From Sina: “The Little Beggar”
These days, being a beggar has become a type of job. Large streets and small alleys, you can see them everywhere. Basically, they are all organized and disciplined. and wide in variety. The young ones organize behind the scenes so that the children and old people go beg, not for food, but for money. For some, if you give them food, not only will he refuse, he will also yell at you. The money they beg for must be handed over to those above them. Even worse, the phenomenon of holding onto young girls and not letting them go in order to successfully get money happens too often. Dealing with beggars has become a kind of burden. Dealing with one group after another, it is truly annoying. What makes people feel the most unhappy is using children only a few years old to go beg. Doing this is a kind of abuse towards children, a kind of destruction, that will result in great harm to their growth and psychological health. Because of phenomenon like this, all of society should pay more attention towards children beggars, and safeguard children’s lawful rights and interests. Towards those manipulating behind the scenes, society should also investigate responsibility, so that these children can live, learn, and grow up healthy like normal children.
The disabled man beside the little beggar directs his begging.
Is this his father?
He already knows from whom he should beg.
If you do not give, do not think of walking away.
Without a choice, she can only give.
He is pound of what he just did.
The little beggar that begs by blocking the road (he and the little girl here are the same age).
There are also those who are afraid.
Chase after them.
After all, he is just an innocent child.
So innocent.
The little beggar.
Avoiding the camera.
Comments from Sina:
单纯的色:
Whatever allows you to live is wonderful, hehe, so why insult beggars? Why do you not talk about beggar’s helplessness?
薛风:
To be a beggar, one also needs courage, because life is shit. But with regards to underage “beggars,” the government and society should take responsibility for their duties under “the Constitution” and “Underage Protection Law”…
e抽刀断水:
Is there anyone who can save this child? What kind of person he will become in the future???
正义的阳光:
What a cute child!
What will his future be like?
Pitiful, tragic, unfortunate, detestable!
鹏程520万里:
It does not matter if he is a professional beggar or if he was forced,
a child is always innocent.
When they see this kind of situation,
I do not know what the hell our worthy government is doing.
工人的呐喊:
How will he get past this winter? Who is that man beside him? “Father”, “relative”, or “bad man”? Is there no department to verity that?…so sad.
yueyue_0105:
These days, I no longer dare to believe beggars, chasing you to beg for money. Even though he is small, he is still a little…do not say that I do not have sympathy, I have already been cheated by beggars n times.
女人就是要性感:
So sad!! What can he do after growing up? He cannot be like this his entire life!
liuhuanyu165:
Professional beggar, there is no need to pity him.
These children are also victims, the detestable thing are those adults who use sympathy as their tool for making money.
Arrest them and shoot them all.
孤独鹤:
Everything is done to survive.
What they need is not attention but help.
No one with a job, money, or works in the government goes to beg.
Help our compatriots who beg to survive.
天蓝色的彼岸:
I do not know when Chinese became like this? Is it their fault our our fault?
The world should be perfect! But what is it like in his world!?? What exactly are we doing?!!
Everyday feasting, living luxuriously, and wasting!! Indeed, living like we have no conscience!! I suddenly feel the world is like hell!!
神仙pa左手:
The smiling face in the third picture is the same innocence as so many other people’s children!! After all, he is still too young, there is much he does not know or understand…children are innocent. The government ought to start doing something, right? … (Please allow me to naively think like this, Buddha preserve me!!)…
宛心:
Talking about beggars, everyone will very naturally think of that pitiful person with dirty, ragged clothes, extending a hand to beg. A sympathetic heart, everyone has. Facing those people who have such miserable and bitter fates, there is probably no one who would not automatically reach into their pockets and feel around [for money].
tfyt1984:
…the child is innocent, even if the person next to him is his father. So why are they like this? Maybe this is the only way to survive…maybe only such an innocent child can successfully beg for money. If it was just his father by himself, would you give? He is so innocent, so cute…look at this smile…little naughty…not a thread of hypocrisy. His innocent, anxious, naughty expression is so penetrating. Maybe life is just like this. There are tens of millions of people who are all like this…
213518260:
In the whole world, only in China is the “servant” [government] living a more comfortable life than the “master” [the people]! Only in China! The feeling of “being the master of one’s house” is nothing special.
aisizanyang:
Just like me, I was born in a very poor family. When I was one years old, my father passed away! But my mother would not go be a beggar!! In my opinion, no matter what kind of people we are, we would not be beggars!! We should have our our dreams and ideals!
