Young Chinese Children Shining Shoes Behind Tourist Trap

by Fauna on Thursday, May 21, 2009 43 comments

From Mop:

After 10pm at night, we tourists were pulled to an essential oils company recommending shopping. Upon exiting from the back we encountered several children cleaning/shining shoes, the oldest only being a little over 10-years-old, the younger not yet 3-years-old. Begging “uncle, auntie”, saying each shoe shining was 2 yuan, many tourists could not bear it and all allowed them to simply wipe a bit before giving 10-year, 5-year, but no one gave 2 yuan. Seeing these children the tourists all signed. Everyone take a look, this was taken at night, so the quality is not very good, but this is definitely real.

Comments from Mop:

被冤枉负掉的方丈:

Everyone tell me, what kind of society is this?

And those little street-side begging children on the streets

just seeing them makes the heart sad!!

Don’t even know if we should give money or should not give money!!

eggleing:

I really want to say, the money you gave will not even go into their hands. The more money you give, the more children like these there will be.

猫扑很流氓:

Why is it like this?
It feels exceptionally unfair.
What are those government officials doing with our tax-paying people’s money?
This kind of children cannot peacefully enjoy their own childhood
and what more are working here
it is them who are lamentable
or is it our entire country and people lamentable???

youmengnan123:

The rich are too rich, the poor too poor. Bullshit socialism…going backwards…when we return to the original/primitive society this kind of thing definitely will not be seen.

weihot:

When I was their age, I only knew how to play all day. Who knows if these children will become strong businessmen in the future, coming into contact with money so young.

亦隐:

Very obvious that there are adults organizing them, and those people are exploiting society’s sympathy/compassion.

In the end, it is still a problem of the gap between poor and rich.

布拉格的麦田:

A country with trillions of US dollars in foreign reserves, a country that maintained double-digit economic growth for 20-30 years, a country that took foreign reserves to invest and lost hundreds of billions of US dollars, can spend hundreds of billions for an athletic event [Olympics], can contribute to other countries’ earthquakes and flus, a country that can help Africa and South America, a country whose civil servants are over 20 times that of developed countries, a country whose regulations stipulate a compulsory junior high school education that actually has children who cannot afford to attend even primary school, still shamelessly brags that this is the national conditions of China.

I am very curious, how can this kind of country’s “go-vern-ment” have the face to go promote people like Cong Fei and Bai Fangli [two people who donated a lot of money to help students go to school]. They are sick people and old people, and should already be enjoying the welfare this “go-vern-ment” should provide them! However, these people who should already be enjoying the welfare this “go-vern-ment” should provide them are actually doing the work that should be the “go-vern-ment’s” responsibility, for the “go-vern-ment”, when the “go-vern-ment” itself already completely has the ability to educate and help improverished children attend school?

I am already feeling embarrassed for you government officials. Yet you guys still have the face to say you are moved by their achievements! Bullshit moved!

焚天殇:

This thing definitely did not happen, our country has already become well-off, each and every citizen are all very blessed/prosperous, living very harmoniously! This is definitely fake news!

东方不生:

Read, Wen Jiabao handle.

猫扑人鱼:

The Party’s policies are good, but the execution is too bad, no one supervises! River crab!!!

起个名字麻烦:

Everytime I see these kind of pictures I sigh deeply.
This is society.
People like us simply are powerless.
We can only hope for their future to be a bit better.

蓝水之潘:

Harmonious society, right?
Harmonize it.
Everything OK.
Trash capitalism, is it better than us?
Does their milk powder have melamine?
Are their government officials richer than our government officials?
Are they able to play hide the cat [hide and seek]?
Are they able to do three push-ups?
Are they able to go hit soy sauce?
Do they have city managers?
Are they able to make 70 km/h knock someone 5 meters high?

feige0560:

Everyday I see this kind of thing, every time my heart is shaken, but, our power/ability [to change things] is truly too small, although…if helping them is no loss for you personally, then don’t hesitate! But if your ability has its limits, take care of yourself first, and do not create more problems for society and others!

hj394889199:

I am very miserable, I do not make enough money to pay taxes.
I am very happy, because I do not have to give my own money to support cadelle beetles [government officials].

