Beijing Drifters
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New Beijing Household System is Much Ado About Selected Few
China’s capital, Beijing, has announced plans to open up full legal residence to more Chinese from other towns and cities around the country. The new points system will create a much-needed window for millions of Chinese who have left their homes in rural parts of the country to work in Beijing. But analysts say the plan is likely to only benefit a selected few. Late last week, the municipal government in Beijing finalized a points system for household registration, or hukou as it is called in Chinese. Starting next year, migrants in Beijing can apply for hukou -- an upgraded residency status, which ensures citizens access to public services in the capital, such as health care and schools, if they meet the criteria. Applicants under the age of 65 and with no criminal record must own local residency permits and have paid social security premiums in Beijing for seven consecutive years. Their employment, accommodation, educational background, skill level, tax payments, and credit records, among others, will be converted into points under the new scheme. On an annual basis, the city government will earmark a total required point total as the threshold to grant hukou as it aims to cap its population at 23 million by 2020. Beijing’s population is already estimated to have exceeded 21 million – more than London and New York City combined, but nearly half of those residents are migrants who do not have legal residence in the city. The new scheme could add an additional barrier to stop migrants from flooding into the city, although the impact of the curb may be limited, analysts said. Transparent, yet unfair They added that the new points system may be transparent enough to make the city’s much-coveted hukou less of a backroom deal, but it is still heavily skewed toward high-end talent. That, they argue, will not only hurt the city’s development as a balanced economy, but also put socio-economically-disadvantaged migrants in a much more difficult situation. “Before [the new regulation], I think it [was] not very clear – a black-box. But right now, it’s that, you know, whether you’re qualified or not. But those criteria are, to a migrant worker, [out] of the reach,” said Wu Xiaogang, a professor of social science at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). “In particular, the under-educated population in Beijing faces an unfair opportunity. It will be hard for the low-end labor force to accumulate enough points to obtain a hukou in Beijing,” said Hu Xingdou, an economics professor at Beijing Institute of Technology, adding that much of the city’s regulation such as house rental policies has already been unfriendly to lowly-paid blue collars. Citing experience from Shanghai and Guangzhou, Lu Yilong, a sociology professor from Renmin University, argued that only the top one percent of applicants will likely be awarded with hukou, that is, “a small window for the selected few.” Yet the new scheme may swamp the city government with millions of applications a year, which will surely impose a burden on its coffers, Lu warned in an emailed reply to VOA. The professor said access to top-quality higher education is the Holy Grail behind hukou in top-tier cities like Beijing and Shanghai. If equal opportunity is addressed, the pressure of gaining a hukou in Beijing will be much alleviated, he said. While some “Beijing drifters” look forward to competing for a hukou, the majority, nevertheless, responded to the new household system with indifference. “It gives you hope that, if you work hard and earn enough points, you can become a Beijinger. But the hope will never come true,” a Weibo user commented. Another user sneered at the high bar for Beijing citizenship and asked “shall those who can’t meet the [new] bar have their existing household permits revoked?” Migrants to stay All in all, Wu of HKUST said that the new scheme will do little to reduce the migrant population if it still offers job opportunities they can’t find back home. In other words, Beijing will continue to suffer worsening congestion and pollution if the local government fails to ease population numbers. Many argued that the best cure doesn’t lie in the capital city, but in the nation’s efforts to develop many of its second-tier cities, where growing job opportunities will naturally attract the flows of migrants. But the Beijing government’s mindset to attempt to keep the low-end labor force out shows a lack of vision to build Beijing into a balanced economy, where there should be room for all walks of life to prosper, professor Hu said. Otherwise, the cost of living in Beijing will greatly surge, he warned.
Beijing Drifters Two drifters of Beijing explain why not having a permanent residence isn’t such a bad way to live
The term “Beijing drifters” is used to refer to those who live and work in Beijing without a Beijinghukou (registered residency permit). It is an all-expansive term that applies to anyone from college graduates to people struggling just to get by. One could also interpret it as a reference to the phenomenon of increased migration that has occurred in China since the reform and opening up policies took hold. Some say that being a “drifter” has a deeper meaning: a rootless and insecure soul who doesn’t belong anywhere. Ask a drifter and you’ll find otherwise, for behind these vagabonds usually lies a person who expects nothing and fears no one; a person who is free. Let’s take a look at two Beijing drifters. Xiong Rui: 24-year-old radio DJ, Xiong Rui, comes from Hubei Province. Xiong worked in Shanghai prior to arriving in Beijing in 2008. One of SOHO’s (Small Office/Home Office) many tenants, he works primarily from home. Xiong Rui’s studio is a mix of console, computer, microphone and one giant desk. Everyday he downloads more than 400M worth of material, comes up with his own skits, records his program, and sends it off to the radio station. For breaks from the graveyard shift, he enjoys taking long walks down empty streets, stopping only for cigarettes along the way. Perhaps the only one who shares Xiong’s nocturnal sleeping schedule is his best buddy and companion, the quiet Mu Cun. Xiong’s atypical routine is “half up to my work and half up to me.” “I expect Beijing to be one of many stops in my life,” said Xiong. Li Xian: Hailing from Hunan, 25-year-old Li Xian is on the cusp of graduating with a degree in film. Her thesis, job-hunting and internship have taken the forefront in her life. As a result, tidiness has been put on the backburner—much to the dismay of her three roommates. Living a life on the run is much like crossing the wide streets—it just doesn’t feel safe somehow. Li’s short-term goals include a good job, nice apartment, and above all a completely independent lifestyle in the nation’s capital.
