Welcome to Shigezhuang, a crammed packed "village" that is home to thousands of migrant workers and students who have come to make a life in Beijing.
A warren of many small alleys, the village is crowded, busy and chaotic. Located 30 kilometers from Tiananmen Square, outside the North 6th Ring Road, Shigezhuang offers ultra cheap rents for newly arrived fortune hunters.
"It doesn’t at all feel like I’m in Beijing," said Liu Changqing, a 23-year-old recent graduate from Hebei University, who moved to Beijing in July and found that Shigezhuang was just about the only place she could afford to live.
She and her roommate share the 650-yuan-a-month ($100) rent for their single-room apartment that includes a hotplate and a bathroom.
While Liu’s rent takes up only about 10 percent of her income she is far from an active participant in Beijing’s life of glamour and fabulous shopping. Yet the nation’s capital has a grip on her and she has no intention of going home.
"Beijing is a place where I can freely chase my dream, it’s a city of possibilities," said Liu looking out her window at a mess of tangled wires as the sounds and smells of street life heralded the approaching noontime bustle.
According to the 6th national census, Beijing is home to 7 million people who have moved to the capital from other places. They represent nearly 40 percent of the city’s total population of 19.6 million.
Sucked into Beijing’s vortex
While many millions of "waidiren" (outlanders) have done well and are leading interesting, productive lives in Beijing, an estimated 150,000 college grads are living on the fringe of society.
After years of study to obtain a degree, they’ve come to Beijing where they live in unhealthy hovels, have trouble maintaining decent jobs, and have ever diminishing hope for the future.
Yet even those who give up and head home feeling defeated soon find themselves pulled back into Beijing’s vortex, to try, try again.
Song Yongliang, 28, came to Beijing after graduating from Heihe University in Heilongjiang Province in 2008. He was convinced his degree in Russian would instantly land him a job with one of Beijing’s many Russian wholesalers along Yabao Road. "At every store with a job opening, there were lots of people vying for one position. Even low-end sales and logistic jobs required one or two years work experiences," said Song.
Living in a 10-square-meter room in a dank, cold basement that didn’t even have window, Song paid 240 yuan a month.
He floated from job to job, none of which was in his field of expertise. He was overwhelmed by the city and always desperate to make the rent and to feed himself. "I felt so lost and helpless, but I had to have a job so I could survive in this city," said Song.
After struggling four months in Beijing, Song gave up and moved to Yancheng, a small city in Shandong Province, to help a relative run a small supermarket. The reality didn’t match his relative’s promise and so he headed back to Beijing again.
Song found an even cheaper place to live, this time two floors underground. "It was so damp and cold in the room. Even in summer, I needed an electric blanket to keep warm, and the floor was always wet," said Song.
As his family’s only child, Song never told his parents about his struggles in Beijing. Over the phone he made up stories about how good things were going. "My parents have high hopes for me. They spent their life’s savings on my college tuition, I just can’t disappoint them by going back home like a loser," said Song with a shrug of his shoulder.
Lian Si, a professor with the University of International Business and Economics, says the decision to live in Beijing reflects the desire of young Chinese to integrate into the country’s mainstream culture. They not only feel that big cities allow them to keep in step with the times but opportunities for advancement are easier to come by.
"Compared to smaller cities where connections are a very important factor in a person’s ability to climb the social ladder, most young people feel big cities like Beijing and Shanghai offer a fairer competitive environment," said Lian, who coined a term "Ant Tribe" in his book that detailed the life of graduates who live in crowded communities like Shigezhuang.
Even young people from affluent families in smaller cities are feeling that life in Beijing is key to their happiness and a match for their ambitions.
As soon as 28-year-old Alex Xia (he asked that his English name be used) graduated from Southwest University of Science and Technology in Chengdu in 2006, he immediately headed for Beijing convinced he’d make it big.
After working for three years for a head-hunting company, Xia started his own employment company with a few of his friends. After some initial success it went bust within six months. Disillusioned, Xia finally heeded his parents’ wishes and returned to his hometown Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province. He used family connections to land a decent job in a foreign trade company, but his heart was never in it.
Life was comfortable but dull. "Suddenly, I felt my world had become much smaller with only a few people to talk to and in the evenings, all I did was watch TV or surf online," said Xia.
Xia went on a few dates but he couldn’t commit to a relationship. "I just didn’t want to see my entire life written out before me," said Xia. A year and half later he convinced his parents to let him give Beijing another shot.
Li Xiaoping, a researcher with the Institute of Population and Labor Economics of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said he admires and respects those who keep trying to make it in Beijing. "They come back for the challenge. These are the people who dare to do something big," said Li, adding that big cities like Beijing offer young people plenty of resources and opportunities to make their dreams come true.
Back in Beijing
There appears to be little data being collected on the comings and goings of people like Song, Xia and Liu. No one knows how many people in transient communities like Shigezhuang move up the ladder or leave the city defeated.
Interviews conducted in Shigezhuang indicate that someone who has lived in the community for two years is considered a long-term resident. According to statistics from the local government, Shigezhuang is home to 13,000 people who have moved to Beijing, and only 1,000 local villagers.
Song finally moved out of his dark and dreary basement flat when he landed a job at a private school where he says he now earns a salary of 5,000 yuan per month. He’s upgraded to a 700 yuan a month flat in another of Beijing’s migrant villages in the outskirts.
After starting out by handing out flyers on the street Song claims to now be a high-level administrator at a school. He knows he’ll likely never own property in Beijing but he’s committed his future to the nation’s capital.
"It is a city of tolerance, and a fairer, more transparent place where people can compete on an equal footing," said Song, even though without a Beijing permanent residency card he can’t apply for many municipal government jobs.
As for Xia, he’s now back in Beijing’s head-hunting industry, and expects many opportunities for advancement are yet to come. He says he’s earning more than 8,000 yuan a month and has moved into a one-bedroom apartment near the Third Ring Road which at 3,000 yuan a month consumes more than a third of his salary.
"It’s hard to find a place that’s without pressure, I just like Beijing for its diversity and transparency," said Xia, who enjoys weekends in the mountains, going to all kinds of concerts, and attending social gatherings where he might bump into social elites.
More choose to stay
Shigezhuang had a sharp increase in the number of tenants early last year. Most of the newcomers were from Tangjialing, another village in north Beijing that used to accommodate more than 40,000 migrants, including 17,000 college graduates, according to local officials. Tangjialing was demolished by the local government and many of the displaced renters took up residency in the cheap flats in Shigezhuang,
Local villagers are happily adding rickety additions and additional floors to their buildings to accommodate the influx of new tenants.
For new grad Liu, her shared room is good enough for now, she said. She is working for one of China’s giant telecom products makers and hopes one day to land a permanent position with the company.
She occasionally goes to the cinema or meets friends at a cafe. It’s not exactly a glamorous life but it’s a lot more than her hometown Bashang, Hebei Province has to offer. "It’s a good place for the elderly, but not for young people who wants to have a colorful and exciting life," said Liu.