
The Rat Tribe of Beijing - ca98am79
http://projects.aljazeera.com/2015/01/underground-beijing/
======
fungi
It's been posted a million times before, but if you missed it Hong Kong's
walled city was amazing:

[http://www.spoon-tamago.com/2014/10/28/detailed-cross-
sectio...](http://www.spoon-tamago.com/2014/10/28/detailed-cross-section-of-
the-kowloon-walled-city-created-by-japanese-researchers/)

[http://www.mascontext.com/issues/19-trace-fall-13/kowloon-
wa...](http://www.mascontext.com/issues/19-trace-fall-13/kowloon-walled-city-
heterotopia-in-a-space-of-disappearance/)

[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2139914/A-rare-
insig...](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2139914/A-rare-insight-
Kowloon-Walled-City.html)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8580136](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8580136)

------
yzh
I remember 5 years ago, some of my musician friends were living in a condo out
on the edge of the city too. They used to do rehearsal late at night and
neighbors always came the next day to complain. Actually not Beijing, most
large cities in China have people like these. One of my best friends is now a
designer in Tsingtao (yes, the brand of the beer). He used to hang out with a
group of painters, who graduated from top art schools in China, but decided to
paint, so they rent a very large room by the street, those kind of room people
would think of as a forever 21 shop or GNC shop. And they each have their own
tent to sleep in, their paintings were hanging all over the wall. They had
boxes of beers, cokes, and cigarettes. Some of their paintings are fantastic,
but some are just commercial paint for sale. The point is, some of these guys
will make it and create cool stuff out there, some will fail and become a
nobody. That's the beauty and the cruelty of the real world...

IIRC, of all these artists I know, only one Beijinger is still trying to make
art now, others are all busy making money, because I guess in China, surviving
is the most important thing in people's life.

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seanmcdirmid
Many migrant workers live in the catacombs beneath my apartment building. It
is an upscale place, so the contrast is very strange; also these rooms lack
windows and are technically illegal (they would never be considered livable in
the west, it is like living in a car garage).

~~~
rahimnathwani
What happens during the 1-2 days per year when there's heavy rain and
flooding? I remember a couple of years ago walking in Beijing almost knee-deep
in water (near nanluoguxiang). Is the drainage better near you?

~~~
seanmcdirmid
Honestly, I just assume they find somewhere else to live until the water table
goes back down. A temporary inconvenience. It always smells moldy down there
anyways; that can't be healthy.

Plenty of people live in the shops/restaurants they work at, which is why they
put makeshift blinds over their windows at night. A lot of dodgy things like
that going on in the 'jing.

~~~
GigabyteCoin
> A lot of dodgy things like that going on in the 'jing.

Indeed, like Gutter oil [0].

I really wish I had read that article prior to my trip to China.

[0]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutter_oil](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutter_oil)

~~~
voltagex_
So if I want to be a first time tourist, how do I avoid it?

~~~
unimportant
Don't eat oily food and eat in buddhist vegetarian restaurants.

Even expensive hot pot restaurants got temp closed for using oil from
questionable sources, so just paying more is not a guarantee for better
quality ingredients, although eating fried food from makeshift street
restaurants is almost a swill oil guarantee.

~~~
seanmcdirmid
Sunshine kitchen and bellagio's are probably all right. It is probably the
only time to prefer chain resteraunts, especially ones that aren't franchised.
Element fresh is pretty safe, and...well, just remember you get what you pay
for.

~~~
unimportant
Had the runs from Bellagio once, not sure if it was due to the ever present
unsanitary food handling everywhere or due to the food itself.

I have never heard of sunshine kitchen, but I don't live in BJ, so that might
be why.

Western countries have their own questionable oil though:

[http://www.businessinsider.com/fake-olive-
oil-2012-1?IR=T&op...](http://www.businessinsider.com/fake-olive-
oil-2012-1?IR=T&op=1)

[http://kellythekitchenkop.com/the-olive-oil-mafia-be-
aware-o...](http://kellythekitchenkop.com/the-olive-oil-mafia-be-aware-of-the-
extensive-lies-and-corruption-yes-there-is-a-solution.html)

~~~
GigabyteCoin
Cutting olive oil with cheaper vegetable oils is much more acceptable in my
books then boiling down rancid sewage grease and selling it as new cooking
oil.

But you're right, capitalism causes cost-cutting measures all over the world.
However dangerous. Not just in Asia.

------
peteretep
I used to rent a two-room "suite" on the top floor of a shop house. On the
middle floor were three bedrooms, each half the size of my own. One had a
waitress in it, one had two guys who used to work opposite shifts at a car
factory, and the third one had two sisters, their mother, their brother, and
the brother's girlfriend living in it. This was in Oxford, England, and all
the rest of the inhabitants were Polish.

A great article, definitely, but I'm sure people can find cramped immigrants
closer to home if they look...

~~~
seanmcdirmid
Not windowless beneath ground, it typically isn't allowed by western building
codes.

My dad (who lives in the states) was renovating his basement and had a sink a
few windows just to pass inspection.

~~~
SiVal
That's right, in all US states as I understand it. Windowless underground
warrens are firetraps.

~~~
anigbrowl
One time when I was house-hunting I came across a place in SF where the ground
floor had been converted into 18 individual rooms of 36-60 square feet
each.The real estate agent was extremely evasive; my wife is still convinced
someone had died there and she's probably right.

~~~
to3m
See also?

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._H._Holmes#Chicago_and_the_.2...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._H._Holmes#Chicago_and_the_.22Murder_Castle.22)

------
archagon
Content aside, I really like the presentation of this article. The cross-
linking makes me feel like I'm leafing through a magazine, while the map and
individual dossiers make the article so much more tangible.

Also — wow, $4,800 a month and living in a room like that! That's about how
much my first Silicon Valley job paid. Kudos to that guy for being so money-
conscious.

~~~
snnn
Based on official Chinese data, the average wage(after tax) in Beijing is less
than 600 USD per month.

Another Story: My friend Li works for Alibaba,the largest internet company in
China. Li is a software engineer with 8+ years working experience, and his
salary is less than 3000 USD per month.

But Beijing's House price is much higher than Silicon Valley.

------
Fede_V
What struck me about this article is how much dignity each of those people
had. They are all working incredibly hard to better themselves, in situations
far more difficult than I've ever had to deal with, while still remaining
proud.

They are amazing people, and the writer of the piece did a great job telling
their stories without being condescending.

------
unimportant
In stark contrast to the rat tribe, there is the pigeon tribe aka the rats of
the skies.

These people live in illegal make shift buildings on top of apartment
buildings, which are usually invisible to anyone that doesn't live in a
building that is at least as high as the apartment building in question.

These people are usually poor, however there are also better off people doing
this:

[http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/13/world/asia/china-rock-
vill...](http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/13/world/asia/china-rock-
villa/index.html)

~~~
aaron695
Although a cool thought. CNN never came through with the story of poor people
living on the rooftops. So I'm dubious.

They also link this rich person story as well.

[http://www.architectureanddesign.com.au/news/illegally-
built...](http://www.architectureanddesign.com.au/news/illegally-built-
corridor-bridges-high-rise-apartme)

~~~
unimportant
Its just my observation from living in second tier cities in China (not in
Beijing). I'm not sure who gets the money in the end, but it's a popular
option for poorer workers.

------
spiritplumber
I remember being a teenager and reading stuff like this in near-future scifi
stories...

------
kevin_thibedeau
Funny to see he's wearing Dolce and Gabbana sneakers. Most likely knockoffs or
maybe pilfered from the factory.

