The gang likes to play around empty trucks.

Shanghai launched a three-year plan to provide compulsory education to the children of migrant workers in 2008. By 2015, about 500,000 children of migrant workers were going to classes in the city, the Southern Weekly reported.

A boy gets a lift on his father's work tricycle.

For most of the year, they go to school like local children, but in the summer and winter holidays, they don't have the options local children have. Other children who study in towns and cities outside Shanghai also find holidays a problem as they often come to stay with their parents in Shanghai over the summer.

A boy peels a cucumber from his father's stand for a snack.

For many of these children, the Shanghai Jiangyang Agricultural Products Wholesale Market has become their summer playground.

A little girl sits surrounded by produce.

Located at 98 Jiangyang Road North, Baoshan district, the market had spread over 372,960 square meters by the end of 2014. Hundreds of stands sell fruit, vegetables, grains and meat here and in and around the stalls you can find families who have moved to Shanghai to earn a living.

After a truck is unloaded it's the ideal place to hang a hammock for an afternoon siesta.

Parents bring their children to the market early in the morning and while older children help mom and dad with chores, the younger ones have fun in groups or hang around their parents.

A boy learns about bookkeeping from his mother.

The high temperatures and the smells of the market don't seem to bother them - as long as they can play with their friends and make their own entertainment.

Brothers are best friends.
 

This little 'boss' has wrapped up a deal. Photos: Yang Hui/GT