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Photos: The Most Fashionable Man in China is a Henan Beggar

Posted: 07/21/2014 3:20 pm

luoyang old hipster fashion henan viralDa-yam: when you’ve got it, everybody knows. Photographs of an old man in Henan walking down the street have gone viral in China simply for this man’s fashion style.

A Weibo user from Guanlin, Luoyang posted pictures of the man, and wrote text to accompany them: (translated)

luoyang old hipster fashion henan viralWait until my hair grows to my waist, it will be better to marry you then.

luoyang old hipster fashion henan viralluoyang old hipster fashion henan viral

Now, this is what you call an ‘elegant demeanor’.

luoyang old hipster fashion henan viralluoyang old hipster fashion henan viral

Guanlin has a model for international style. luoyang old hipster fashion henan viral

Give me a ‘like’. luoyang old hipster fashion henan viral

However, while he’s lauded as an old hipster, he’s still a beggar, according to the original poster:

An old beggar, though his heart remains young. I am stupid, I am elegantly unrestrained.

And so, the compliments come in, perhaps even too easily now that everyone knows his social standing. Here are some comments from netizens from the original post:

日照-来奇:
He’s leading the way of the international trend!

爱乐游:
Feh, he’s so handsome.

壹玖柒柒:
Don’t know which sect he belongs to. [confused.emo]

海豚座星云:
After going through the circuit of all the big stars, international fashion has lost all of its moxy in the blink of an eye.

ponyo-不爱吃柠檬的啵妞:
Wow, so cool! He’s a model for international style! [laughing.emo]

沛县同城会:
He’s got the magic touch [thumbsup.emo]

郑州洛菲拾花摄:
He’s super cool [laughstifle.emo]

雨隹云龙:
His shoes are very current; he reminds me of Brother Sharp.
[Brother Sharp was a meme from a couple of years back; he was also a homeless man just walking on the street when someone took a flattering picture of him]

奢宠会所:
Whatever people are isn’t important; what’s important is the attitude with which we treat them.

胖旋BBER:
Other people laugh at me for being crazy, I laugh at other people for not wearing what they acknowledge (to be fashionable).

Photos: News China

Haohao

Foshan Protesters Burn Vehicles in Riot Against Police Brutality

Posted: 05/26/2014 3:30 pm

Two police motorbikes were set on fire and a firefighter truck vandalized when a riot broke out after hundreds of angry onlookers protested the beating of beggars by law enforcement workers in Jun’an Town*, Foshan on May 23, Hong Kong-based newspaper Wen Wei Po reported on Sunday.

According to a statement posted on the Shunde Police Department’s official Weibo account, a man surnamed Li stopped a truck in front of the Jun’an No. 2 Bridge to unload a group of five disabled beggars around 8pm on Saturday, an act described by police as “an occupation of the main road and greatly disrupting traffic order”. As the beggars were getting out of the truck, traffic enforcement personnel had reportedly requested Li to move.

Li refused to move and pushed the beggars into the middle of the road, some of whom were seen lying under cars, which quickly attracted the attention of hundreds of onlookers. The Wen Wei Po report said the police eventually beat beggars and damaged their singing props, a point not noted in the police statement.

No casualties were mentioned in either report.

Three people, including Li, were arrested for burning the motorbikes, vandalizing the truck and instigating the crowd.

It’s unclear if Li is involved in organised beggar gangs in Guangdong. Some gangs in the province purposely disfigure victims to send out as beggars.

Images posted by weibo user @史丹利澳门 can be seen below:

*Jun’an, Foshan is best known as kung-fu star Bruce Lee’s ancestral hometown

Home page and content page photos from weibo user @史丹利澳门

Haohao

Guangzhou’s homeless spurn shelters, claim too restrictive

Posted: 12/19/2013 7:00 am

On Tuesday night the temperature in Guangzhou fell to 6℃, the rain was heavy and winds coming in from the north were particularly strong. The city issued an orange warning and homeless shelters were urged to rise to increasing demand for sanctuary from the cold.

However, reporters from Yangcheng Evening News discovered that plenty of beggars were opting to stay under footbridges and in underpasses. Kecun Lijiao, East Haotong and Huangshi Lijiao all had at least ten homeless people each spending the night there.

A homeless man and his girlfriend erect a wooden board to protect themselves from the wind, image courtesy of Nandu Daily

The main reason cited for opting to stay out there instead of enjoy the beds, warm clothes, and food provided by homeless shelters? Freedom. One of the city’s over 400 homeless shelters has filled less than half of its 500 beds, according to the reports.

Volunteers have been sent around the city to bring food and blankets, but some homeless people have even refused those. Shi Xiaojia, a member of a team of volunteers that helps the homeless, has discovered that Guangzhou’s homeless shelters have been likened to prisons and do not attack the roots of social problems by, for example, providing health care for the elderly and education for the young.

Shi Xiaojia has called for volunteers to show more respect for the homeless instead of just giving handouts.

Haohao

Beggars in Shenzhen living secret lives of luxury? Some say it’s true

Posted: 04/10/2013 10:00 am

Wu Limin of the Internal and Judicial Affairs Committee of the Shenzhen People’s Congress has warned shoppers in the Dongmen area of Luohu District to be careful about giving money to beggars, Southern Metropolis Daily reports.

