MAKING THE MOVE - Living Abroad in Beijing - page 127

workers. Today it defines the Chinese as permanent residents of a given area of Ch-
ina, such as Beijing, and those who are drawn here for the higher salaries and greater
work opportunities give up many of their entitlements.
The Beijing hùk ǒ u is the most coveted of any hùk ǒ u in China. With a Beijing
hùk ǒ u, a person has better access to health care, welfare, employment, and house
ownership within the capital. And that's just the start of a raft of benefits.
Expats don't get a hùk ǒ u, and, compared to many Chinese people, we can move
around the country with relative ease. Those Chinese who do try to make a living in
the capital with a non-Beijing hùk ǒ u can find life to be considerably tougher. Without
a Beijing hùk ǒ u families can not send their children to junior or senior high school
in the city, and so children are forced to live in their hometowns with grandparents
while their parents work in the city. They are limited to buying a single property, and
that is only after five consecutive years of tax payments, after which they can also
buy a single car, and they have the daily inconveniences of having to return to their
hometowns for such things as passports or ID replacements if lost. Out-of-town teen-
agers are also less likely to get into country's best universities (most of which are in
Beijing), given that entrance marks are lowered for Beijing hùk ǒ u holders.
There are ways for non-Beijingers to get their hands on a local hùk ǒ u, but it's
getting harder and harder. RMB500,000 (US$80,400) is no longer guaranteed to buy
one on the black market, and with recent scandals of dual hùk ǒ u holders, there are
expected crackdowns on this kind of corruption. The legal gambles include graduat-
ing in a university and getting a state job that has a hùk ǒ u quota, investing RMB30
million (US$4.8 million) in the city for two consecutive years, demonstrating high-
level technical skills, studying abroad for more than a year and earning a post-gradu-
ate degree, marrying a Beijing resident, or possibly getting one through a company.
All have their catches and none is a straightforward sure thing.
The government understands that the hùk ǒ u system creates disparity and limits
the flow of skilled people into the cities. It's already beginning to implement ways
that make it easier for talented people to establish themselves in the city. Yet, to
completely remove the hùk ǒ u system would be to risk a stampede of people into an
already overcrowded city, and possible destruction of many rural areas, so there are
no real signs of it being truly abolished just yet.