Beijing drifters in pursuit of better life
"When I first arrived in Beijing, I realized how big the city is," recalled a beipiao, or Beijing drifter, which refers to those who struggle to make a living in Beijing, at a BBS online forum. "Every day, I breathed the dry air and was troubled by heavy traffic. My meagre income seemed to be incompatible with the city." Despite the hard life, living in Beijing can provide something different. "I gradually began to feel its inclusiveness. I came across to different opportunities, and I can choose. Then I saw a good future here," the beipiao said. A group of Beijing drifters at different ages tell their stories in the city in response to the question of why they still continue living in Beijing despite their stated daily life struggles. Jing Rong in his 20s Jing Rong is from northwest China's Gansu province. After graduating from a university in Hebei, he worked at a company in Shandong province. However, he found himself not able to adapt to the job. Later, he quit his job and started a master program in a normal university in Beijing after which he became a teacher in a key secondary school in a Beijing suburban county. "I attended the graduate school to become a teacher. I think teaching is a stable job in the long term, and it can help get household registration in Beijing," said Jing. For him, Beijing has advantages in educational resources and there are plenty of job opportunities. "In Beijing, I can compete with others fairly just relying on my own abilities, while in some small cities, competitors may use their connections, if any, when looking for jobs," he added. Zhang Yang in his 30s Zhang Yang is from a village in Shenyang city, northeast China's Liaoning province. He attended the graduate school in Beijing and stayed in the city following graduation, which is a typical path for a beipiao. Recently, he switched jobs from a TV station to an Internet video company as the director of overseas operations. He explained that he wanted to make a new beginning before getting old. "I love Beijing because it is all-embracing. Historic side-streets may be right beside the commercial streets full of high-rise buildings. Beijing attracts various resources from across the country and there are many good job positions. I can look forward to a better future here," Zhang stressed. But sometimes he also gets frustrated by the capital’s heavy traffic, air pollution and high cost of living. "The city is too large and too crowded. Competition here is fierce. And I always feel myself a stranger without friends and families around," he sighed with emotion. "The pace of work at the Internet companies is very fast. I put most of my energy into getting familiar with business and establishing teams. Sometimes I am too busy to even remember to eat. Sometimes I work overtime until very late hours," Zhang added. Although the work is tiring, he, however, feels fulfilled every day. Zhang Cheng in his 40s Zhang Cheng, born in 1972 in Guangdong province, came to Beijing alone in 2000 and became one of the Beijing drifters. The 43-year-old Zhang did not care about the tag beipiao. "When I first came to Beijing, I rented a basement room in Madian and found a job in Zhongguancun thanks to computer skills I learned by myself. I remember clearly the salary was 1,700 yuan ($274.21) per month at that time," Zhang said. "Though I remained poor, as before, for some time longer, I realized I could win a place with my own ability. I think this only happens in Beijing," he added. He shared his more than 10-year experience in Beijing by saying, "In Beijing, you will get to know where the pulse of China beats. To be more specific, you don't need to be conspicuous. You can go by the current, but what you do should always follow, or be close to, the trends." "Do not give up the pursuit of ideal life, fearing temporary poverty. Otherwise, you'd better stay in your hometown and live in peace and at ease," he warned. Zhang organized a team to develop high-end tourism online ordering service after some job-hopping in 2014. "My team members are a group of energetic beipiao. They firmly believe that they are qualified for a better life, so they choose to stay in Beijing," he explained. "Someone may dislike Beijing's fast pace of life. However, that is what urges you to learn fast by way of trial and error. If you are a designer here, your workload may be dozens of times that in small cities, but working with genius and seeing how they solve the problems you cannot deal with is a worthwhile experience, as well as fortune," Zhang said. CEO Zhang has already planned next three years' work and life in Beijing, which will be mainly about financing and possible IPO of his company. He believes that personnel and products are similar in certain sense. In Beijing, however, there are plenty of opportunities for people to materialize their talent and skills.
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1 They left their hometowns and aspire to realize their dreams in this metropolis despite challenges like heavy traffic and sky-high housing prices. We take you into the lives of some of the Beijing drifters and dream chasers.
2 These Beijing drifters sometimes flee from inheriting the life of rural farming of their parents, to see what urban China has to offer them, while others come for opportunities - to study or to build a career.
3 Children perform during a spring festival gala held for beijing drifters in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 14, 2013.