them come from rural parts of Suihua city.