石头石头:
This child has no shortage of cuteness. If you change him into a set of new clothes, he would be very likable. The regret is that he has “sunk” to this level. But as a profession that is not a profession, a beggar’s existence is inevitable.
给你微笑:
There are those who use our sympathy to trick us into helping. That is why people these days have all been cheated numb!! Therefore, there are those who need our help but do not get our help.
See more poor children in China:
- An Elementary School In The Clouds
- Little Girl Stands Outside Classroom Window Every Day
- Child Labor In Wuhan, Chinese Argue Good or Bad
- Volunteers Visit Homes of Poor Migrant Worker Children
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I remember once giving food to one of these child beggars to have them spit at us and throw it on the floor. The woman who was controlling her children was smiling and laughing away sitting on the floor down the street and they would run back to her once they got something. A natural reaction for children, they do something and they want praise from their parents. They grab on to your leg and don’t let you walk, etc etc. It’s really heartbreaking, and obviously child abuse. I do find it sad when people are afraid of the beggars though, local or non locals flinch away from the old man who wants some loose change.
The thing that concerns me more is that children get kidnapped and put on to the street begging for people who are not even related to them.
Kidnapped? Really? How do you know?
I dont buy it, there are too many times these beggars are not poor or feeble, some are lazy and some are just like the ones that beg then walk a few blocks to their new car or to the nearest dizhu card game. I hate it when a middle aged man with no disabilities and even has the nerve to argue with you if you dont give him anything, thats just lazy. Especially since so many beggars now are being “pimped” into begging. Or those damn fake squatter monks who travel around in a bus from location to location to mooch off everyone, all middle aged men with bad attitudes and extremely violent to shop keepers who refuse to give them free things.
I say if you got two hand and two feet you can work.
ps. some people are “scared” of beggars here not because of fear of poor people or something, many times the beggars will get you to focus you attention on them while another person comes up and picks yours pocket, it happens all the time around the bus stops in front of my school.
Sometimes it takes money to make money. You need a phone, work clothes, food, and often technical training or college.
The boy has warm clothes, so obviously the man has some source of income. Begging as a supplement to want the government offers?
I hope the child does is not encourage much longer to beg for money. It could destroy his education and pride as he grows into a young adult.
well, at least these guys have an excuse for living in a shit country.
now what about all the bums i see here? wtf are are excuses aye? get off your worthless fkn arses and get a fkn job fuck ups
fuck bums (here) piss me off. entertainment values aside, bum fights should be government policy, if only as a method of culling.
SB in LS,take good care of ur words, if u wanna be FKed ,FK urself not the poor homeless.Don’t like here? Go back to ur wonderland. U wretched barbarians. If I’d known u grew up as a savage, I would come on the wall, not ur mom’s pussie.
re: Samael:
You are seriously messed up.
@Samael, right thoughts, but horrible wording. Hope you are not British or Aussie, or I’d say that belonging to a substantially same type of disadvantaged group (albeit in a richer country) does not give you the right to pass f*cking disrespectful judgment.
Certain bums spend time f***ing, not working. How they expect to take care of children and mother?
Of course, some in situation difficult to get out of. Still, then they should not make babies.
That’s depressed. :(
Hey, why don’t some of those 1270 failed graduates start a NGO to help little beggars? People with sympathy would definitely pay for their work and they can even get funding from local governments who are afraid of “losing face”. It must be better than selling pork isn’t it?
I think you just solved three problems in one fell swoop USTCer!