等的就是这口热的:

Even a highly developed country like America has slums/ghettos.
The government’s duty is to make every effort to eliminate poverty…
but our government…

What do you do when you see this kind of scene?

43 Comments

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Relativist

Thursday, May 21, 2009 at 1:26 pm

shafa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reply
Kay T

Thursday, May 21, 2009 at 1:38 pm

poor children

Reply
Phobe

Thursday, May 21, 2009 at 2:29 pm

If the children are being manipulated or forced to do this then it’s bad. (Highly likely)

However, if children in general want to do this (themselves),I’m all for it.

Reply
- Jordan
  
  Thursday, May 21, 2009 at 6:26 pm
  
  Phobe, your first thought is correct. I’ve worked with foreign groups who try to help these kids out of these traps. Their network is huge, its in all major cities in China, the “bosses” lie to the families to get these kids from the village into the city, instead of factories that they are suppose to work in, they get the streets doing many different things to make money for the bosses. If the kid doesn’t make at least 50 yuan for the night, they get the shit beat out of them.
  
  The prostitution ring is more or less the same.
  
  Reply
  - Lewceein
    
    Thursday, May 21, 2009 at 11:53 pm
    
    Hey Jordan, good looks on getting involved. Can you leave the name of the group you worked with and tell us a bit more about how you guys tried to help? So many people here (in China, not CS) talk about helping beggars or other really poor people like it’s simply an impossibility. There must be some effective ways to go about it.
    I think that if there were some sort of organization (government or otherwise) or other network to which individuals could easily contribute, the prospect of helping children like this wouldn’t seem so risky or far fetched.
    Thanks
    So anyway, I’d be interested to know more about your experiences (especially about anything in Shanghai where I live).
    
    Reply
    - Kai
      
      Friday, May 22, 2009 at 2:32 pm
      
      Hey, you can try looking up Jet Li’s One Foundation or something like 1kg.
      
      Reply
    - Jordan
      
      Sunday, May 24, 2009 at 12:23 am
      
      Lewceein, I’m a bit busy these few days, as soon as I’m free, I’ll give you a reply on your question.
      
      Reply
    - Jordan
      
      Monday, May 25, 2009 at 7:57 pm
      
      This is what I’ve learned from my experience helping these kids. If you doubt my words, you can come to China and befriend some of these kids, once you’ve gained their trust, they will tell you what I’m about to tell you, although the details might be different from person to person, but it should not be too far off.
      
      One of the question one might ask is “Why don’t the kids just leave and go home and tell their parents what is happening?” How the boss get these kids in the first place is they lie to the families in the village promising work in a factory in the city, so the parents give these bosses custody of their kids, because after all, these kids are all underage. Once arriving in the city, these kids find out they have to be on the streets working/begging for money by selling flowers, shine shoes, wash cars and whatever that makes money. The worst case is they would be involved in prostitution. Of course most would refuse to do what their boss tells them, but after the beatings or threats of harming their families back home, they eventually comply. Some would try to run away but most won’t because first, they don’t have money, and second, they are too ashamed to tell their parents the truth if they could return home.
      
      The boss have a rule for the kids, they must bring in 50rmb per night, if not, they will not get to eat, and also they will receive a beating. The boss do let these kids go home for the holidays though, but most of them won’t say anything to their parents because of shame. The kids do bring home some money to their parents, but it is nothing compare to what they make for the boss.
      
      I know of one other group that do the same things our group does in helping these kids, and they are also a religious group. I know not of any non-religious groups that do what we do (foreign or domestic), but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. But I know the local governments don’t do anything, and I know they know of this problem. The bosses often bribe them.
      
      We start by making friends with these kids, after we gain their trust, we tell them our plan for them. The plan is to help them to leave their boss to come to our facility for education and skill training, afterward, they can go out and get a real job to earn money in a factory or whatever if they choose to. Sometimes we have to talk to the kid for a long time before they can trust us, they learn not to trust anyone after their experience with their boss, and we don’t blame them. They often think maybe we are lying to them, but it always helps when they see some their former friends come back to tell them we are speaking the truth. We help the kids leave their boss not by asking permission from the boss, they just leave. After they leave, they call home right away and tell their parents what is really happening with the life in the city.
      
