The Management Measures on Safety Operations of Beijing Track Transportation (a draft submission for examination and approval) has begun to solicit people's opinions on the website, www.beijing.gov.cn. The draft says that begging, performing, smoking and lying down are now all forbidden on the Beijing subway. Of these, the inclusion in the draft of forbidding begging and performing in the subway has caused some controversy.

An article lately publicized by the Qilu Evening Paper pointed out that Beijing should think some more about this. The article says it is true that quite a large number of people don't like being disturbed by beggars. It is understandable that the safety and image of a city are important but survival rights and personal freedoms of individuals are more important, the article claims. It also points out that beggars are one of the most vulnerable groups in the city. They sacrifice their dignity in order to survive. More care and attention should be given to the quality of their lives and personal rights.

There are many ways to build up the city's image and guard its safety. In order to set up a really modernized and civilized country, the rights of beggars need to be seriously dealt with, the article goes on to say.

Recently, reporters from the Beijing News interviewed people relevant to the subject at the Beijing Subway Operation Company. According to the introduction, the phenomena of begging and performing in the Beijing subway can be traced back to the beginning of the 1980s. At that time, few people were begging and performing there. By the end of the 1990s, with the large number of people from other places flocking into the capital and an increase in the migrant population, beggars and performers have gradually increased.

It is reported that the total current length of the Beijing subway is 95 kilometers. It runs over 20 hours everyday and transports over 1.3 million passengers in that time. At present, beggars and performers in the subway are much fewer than those in railway stations or on prosperous business streets. The reason for the need to beg in the subway is because, with huge crowds of people and a warmer and more comfortable environment, facilities there suit their needs. Now, Wangfujing Avenue and the subway interchange stations such as Fuxingmen and Jianguomen are places where most beggars and performers gather.

According to people in Beijing Subway Operation Company, there are two kinds of beggars: one who makes begging a profession and gains money through fraud; the other are those who fail to find job in Beijing or wander homeless on the streets. The first kind of beggar should be firmly banned, they say. Government departments and a more socially aware society should help the second kind.

On December 9, reporters from the Beijing News conducted an investigation on the living conditions and life of beggars and wandering singers in subway stations across Beijing. Here is what they discovered.

"It's warmer in subway stations"

Time: 15:00
Location: Subway Station of Tiananmen East
Interviewee: an old man surnamed Wang (real name unknown)
Age: 78
Hometown: Fuyang County of east China's Anhui Province
Time of begging: three months

The subway station is quiet with few passengers passing through. Ticket collectors appear very much at ease. Policemen occasionally patrol back and forth. There are no more than 30 people in the station. One traveler says few people usually take the subway at Tiananmen East. On the spacious platform, an old man with a crutch, holding several one-yuan notes, begs. Nobody is performing outside the station or in the passageway.

"My house flooded," the old beggar says. With five children, three girls and two boys, he can barely eke out a living. He came out in order to reduce some of the family burden.

"My children didn't want me to go out," the old man says slowly, so he didn't tell them. He sneaked out while they were farming in the fields. Together with him, three others went out from their hometown and rented a house with a monthly rent of 230 yuan (US$28) near the Fourth Ring Road in Beijing.

"The subway is much warmer," he says. He has few clothes on and keeps rubbing his runny nose. "In fact, we prefer to beg outside of the subway, as outside, the world is bigger and we can beg more money."

"But it is easier to beg in here, because during the time of going to work or getting off work, there are lots of people in the subway and we just sit here without moving. When we are on the ground, people usually move away from us when we stretch out our hands."

In addition to over five yuan spent on taking the bus and subway, the monthly house rent of 80 yuan (US$9) and several yuan for lunch and dinner, he says "I have four to five hundred yuan left every month."

"I will be able to bring money back to my hometown," he says. He will go home for the Spring Festival in a couple of days. "I haven't seen my grandson for a long time!"

When informed that Beijing will issue regulations forbidding begging in the subway, Wang has no special reaction. He says quietly, "I will go outside. If it's forbidden there, I will go back to my hometown in Anhui Province."

Time: 15:44
Location: Xidan Subway Station
Interviewee: a pair of brothers (elder one is blind)
Age: 57, 54
Hometown: Pingyuan County of east China's Shandong Province
Begging time: two months

There are five exits in Xindan subway station. There are 8 beggars there.

On the long stairs at exit 'E', which divides into three sections, each section has a woman beggar, sitting.

Their bodies are huddled, and with their hands folded they make deep bows. They glance at passengers passing by. Their bowls are empty.

At exit 'A', a 75-year-old beggar lazily raises a porcelain bowl and extends it out to passengers, mumbling. When the reporter puts three jiaos (10 jiaos=1 yuan) into the bowl, he shakes it and says: "If they all gave as little as you just did, I wouldn't even earn money for dinner."

A blind man named Ma, wearing a blue-wadded jacket and an old peaked cap, holds a long wooden stick in his right hand, his left hand tightly gripping his brother's sleeve. He follows his brother silently and they wander in front of the ticket window.

The younger man has gray whiskers and is dressed like his brother. His hand holds two yuan notes.

