News You Might Have Missed: Beggars, Disease, Scams and Bias

Life on the streets of Beijing isn’t too bad, apparently; there are just a few things you need to watch out for. If you’re not fending off fake deals or cancer, be prepared for some discrimination showing up in some unusual ways. And before you leave for a holiday vacation, there are some updates on Beijing travel.

Despite offers of assistance, Beijing’s beggars are happy where they are. Dongcheng District officials have found that more than 90 percent of those on the street are staying put, while Xicheng District estimates their number of happy homeless at around 80 percent. Supposedly, begging (in the best areas) can bring in as much as RMB 1,000 a day.

Even if you're making 30,000 kuai a month, there are still some occupational hazards to spending all your time outdoors. Beijing’s leading cause of death is now lung cancer, not too surprising given the failed enforcement of the city's smoking ban. Ninety percent of those lung cancer deaths are attributed to smoking or secondhand smoke and less than 10 percent to air pollution, but other studies suggest the unclean air might be more malignant than it's being given credit for.

Another thing to look out for (if you’re hopelessly naïve) is the new magic potion being peddled. Four Chinese women were recently duped into shelling out 100,000 kuai for white paper they were told could turn into gold. Somehow.

While most of us can avoid blatant scams, you may not be able to escape some discrimination. If you were at the Wangjing International Cinema in November, you may have lost out on a deal if you couldn't show the right ID. A hot drink promotion, only offered to Koreans, left the rest of the (primarily Chinese) customers pretty unhappy and got the cinema in some hot water once the story hit the press.

Everyone has decided to jump on the discrimination bandwagon and it’s not just about nationality. A media company in Wuhan wants to bar “rich second generation” (R2G) kids from applying for a job, claiming that their currrent R2G employees are entitled, pampered and disagreeable. The offending youngsters don't seem to care; in fact, that job's just cramping their style.

If it's not your birth year causing problems, then it's the month. Are you a Virgo? Sorry, not hiring. A recent job ad posted at the China Geography Institute included the following astrological requirements: “No Virgo, Scorpios please, Capricorn, Libra, Pisces preferred.” Which makes no sense because Virgos are so hard-working and dependable (according to our office astrologer).

Heads up for travelers: Expect to be able to purchase train tickets online on all lines by the end of the year – thus far it has only applied to high-speed rail. If all goes according to plan, the system will be ready just in time for Chinese New Year. A new system ... 700 million travelers ... what could possibly go wrong?

If you do have flight plans for Christmas or New Year, check the forecast for wind before flying. Last week, flights at Beijing Capital Airport were grounded after strong winds blew sections of the roof off Terminal 3. Last December, exterior metal boards were blown off the same building (an incident that left a member of the Beijinger on the runway for 11 hours). In response, airport officials have claimed that the building’s construction surpasses the national standard. That's great for the airport, but now we're a little worried that the roof over our heads does meet the national standard.

Photo: Global Times, news.xinmin.cn