Subway beggars earn up to 10,000 yuan a month

Two beggars ask passengers on a subway for money. (Photo source: east.com)

(ECNS) – Shanghai police have arrested 32,500 subway beggars this year, around 200 of whom are "professionals," according to eastday.com, citing a post on the Shanghai Metro's official microblog.

The Weibo post advises subway passengers not to give money to beggars, as many of them earn up to 10,000 yuan (about 1,600 US dollars) a month.

Only 20 percent of the beggars on Line 1 are incapable of earning a living, and the rest use begging as a job to make more money, said an employee of the Shanghai Metro. He added: "I know a beggar who fleeces passengers out of more than 800 yuan a day."

A police officer in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, said a beggar had bought two apartments with money he had bummed from passengers.

A woman surnamed Chen, who takes Shanghai's Line 1 to work, said she used to give money to beggars, but later stopped when they become too familiar. "I'm sick of them," she said.

"The beggars wearing shabby and dirty clothes squeeze themselves in the carriages, which negatively affects passengers," said a subway worker named Li Xiang.

Shanghai rail transit police have taken action to crack down on professional begging, but the situation hasn't changed much.

Li said he and his colleagues know that people are entering the subway to beg, but can do nothing to stop them.

Some beggars have been taken to "relief stations" for detention, but soon returned to the subway.

One subway staffer said: "If no one gives money to these beggars, they won't hang out on the subway."