Begging – it’s big business

They might wear filthy rags and shoes that are falling apart but some of the beggars on metro lines in Shanghai can earn more than office workers. The same beggars who look so desperate and hungry are refusing to stay in official shelters where food and accommodation are provided for free.

Many of them come from the same county, many even from the same village where there seems to be a tradition of begging for a living instead of working.

Though begging on metro trains is officially frowned upon because of the way it can inconvenience commuters, Shanghai police can do little to curb this thriving business.

City police detained about 10,000 metro beggars last year but many of them just returned to their beats and resumed their work after promising not to.

"It is impossible to rely solely on police to solve the problem because beggars will always return. They have seen a huge market opportunity and they are trying to make their fortunes on the city's metro lines," Fang Yong, the chief of the metro police in the People's Square Station, told the Global Times.

A profitable journey

One day last week two women walked onto the platform at the Huangpi Road South Station of metro Line 1 at lunch time. One woman was carrying a baby and the other a backpack. They boarded a train but when they saw another pair of beggars on that train they got off and waited.

Followed by a Global Times reporter, the two women boarded the following train where the one with the backpack unzipped it and pulled out a microphone attached to portable sound system. She began to sing along to a pop song and walked down the carriage with a board hanging around her neck.

On the board was written: "This woman has cancer and cannot afford treatment or to care for her baby so she has to beg for money."

The woman with the baby knelt and bowed before the passengers, shaking her collection tin as she did so and uttering a "thank you" whenever anyone gave money.

The Global Times followed the pair to Xinzhuang, the terminal station. On this journey about 50 people gave money. Some passengers poured a few coins at a time into the tin, a few gave 5 yuan ($ 0.79) or 10 yuan. One man gave 50 yuan.

If the beggars averaged 2 yuan from each of the 50 passengers they could have collected 100 yuan on this half-hour journey.

"These two beggars come from Gansu Province. They always arrive at 11:30 am. They are very good at begging. They can earn 800 yuan on a good day and earn at least 500 yuan on a regular day," a street map vendor confirmed.

The map vendor works along metro Line 1 and sees the two women every day. "It is much easier for them to earn money than it is for me. I sell a map for 3 yuan but not very many people buy maps from me," he said.

When the Global Times, posing as an ordinary commuter, went to the police station in Line 1's Caobao Road Station and reported the begging, the police officer there was surprised when shown a picture of the beggars.

"They have returned again? We recently sent these women to a shelter and the staff there bought them train tickets and sent them home to Gansu Province. The child is not theirs but belongs to a relative. Neither of the women has cancer," the officer said.