Life isn't cheap

• Source: Global Times
• [22:57 July 15 2010]
• Comments

A boy cries at a migrant worker kindergarten in Xiaojing village of Fengtai district, Beijing, on June 30. It is the last day of kindergarten for him because village authorities planned to close it down. Photo: CFP

The Blue Sky is famous because many senior officials send their children or grandchildren to this kindergarten, and it is frequently visited by high officials. The kindergarten's children get high priority in competitions to perform at the Chinese New Year Gala on TV, which nearly 70 percent of the population watch.

"Many problems in China were caused by social inequality. The limited resources are controlled by the rich people or powerful groups, and the redistribution of wealth is not fair in society," said Li Shi, director of the Income Distribution and Poverty Research Center at the Beijing Normal University.

"The gap between the rich and the poor is so huge that the poor don't have the same access to education and many other public services as the rich people. The lack of good education will enlarge the gap and cause social instability."

Spartan life

Every weekday, the alarm clock wakes Wang Jiawei up at 6 am. He wakes up, keeps his eyes closed, and washes his face. He then takes a nap for another 10 minutes before breakfast.

"I don't eat any other food than milk and small pieces of bread," said Wang. "This bread is small so I can eat fast, which saves my time. I want to get as much sleep as possible."

After graduating five years ago from one of the best financial schools in China, Wang got married in 2008. He works extra hours all the time, but, like many young people in the city, he can't afford a car, an apartment, or feed a child.

"The cost to stay in Beijing is too expensive. I don't have much savings even though I worked for many years, so I don't want to bring myself any new trouble," Wang said. The skinny young man has small but bright eyes. His parents offered to pay the costs for raising his child, if he has one, but he refused.

"I think it's the responsibility for me to feed my own family. I think my parents already spend too much energy and efforts on me, and I don't want them to waste their time on another child. To feed a child is expensive now. We even can't feed ourselves."

Last year, a record $560 billion of residential property was sold in China, an increase of 80 percent from the year before, according to the National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBSC). But the prices have more than doubled in the capital, pushing the price of a regular two-bedroom apartment up to 3 million yuan, while Beijing residents typically earn less than 60,000 yuan a year. At the same time, the price of living expenses has also sharply increased. The price of vegetables, for example, has increased 20 percent in the first quarter of this year, according to NBSC.

"I want to have a child, but I don't know when I can. I heard about the kindergarten is very hard and expensive to get in, and I don't have money to support my kid," Wang said. "Life is already tough enough for our young people, but at least I have the freedom to make my life slightly easier by not having a child."

Sweaty rides

As a man in the banking industry, Wang has to wear a formal white shirt and black pants to go to work in the burning Beijing summer. Every morning he has to squeeze himself carefully in a congested bus and endure the sweat of the crowds. If he's lucky, he can get a spot close to the windows, where he can look at the view of this rapidly developing city. The bus flank a dirt road that has many empty buildings still being built, while the blank silver billboards on the side reflects the sky, advertising nothing but early July sunlight.

"When I take the bus in the morning, I love to see what others are doing," Wang said. "I remember many years ago in Beijing, people on the bus were always carrying something to read, a book or a piece of newspaper. But now, many people are sleeping on the bus, and they look as tired as I am. I don't want my child to be someone like me, tired and exhausted."