Watching the people who have just bought tickets with change in their hands, he pulls his brother along and goes over to them. As someone gives them money, they thank them and put it into their pockets.

The younger brother tells the reporter that because his brother is blind, they went to Beijing Tongren Hospital for treatment. However, they didn't have enough money for an operation, so they thought of begging. They can earn 30 to 40 yuan (US$4 to 5)  at most per day.

They rent a house near Beijing Railway Station with a monthly rent of 150 yuan (US$18) where six people live together. They come out to beg at 15:00 and return home at 20:00 every day. After being informed that Beijing will forbid begging in the subway, they say they will move to other places or return home to Shandong.

"Here it is like a recording studio with good echo"

Time: 15:50
Location: Subway Station of International Trade Center
Interviewee: Zhang Qiang
Sex: Male
Age: 23
Hometown: Liaocheng City of Shandong Province
Performing time: three years

There are even fewer passengers at the International Trade Center station. The whole platform looks empty and no beggars can be seen. A deep, resonant voice suddenly spreads out along platform from the northwest exit passageway. A man is playing his guitar and singing.

"Some people think we perform here to just make money. It is a misunderstanding," says Zhang Qiang with a smile. "The reason I play guitar here is not to make money -- I don't make much from it. I can earn at most 40-50 yuan, and 10 yuan at least a day. The money is barely enough to feed myself or to pay the house rent."

"Making money is not the main reason for me to play my guitar here. I love music. I just come here. The echo effect is very good, just like in a recording studio. It is a great place to practice my skill. And I find more creative inspiration here," he says. He wishes he could create more music of his own.

When informed that the new measures may forbid him to sing there, Zhang Qiang says "it is not reasonable." He suggests that relative departments could regulate a time and location for them to play guitar in the subway.

"I am satisfied with my current life"

Time: 15:30
Location: Subway Station of Wangfujing Avenue
Interviewee: Singer Qiangqiang (anonym)
Hometown: Beijing
Age: 20
Performing time: more than one year

Located at the prosperous end of the business street, the subway at Wangfujing Avenue has a greater flow of people. Entering the passage, a song by the Black Leopard Band "Close to Me" can be heard with a powerful guitar rhythm. A boy singer sits, leaning against a wall with a pile of loose change displayed on his flattened guitar case.

Different from other performers in the subway who come from elsewhere, Qiangqiang's home is Beijing.

Since he didn't even graduate from junior middle school, he has never tried to find a job due to a lack of a diploma. "I have grown up. I can't ask money from my parents anymore," says Qiangqiang. Now his daily job is to sing in the subway and make a living.

"It is enough to maintain my basic life. I rent my own house," he says. Every morning, after waking up, he goes there with his guitar and sings until six or seven in the evening. He can make 30 to 40 yuan a day. He feels free now. He is satisfied with his life. At least, he says, he is doing the only thing he can do and the one thing he loves to do.

Two blind Beijing performers together for four years

Time: 15:40
Location: Subway Station of Xizhimen
Interviewee: Bao and Yang
Age: 52
Hometown: Beijing
Performing time: four years

At the exit of the subway elevator, two blind people that look like a couple, start to sing on hearing the steps of a large group of passengers coming up out of the subway.

The man, Yang, holds a blind stick in one hand and an iron can for soliciting money in the other. The woman, Bao, stands by his side holding some water.

Six years ago, Bao and Yang, who both worked in the same factory for blind workers, were laid off. Four years ago, they started to perform together in the subway.

Bao is single. Her 19-year-old adopted son is an epileptic. Yang's wife is also blind. Their son is a sophomore in college.

Yang and Bao think it's good to perform in the subway. First, the subway has a lot of people and is a safe place for them to be. It is too dangerous for blind people to perform on busy streets, they say. They are earning their own living. With the money they make, they can raise their children better.

After hearing that Beijing will forbid begging and performing in the subway, they say worryingly, "Where should we go during the winter?"

Sometime before Bao and Yang came out from the subway station at Andingmen, a blind man named Dong was already playing his erhu (a two-stringed Chinese fiddle) there. They had to go back to the subway and try to find another place to perform. They say, "This is the way we do it." Sometimes, they change three to five places in an afternoon.

Time: 16:55-18:00
Location: Subway line 2
Interviewee: Wei Qijun
Sex: Male
Age: 42
Hometown: Shangqiu City of in central China's Henan Province
Begging time: started to begging on December 9

On Chegongzhuang Station, a blind man being led by an old woman with gray-hair and red cheeks gets onto the subway carriage. The old woman holds a blue plastic basin.

As the subway is moving along, the man starts to play "Moon of Mid August" with his erhu. When the train stops at Jishuitan, a young woman throws one yuan into the basin. A foreigner sitting on the other side throws him four one-yuan coins…

During 65 minutes of performing, a total of 20 people throw money into his basin, at least one yuan or five yuan a time.

Playing the erhu is Wei's only skill and his mother let him learn it when he was a child, with only one purpose in mind: to make a living for himself.

(Sources including the Beijing News and China News Agency, by Wang Qian and Daragh Moller, December 18, 2003)