1.   Police had been trying to clear trash pickers from a private dump, but met resistance from the scavengers.

2.   But a spokeswoman for the trash pickers denied that they were carrying any firearms.

3.   Every day the trash pickers fan out over the hills of garbage, usually in organized work crews.

4.   Tens of millions of migrants have crowded into cities like Beijing, finding jobs as trash pickers, peddlers and construction workers.

5.   While some hope that being a trash picker is just a temporary job, others accept it as a way of life.