Wu’s remarks come after members of the Dongmen Street Law Enforcement Team claimed in the aftermath of a six-month investigation that many of the beggars were not homeless and even lived lives of luxury thanks to gullible members of the public.

Despite many appearing disabled and having elaborate back stories of poverty and illness, members of the team claim that a significant portion of the beggars are not genuine. Moreover, they are often a nuisance to local merchants and shoppers due to their forcefulness. Local party committee secretary Luo Zhiwei said something had to be done.

One beggar who caught the law enforcement team’s attention with his forcefulness was a middle-aged man who was often seen begging with a disabled child near Sun Plaza. One day, team members followed him and saw him put the child in the back of a white van with other disabled children and speed away. The man has also been seen begging in the upmarket Futian Fumin Roadside.

Wu Limin urged relevant government departments to conduct a formal investigation into the beggars in the area, adding that considering the volume of traffic, some may have higher earnings than even himself.

Yi Songguo, professor of Sociology at Shenzhen University, added that, regardless of whether the beggars were genuine, they should not be allowed to become a public menace. Wu fears that they may be sullying the city’s image.

Haohao

Local aid worker claims Baiyun Airport panhandlers are making big bucks

Posted: 06/7/2012 7:55 am

It’s hard to believe that anyone would take advantage of those looking to help the less fortunate, but according to a recent report in the Nan Fang Daily, there is a growing number of Guangzhou residents doing just that. As some of our readers may have noticed, panhandlers at Baiyun International Airport are an all too common site these days. But as local aid workers have discovered, several of the alleged poor are in fact far from it.

Mr. Pan, a relief worker based in Huadu District, has been working with the homeless most of his life. Yet while most homeless he encounters welcome the offer of shelter, and other resources, the homeless at Baiyun Airport are different: “Generally speaking, our job is to rescue vagrants and beggars, we’re the last line of defense. But the airport is not the same, they do not want our help.” Pan says that panhandling at the airport has become such a profitable enterprise that residents are literally “dressing up” as homeless to earn money. Pan describes cases of well-dressed individuals entering the airport with a suitcase, disappearing into the washroom, and emerging in tattered clothing to panhandle for the day.

With upwards of 200,000 daily passengers commuting through the airport, and thousands of foreign tourists looking to part with their remaining yuan before boarding international flights, most of the airport’s panhandlers are able to earn over 10,000RMB per month, with some earning as much as a million. Quite the opposite of homeless, the majority of airport panhandlers are able to rent apartments in nearby housing complexes, and commute daily by bus or taxi.

One such panhandler, Lang Peikun, better known as “The Blind” (on account of his habit of pretending to be blind to earn more money), has been panhandling at the airport for years. According to Lang, the panhandlers at Baiyun Airport are “generally very experienced”. In fact, Lang has been operating out of the airport for so long, that he now “works” with a network of panhandlers spread across the airport that communicate with mobile phones. If a particular airport gate is busy, the others will move to ensure a profitable day.

Xu Yongjun, manager of airport security is well aware of the problem. However he argues there simply isn’t the manpower to adequately address the issue: “The terminal has 36 gates… these vagrants and beggars are simply impossible to defend against.”

Yongjun and Pan are currently pressuring local government to enact legislation restricting panhandling at the airport. Pan says he wants to ensure aid gets to those who actually need it: “We cannot be arbitrarily too hard, but we have to take flexible measures.” Until then, both men argue they will continue to help as best they can.

Haohao

Shenzhen expels 80,000 undesirables ahead of Universiade

Posted: 04/18/2011 11:01 am

With the world about to descend on Shenzhen, China is tightening up to ensure people that would “cause harm” to the country are kept out. When you add the Jasmine Revolutions sweeping the Middle East and high inflation in China, you can see why those in Zhongnanhai might be a little jittery.

We told you earlier that foreigners are being warned to ensure they have all the proper paperwork to live and work in Shenzhen. But the government certainly isn’t picking on laowai: it is also ridding Shenzhen of anybody else it doesn’t like prior to the games. From the China Daily:

Shenzhen has ejected about 80,000 “potentially unstable people” in a bid to secure social stability for the upcoming 26th Summer Universiade, the Shenzhen Economic Daily reported.

Shen Shaobao, vice director of Shenzhen Police Bureau announced the figure from the “100-days Social Security Campaign” during a news conference.

“People living in Shenzhen without proper identity, justifiable reasons and those acting suspiciously posing a threat to people and the social security are what we called unstable residents,”said Shen.

Eight groups of people are listed in the high-alert category, including former inmates, nomads, unemployed vagrants, people engaged in suspicious activity including drug trafficking and contraband goods. Since January police have also removed people who live by fraudulent means such as child-beggars, mentally ill people who pose a danger to others, and unregistered residents who earn money in the rental business and unclassified floating residents.

The Public Security Bureau is getting good at this, having done the same in Beijing in 2008 and Shanghai and Guangzhou in 2010. The question is, what does the Universiade think about it? The Wall Street Journal tried to find out:

Neither Shenzhen police nor the International University Sports Federation, the Belgium-based organization that puts on the Summer Universiade, responded to written requests for comment from The Wall Street Journal. It’s unclear where evicted residents were transferred and how officials determined which mentally ill residents posed a threat to public safety.

If you are an “undesirable” or an “unemployed vagrant”, best to lay low until October.

Haohao
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