The only beggars I give to in Beijing now are the horribly disfigured ones – they really do need help. I once watched a “crippled” beggar on Jianguomen beg for a while, then get up, dust himself off, and walk away just fine.
However, I always feel bad for the children. USTCer’s idea would work well I think. Is there something like that out there already?
I used to give some change to a beggar in Chengdu everyday to work. He was asking for food to feed his family and everyday I’d put a few kuai into his basket, until one day his f**king cell phone rang while I was passing by…
Hahaha, awesome!
@ Fuller
I can be wrong but as far as I know, there’s no such NGO in China. Similar organizations exist to protect educational rights for children though.
@ Pieman
Don’t be surprised – it’s not a big deal for beggars to have mobiles. Local mobile service (xiao ling tong) can reach as low as 10 RMB cents per minute (less than 2 US cents), sending a message costs 8 RMB cents and receiving is free. One month fee may cost less than 30 yuan (about $5).
Some of them even speak English, blog online and publish books. Check out this story:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/book/2008-09/27/content_10120250.htm
I was angrily chastised by my wife’s uncle after I gave money to a begger. The uncle said, “They have plenty of money in the bank and are just lazy bastards. You shouldn’t encourage them.” I pointed out that the guy clearly had no legs (you could see the stumps) and was probably not rolling in savings. Regardless, I pointed out, what sort of work can he do in China with such a disability? What sort of assistance does he qualify for?
It’s one thing to avoid giving money to peope who appear to be reasonably healthy and able bodied but what is wrong with giving money to people who have no options and no opportunities?
Seriously!
And I have bought ice cream and water bottles for little homeless kids before and they LOVED me for it!
They didn’t ask me for money even, they just wanted a sip of my coke so I took the initiative to spend a meager sum of 10 kuai on them.
I wish the government here would open homeless shelters or something….
Give them nothing! It’s a domestic problem and we are continually reminded not to interfere in China’s domestic affairs. Can’t have it both ways.
If they are genuine beggars, then maybe they deserve some ¥. Sometimes you got to be careful.
I heard anecdotal stories elsewhere that some criminals do kidnap or steal poor children to do their bidding on the streets.
Some beggars on the streets sometimes have a cloth with Chinese and English stating why they are begging and requiring assistance. I can’t verify if those stories are true or made up.
There’s only one way I know of to make sure that people who are obviously struggling get some cash.
http://shanghaiist.com/2008/03/18/too_much_money.php
In my state we fine people that give money to beggars. Yes you will be fine a couple of hundred for giving money to beggars.
fucking beggars. I give money to you if I want to . dont fucking chase me.
if you have energy to chase me, you must have energy to work.
Great post. I suppose begging is as old as human society itself, especially in times of eonomic or natural calamities. Compassion compels me to feel that “real” beggars deserve my sypathy and some loose change. Problem is there are too many “fakes”. I think the real question is – If every person on earth stopped giving money to beggars, would begging disappear from the earth?
How are we suppose to distinguish genuine beggars from fake beggars?!?!
Typo – Sympathy.
Typo – economic. shit. sorry can’t type properly today
Life sucks, what can you do.
Everyone is fucked up. Ha.
i don’t worry about the little beggars who is disciplined for his social skill, maybe he can adapt the social more comfortable than who cultivated well. but i don’t content with this phenomenon, it’s bad to our society and it’s the government’s responsibility to avoid these things happened. our officials and government always don’t do what they should do. where’s the hope of china?
Argh, poverty and begging in China, the eternal conundrum, especially for foreigners from places where they aren’t so prevalent. I’ve heard of all the rumors as well, that organized crime kidnap children, even intentionally disfiguring people, in order to put them on the streets to exploit sympathy.
I have to say the most annoying beggars to me are the pairs of girls/women who look completely normal but walk up to you and ask that you buy them bread. This has happened to me around the XinTianDi and Jin An Temple areas many times.
Check out this one, read the caption that goes with the pic.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paradoxiko/395343023/
Here is one with their story written on the pavement.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/photograffiti/2801977914/
@ fireworks
谢谢
I’ve seen a lot of beggars such as these and others in my years in China. Some of the things I’ve seen here are beyond description in words.
