Beggars in Suzhou
by chris
There is something happening in Suzhou. When we came to Suzhou seven months ago, when we came back from work we would usually see one or two old people begging at the bus stop. They are annoying, especially to foreigners (being white is being loaded, of course), but they do not do any harm. We work around one of the main centres of Suzhou, Guan Qian Street (观前街东) and a lot of Chinese people give beggars money there. And if my economics is right, that is the reason there are so many more beggars there now.
It seems strange to think that, in just half a year, there would be an explosion in begging. There were two or three beggars before; now it is difficult to count them. They have spread out: at first one would come to the bus stop and beg and that was it; now they are on both sides of the street, some sitting, some looking scruffy but happy, some looking pathetic, some with children. At the intersection near the train station one used to see one beggar walking among cars with a cup, knocking on windows. Now there are several old men and women carrying infants. Where did all these people come from? Where are their families? And how much money are they really making?
There are even some who look like students and who write something in chalk on the sidewalk, then sit, looking pathetic, in front of what they wrote. They do not look poor or maltreated, they simply sit there with their heads down. Another blogger, who was passing through Suzhou, noticed the phenomenon as well.
I could not find any information about beggars in Suzhou except from government controlled newspapers but my guess is that they are being drawn by kindly but ignorant locals and tourists. They are made to feel sorry for those who put on a sad face and, because they are nouveau riche, the locals feel guilty and give them things. My guess is that these beggars make as much or more than some of the hard working people on bicycles carrying wood and metal or the ones with wheelbarrows carrying garbage around.
What to do? Well I certainly do not like the idea that the police should arrest them or push them around. Unfortunately, being the easiest solution it is probably the one for which the government will opt. But I suggest that the people simply stop giving money to them. When you do not give beggars money, they find other ways to survive. Perhaps there could be some kind of donation-funded homeless shelters. If we could make people realise that there are better charities to give to, they might be tempted to try them. The problem is that, in China, you could not possibly start such a charity without the big hand of the government in it. They would insist on funding and controlling it, and turning it political. And if you think that is good, perhaps you should ask why this very powerful government has not actually eliminated poverty.
Do not expect a real solution any time soon. Until it comes, I will give my money to charities that I trust and not to people on the street I do not.
Tags: begging, guan qian street, Suzhou