Beijing housing market is keeping going higher. Although Chinese government has taken measures to control, it seems it doesn't work so much. In today's Beijing, more than thousands of people are seeking their jobs, pursing their dreams. Some succeed, some are still struggling, perhaps one of the obstacles for those people is the housing price.
Beijing housing price in November,2016
I met Dong Lin in the street near the Beijing South Station at early night. She was sitting against the wall and watching the people passing her. Dong is from Shandong province, not far from Beijing. You might not figure out her age at the first sight of her, neither did I. I would have thought she is more than 70 years, but later as I talked to her, I corrected my guess, she is only younger than 70. As chat went depth, I noticed she was a petitioner and wanted to talk to top leaders in China for help, obviously, she failed. She showed me what she wrote about her issues that shocked me a lot.
Then I asked why she didn't find a house to live in so as to keep moving. She said disappointedly, "I can't afford it definitely, the only thing I wish is I can live one more day as I'm getting older." She told me she eats swill everyday and seeks food from trash can, bread comes first for her compared to house. I was curious what she could do when snowed, she said she found a plastic shelter to avoid. Before I left, I bought her a cup of coffee and some fruits, she seemed to be more than grateful, that was the only thing I could do for her.
There are many street sleepers like Dong in Beijing, quiet a number of them are petitioners. They failed and stayed, but couldn't afford the housing price, even the cheapest, street is the only choice for them. Chinese government have taken lots of measures to care the street sleepers, like promoting the street sleepers protection law or setting the care station. The difficulties are there, there are so many street sleepers are not willing to be cared by the government which I can’t figure out why. I found a charity that helps sleepers a lot, especially in winter, the principal of the charity told me that there are many street sleepers but few charities, it is not only about the housing price for them, yet it is not all about government’s duty to protect them but all the people.
I became a member of the charity as a volunteer on Thursday to help the street sleepers in the coming days.