As a foreigner it is very shocking at first – but then you become desensitized.
What can a person say? Alas – this is a brutal cruel cold weird world…
I recently wrote a post on Crossroads about what a group I recently saw in Shanghai that essentially fleeced passersby.
The essential details are that a young man drags his family member out to the sidewalk to beg for money. To the casual passerby, it appears quite genuine and the efforts pay off. The problem is that 20 feet away are 4 of his friends having a laugh with some cigarettes, and they eat take their turn in acting the part of the distraught boy.
see pictures at http://china-crossroads.com/2008/11/24/credibility-gaps-the-foundation-of-chinas-civil-society/
r
http://www.china-crossroads.com
Check out this story:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/book/2008-09/27/content_10120250.htm
I can’t read Chinese… what is the story about?
@jayman
It’s a story about a beggar Xia Haibo and his book “beggar diary”: what’s his motivation to beg, supporting and misunderstanding he received from people. He said years of begging has already became the most precious treasure of his life, so he wanted to write a book to share with others. Finally he got a donated laptop from a warmhearted person and a publishing company agreed to provide 30K RMB to help publishing his book.
He now has a blog “A Life’s Passion of Haibo” (Chinese)
http://blog.sina.com.cn/haibo137
His book can be found at
http://www.no2yes.com.cn/qtrj/index.html
and there’s also a brief introduction by himself in English:
My name is Haibo XIA, a farmer’s son from HuBei Province. As all young people would do, I had beautiful dreams for the unknown future. Yet, I have been suffering from Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Disease, and have been roaming from a city to another in China asking for life support. Hoping to end earlier such a way of life as a beggar, I’ve been trying to live on my own. I wrote two books and tried in vain to make them published. Making them published still is the way I think that could give hope to my life. I appreciate any help I might receive from you. Thank you
PS. his blog has been visited for 886923 times since 08/2006. He introduced his book as
“A book of, though having an unfortunate life, holding belief in sunshine in heart.
A book of, though feeling helpless, being consistent in pursuing dreams.
A book of, though living like a grass root, never giving up goodness and honesty.”
The winner is Sinoseptic.
“Give them nothing! It’s a domestic problem and we are continually reminded not to interfere in China’s domestic affairs. Can’t have it both ways.”
Bingo. I wasn’t supposed to to stop the guy from beating his wife either… I learned my lesson.
@Veer Left
Hell Yeah! That’s right! Now if only people can be consistent, and stop interfering when it advantage themselves disguised as helping and not interfering when it doesn’t benefit themselves……
Jeeeezus, literally the day after I read this article here on Chinasmack, a team of child-beggars and their runners set up shop at the intersection I jaywalk through each day to work. I’ve seen children beggars grabbing other people, but that day was the first time a child beggar grabbed me. Sooooo annoying. And yeah, the kids don’t know what they’re doing, but they are good at it. They aren’t shy, they just come right up to you and stand in your way. When you try to walk they follow you. So I pulled a stutter step and faked the little bugger out. I didn’t play on third-string middle school basketball for nothing. Who’s laughing now, coach?!
And yes, give these kinds of beggars nothing.
Before that event, I saw a woman sitting on the street feeding her infant daughter out of a trash can. Who needs/deserves help more?
lol china
This picture broke my heart. He is so cute and has such red cheeks. Yes, he needs a home, a decent life and an education. Does any Westerner from park avenue wish to adopt?
OK, I don’t hold anything against beggers as long as they are 18+ but I draw the line when helpless children are forced to live this type of life with no voice or choice. Poor little rugrats, they deserve a better life.
I’ve seen at least 300 little kids like this in China.
I got sucked in by the woman holding a baby eating rice out of the garbage bin on the street. Gave her 30 kuai or something. Now I see her everyday at the same rubbish bin, sometimes with a different kid. Looking closely you can see she puts fresh rice into a small container in the garbage so that she isnt eating real trash. Even Chinese people get caught by this trick.