      These bosses hate us because we are stealing their livelihood, at times they will move kids to another city because they know we are getting close to convincing the kids. Their network is huge. I don’t want to put anyone in danger by telling you who or where we are, there are just too many “who knows what” on the Internet reading this. If you really want to get involve, ask around, I can’t give you any more information because I just don’t know who you are.
      
      Let me end this by saying this thing won’t go away when China gets richer and richer, as some think so. If that is the case, the western world should have gotten rid of human trafficking, right? The last time I checked, human trafficking is alive and well all over the globe, and the problem is worse than ever. If you want to get yourself involved in helping kids, be careful, people that do human trafficking are not nice people, they might hurt you or even kill you if they have to.
      
      Reply
      - Santanu
        
        Thursday, January 20, 2011 at 1:03 pm
        
        Jordan,
        I am shocked to say the least that this goes on in China too. This is just what happens in India. Is it not China a Socialist country, a Communist country? An soon-to-be-superpower? One thing I learned: It does not matter what ‘ism’ a country is based on, as long as ppl do not have the fear of God in their hearts such bad things will not stop.
        I work in a anti-human trafficking organisation as a lawyer. And I say this from my experience.
African

Thursday, May 21, 2009 at 4:27 pm

There are kids ranging from 16,lurking on the corner around the so called united states..doped-up and cracked-up on meth with their back against the wall,the only difference is they dont shine shoes.

Help this kids,not publicize their misfortunes for neti-jerks to lash out on,and while some hypocrites would blame the government. You oughta blame whoever took his/her time to actually snap these photos and pasted it online for whatever purpose intended.

It’s just preposterous,seeing stuffs like this about a country like China,that just started to stand on her feet after years of decadence and poverty. Things dont just get better overnight,It takes time

My heart goes out to these young souls,having to earn a living while they should be somewhere in bed playin their toys at home.

If you were raised in poverty,these pictures should remind you of you!

Reply
- Billy
  
  Thursday, May 21, 2009 at 5:03 pm
  
  The kids you speak of in the US chose to (more or less, arguable point) do drugs.
  
  The kids in the photos are CLEARLY not in the same position. These kids have no choice. It is guaranteed (fine… 99% likely) that there is a “boss” in the background who works these kids like slaves. Your heart goes out to these young souls “having to earn a living”? These children are NOT earning a living. At least not for themselves.
  
  And why would you blame the individual who took these photos? And why should these photos not be posted online? How else will the injustices of the world be announced for all to see and hear?
  
  I’m sure you mean well. But don’t make arguments that make no sense.
  
  Reply
  - baijiansi
    
    Thursday, May 21, 2009 at 5:20 pm
    
    Wow Billy where are you from? You think all the kids working the corners in the US do drugs and like their life? Yeah right they choose this life, they could just work harder and go to college eh? Now i’m quoting you:
    
    “I’m sure you mean well. But don’t make arguments that make no sense.”
    
    You can watch “The Wire”, it’s straight on subject.
    
    Reply
    - Billy
      
      Monday, May 25, 2009 at 8:59 am
      
      I’m from the US. Where are you from?
      
      Nowhere in my message did I say that kids in the US involved in gangs and drugs enjoy their life. Please don’t falsely accuse me of things I did not say.
      
      I said that they CHOSE to (and I qualified me words with “more or less, arguable point”) to be in a gang. Chose to do drugs. And that is something I still stand by.
      
      Do you honestly believe that these pre-teen children shining shoes in China had a choice?
      
      Reply
    - Billy
      
      Monday, May 25, 2009 at 9:13 am
      
      And I can’t believe you are telling me to get my cultural competency and societal views from watching a television show that’s filled with sensationalism. You must be a very well informed individual…
      
      Reply
  - juntao
    
    Friday, May 22, 2009 at 3:19 pm
    
    There’s many ‘gangs’ like this but I’d wager a lot of them are more likely family ‘gangs’ rather than a boss that’s bought these kids. Look at the story of the beggar kids on Chinasmack, they’re all family members.
    
