A way of life

Cao Duoyun, 68, lay on a mat with her husband Wang Changliang below the Haidian overpass on Beijing's Fourth Ring Road. They were begging for donations to buy train tickets, each costing 180 yuan, so they could go home to Hebei province. However, a large part of the 10 to 20 yuan they make each day is spent on food and water.

Wang has had a cerebral embolism (a blood clot on the brain) for five years. Despite many trips to the hospital in Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei province, his condition is unchanged. Last year the couple spent all their savings on treatment. Finally, in May, Cao borrowed 1,000 yuan as a last throw of the dice and the couple traveled to Beijing.

However, the doctors told them that the condition might not be cured even if they spent 100,000 yuan. Lacking funds, Wang admitted defeat. "I can't make money anymore and I don't want my wife to borrow," he said.

The couple has criss-crossed the Chinese capital in search of donations. Cao said they encounter many professional beggars in the course of their travels, most of whom are healthy and are simply taking advantage of the kindness of strangers.

Some of these "homeless" have rented a basement apartment and go out looking for donations on the street, lying on the ground like beggars. It has become a kind of job for them, said Cao.

On July 16, 10 people who couldn't speak or hear were discovered begging from visitors to the Beijing Capital International Airport. Some travelers donated cash, but others called the police.

The police said that a woman from Hebei province, surnamed Su, had been organizing the begging patrols, driving the men to the airport in the early morning and then collecting the cash raised later in the day. In a single month, she earned more than 50,000 yuan.

"Su recruited the men from Hebei and Hubei provinces, claiming that they could make good money," said Jiang Chao, an officer at the Beijing Airport public security bureau. "But actually, they had to give all the cash to her."

Su was detained on charges of coercing the men to beg illegally, but has yet to face court proceedings. All the men were released.

A homeless man sits outside the West Railway Station in Beijing. Cao Duoyun and her husband Wang Changliang live beneath the Haidian overpass in Beijing. [Photo/China Daily]