    Reply
- C&N
  
  Thursday, May 21, 2009 at 9:50 pm
  
  I for one agree with you. Civil rights and morals within a society grows as it industrialises and people seem to miss the fact that the industrial revolution of Europe is being consolidated within a period of only a few decades in China. Those poor children undoubtedly have someone behind the scenes but even if that is the case, they look reasonably well looked after. Freedom is a word used by those with food in their belly.
  
  No-one chooses a lifestyle such as this but perhaps it will inspire society to improve itself and become better for it. Judged by the comments, people aren’t heartless, just careless. Give time I’m sure the middle class in China with grow as will its sense of responsibility.
  
  Reply
  - Lewceein
    
    Friday, May 22, 2009 at 12:38 am
    
    Whats good Nasty? You’re almost as sexy here as in real life.
    
    Yeah, I agree that more people need to realize that developing isn’t an overnight process and that uneven economic growth is pretty much unavoidable. Poverty is going to be present in China even after it surpasses the US as an economic power.
    
    I’m also sure that people will become more and more socially conscious as the middle class grows wealthier – that’s just a matter of time.
    
    This situation, however, is a bit more than just simple poverty. I know that if society as a whole were richer, this sort of thing would probably occur less, but that doesn’t change the fact that this kind of manipulation of children is straight up disturbing (even though you’re right that they don’t look beaten up or anything).
    
    Most likely the only way for the underlying cause to be fixed is to wait as China continues to modernize, but, you know, in the meantime all these poor kids will never learn English and post crap on ChinaSmack.
    
    Even though you’ve gotta feel bad for these little kids, African’s message that “If you were raised in poverty,these pictures should remind you of you!” is a good reminder that lots of people experience this kind of poverty and it’s not the end of everyone’s story by a long shot.
    
    Anyways hope everything is good man
    
    Reply
Tim

Thursday, May 21, 2009 at 5:49 pm

Regardless, making comparisons from one country to another is fruitless.

This kind of thing happens all over in China…even in the city I live in it’s quite common to see little kids doing this kind of stuff. Often, their “parents” or some adult is close by watching the action to make sure you’re paying up. The kids don’t see a dime, and the horrible thing is so many of them are so young I’m not sure they even realize what they’re doing.

For a country like China it’s to be expected. It’s not due to a special characteristic of China or socialism…as we know other countries, even democracies like India have an incredible amount of child beggars. Then again, the equality gap isn’t quite as big as we see in China, and in a country that claims to be a “socialist” one, it’s a bit ridiculous…

Reply
- pug_ster
  
  Thursday, May 21, 2009 at 9:19 pm
  
  Yes it is sad, but not surprising. People smooching off from rich people.
  
  Reply
DWR

Thursday, May 21, 2009 at 8:50 pm

Good Lord, Chinese entrepreneurs are getting younger every year…

DWR

Reply
African

Thursday, May 21, 2009 at 9:54 pm

Tim and Billy

I wasnt making any comparison,wasnt even close to none of that at all,obviously “hill-b” didnt grasp the logic of my point.

I was just saying, Instead of spreading pathetic news of beggers and kids shining shoes,being greatful for the little change in chinese lives over the years shouldnt be that hard too.

But then again,what do I know.

I actually respond again cos I figured billy might still not understand what “baijiansi” posted.

Reply
VeerLeft

Friday, May 22, 2009 at 3:24 am

1) I really want to say, the money you gave will not even go into their hands. The more money you give, the more children like these there will be.- CORRECT!!!!!!

2) How odd that your moniker is AFRICAN.
This Chinese government can’t keep the INFANTS off the streets yet they have used every bit of humanitarian aid money from the last 10-15 years to infiltrate AFRICA. How? They paid off the top brass (aka. despot dictators) in exchange for selling natural resources. Then supply the arms with which to keep the locals quelled. The companies that they set up don’t hire africans…the roads and buildings being built by chinese are NOT in conjunction with African companies….there aren’t joint ventures…
Yeah…AFRICAN.

Reply
- FSM
  
  Friday, May 22, 2009 at 3:34 pm
  
  You sound British, angry that China has moved into your “backyard”. If the Chinese weren’t building infrastructure benefiting Africans I guess they should just demolish all the roads, hospitals and schools they’ve built am I right?
  
  Reply
- Chris
  
  Friday, May 22, 2009 at 4:44 pm
  
  How are Chinese actions any different to the USA and European countries who have been giving money and guns to governments for years?
  
  Oh, yeah – the Chinese aren’t trying to achieve any regime changes, and they don’t care what ideology the governments subscribe to either.
  
  Africa has had a crap deal from all developed countries. Why save your criticism just for China?
  
  Reply
Yin

Friday, May 22, 2009 at 6:30 am

I blame it on enforcement. China has child labor laws, but due the bureaucracy & police being corrupt, they’re not followed. It all comes down to government accountability: too little of it exist in China, where officials can escape punishment so long as they have the right connections, and local police are often their paid thugs.

Socialism? No, feudalism.

Reply
speedy gonzales

Friday, May 22, 2009 at 9:00 am

How quickly we forget!!

It was not so long ago that this was a comon sight in many big cities. Who remebers the “flower girls” in Sanlitun only a handful of years ago? Few of them over 10 years old, out past midnight selling roses to drunken idiots?! Where was the outrage then?
Things will improve. Things are improving. Don’t expect it to happen overnight!

Reply
rayfish

Friday, May 22, 2009 at 3:20 pm

Reminds me of the scum that slap some greasy crap on ur sneakers then ask for 10$ on nanjing lu

that shud be the epitath of chinese people

“not even good enough to shine your shoes”

Reply
VeerLeft

Saturday, May 23, 2009 at 7:44 am

I’m not british and I AM tired of trying to explain the differences between the past and the present and the future to anyone/everyone else. Chinese involvement in Africa is VERY different from other countries within the last 100years. They don’t want regime changes because the regime that allows them the PLUNDER is a good one, so that faction gets the guns.
The truth is that the Chinese plan is to move about 300,000,000 people TO Africa, to cure the domestic overpopulation issues. In the meanwhile their companies in Africa DO NOT HIRE AFRICANS and their projects don’t use African companies, so the local economy has nearly zero benefit. A few dictators make billions and the rest get NOTHING.

Reply
VeerLeft

Saturday, May 23, 2009 at 7:49 am

Oh yeah…BTW Chris, USA, Canada and the ‘developed countries’ have been handing plenty of ‘humanitarian aid’ money to China over the years. This money was obviously not going where it should’ve if the central government has the funds to make space projects and plot/execute takeovers of whole continents.
Meanwhile, many of the same 3rd world conditions exist right here.

Reply
fall

Saturday, May 23, 2009 at 12:35 pm

Poor children. A Beijing high official recently said once more that China (here China means the CCP and its government) feeds its 1.3 billion people. From these pictures we may see at least how some of the 1.3 billion are fed.

Reply
Mingin'

Sunday, May 24, 2009 at 6:49 pm

It beggars belief (oops!)that a worryingly large number of posters seem to think that morality is contingent upon economic development or, more extraordinarily, personal wealth..

By that reasoning, when I visited truly impoverished places on the Sichuan/Tibet border I should have been robbed, raped & fed to the dogs ten times over!

In fact, no-one there seemed to give a damn about a whitey. No-one saw me as a walking ATM. One family invited me under their tarpaulin (not even a hovel!) for a brew as it had started sleeting.
They asked for nothing.

Now switch to the scene above…
That Sabossin outfit – nice entrance, the place looks new-ish so why usher people out the back door /tradesman’s entrance?
Bear in mind that the coach dropped them off at the front….that’s a bit odd.

The company aren’t exactly what they claim to be either. Sino-Francaise, my arse!!

Their ‘brand’ – Cizelain ha-ha!
8 results – all Chinese so highly likely not registered, sold or even known about in France …

As for the company name, the all-seeing search engine returns nothing in French or English….only 122 Chinese pages.

Interestingly, there is one solitary page summary that has a smattering of English amongst the Chinese characters.

“…the company shown at the background is Sabossin…”

Now, if that’s not referring to something happening in the foreground (such as shoe-polishing toddlers?) well; I’m probably paranoid or something.

But maybe not! The site? hkreporter.com..& it’s blocked!!

It’s the tour operators. Afraid that their commission from Saboussin isn’t big/reliable enough, they have this little sting operation out the back door – even 150RMB per busload is better than nothing.

Kids like this are so often shooed away in tourist spots, certainly restaurateurs take delight in doing so. But not here? It’s compels one to conjecture that the store & the Yunnan Bao’an have *some* reason not to stop it.

It’s rampant (or should that be rabid?) development, not lack of, that creates both motive & opportunity for this kind of exploitation.

harumph!

Anyone Chinese care to check that hkreporter site? pls do.

Reply
Lee

Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at 8:16 am

life is so unfair, the human race should be extinct

Reply
Peanuts

Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at 2:32 pm

In Beijing, 9 times out of 10 these beggers always approach the foreigners but ignore the locals. Why? Can someone explain this phenomenon because I really want to know!

Reply
- Jordan
  
  Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at 6:09 pm
  
  If foreigners will give 9 out of 10 times, and locals will give only 1 out of 10 times, which group would you go for all the time? As to why this is the case, it could be the foreigners have more money to spare, or they have more compassion, who knows…
  
  Reply
esgh

Sunday, June 21, 2009 at 6:41 am

voi jumalauta!! siinä menee lapsilta nuoruuus töissä vaan ja vielä noin pieniä lapsia laitetaan töihin!!

Reply
Samael

Monday, June 22, 2009 at 10:52 am

english motherfucker do you speak it?

Reply
- Solomon
  
  Wednesday, August 12, 2009 at 7:15 pm
  
  She writes in finnish language. This is what she writes.
  
  I do not care about yellow people. They are filthy and eat chicken-feet. Who cares!!
  
  Reply
Johnny Cage

Saturday, August 15, 2009 at 7:01 pm

human trafficking in china is NOTHING compared to India and Eastern Europe.
At least not yet …

Reply
rosebelle

Monday, September 28, 2009 at 9:51 am

If we look at the root cause of these “bosses” that go to rural villages to either buy kids or convince the parents that they would take good care of the kids, doesn’t it make sense to eliminate the “bosses” from doing this by imposing a law that would ban kids under 16 or 18 years old to work in the streets? If underaged kids are not allowed to work in the streets, i.e. selling flowers and polishing shoes, wouldn’t it cut off the “bosses” motivation to exploit the kids? I know that these “bosses” would come up with other creative ideas to take advantage of the poor, but you know, I’m a true believer that everything you put in the universe will come back to you, good and bad. Their time will come and they will deal with them personally or publicly.

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sam

Wednesday, November 25, 2009 at 9:52 pm

kids innocent must be the adults responsible!!!!!!!!!

Reply
Foreigner

Thursday, November 26, 2009 at 6:56 pm

I have seen in Shanghai and Suzhou, child beggars with both hands brokens, all their fingers twisted, arms burnt and scarred so that all they can do, is to hold a bowl to beg for money.
it’s obvious that the injuries were self inflicted because they could have been repaired. no one leaves their fingers in this position.

Reply
AsianInCA

Wednesday, October 27, 2010 at 4:19 am

The DAMN chinese officials come here to the U.S. and spend all of the tax dollars from the poor chinese citizens!!!!!! It really pisses me off. They can be helping these poor kids, instead they waste their money on million dollar sports cars from europe and buying super expensive houses in the U.S.!!!! I love China, but I hate the chinese government!!!!!

Reply
Senor Boogie Woogie

Sunday, June 5, 2011 at 1:23 pm

In case you forgot or are enjoying your latte in the big coastal cities………

China is a poor country. Around a BILLION people live in poverty, and probably 500 million of those live on, literally 10 RMB a day. China has more people in poverty than people in the United States (China, to be fair, has more middle class and rich than the population of the United States.)

Reply