Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
By the end of 2012, Beijing's population had reached 20.69 million people, and every year,
more and more people continue to squeeze into the capital. Fortunately, figures over recent
years suggest that the rate at which the city is getting more crowded is finally beginning to
slow.
China has 56 ethnic groups, and they are all represented in Beijing. The Hans are the
largest group by far, accounting for more than 95 percent of all Chinese people. The next
most populous ethnicities include the Hui, Manchus, and Mongolians. Expats make up
around 120,000 of Beijing's population, just 0.006 percent.
What characterizes Beijing, however, isn't its ethnic groups, but the blend of Beijingers
and non-Beijingers or, rather, the migrants coming in from other provinces and cities to
work or study. Around 400,000 migrants arrive in Beijing every year, and currently they
make up about 36 percent of the city's population. Approximately one in every three
Chinese people you'll meet will have come from somewhere like Hebei, Hubei, Inner Mon-
golia, Sichuan, and so on. The migration has its benefits. You couldn't be in a much better
city for authentic, ethnically diverse cuisine. Demographically it evens out the age distribu-
tion problem (making the ticking time bomb of the aging population look subtly better, at
least on paper). It also evens out the gender imbalance. Beyond that, the migrants contribute
greatly to Beijing's growth at both labor and management levels. Beijing's manufacturing
industry relies heavily on migrants, with these non-locals making up around 40 percent of
Beijing's manufacturing staff.
The mass migration also has obvious consequences and is putting serious strains on the
city's infrastructure. This places the government in a difficult position. On one hand it needs
to control Beijing's population, which some experts say is already beyond approved levels,
while on the other hand it needs migrants to maintain the prosperity of the city. Its main tool
for managing this is the
hùk
ǒ
u
system (residential status). In the capital, having a Beijing
hùk
ǒ
u
is like gold.
Communism is something of a mixed bag in Beijing. There is perhaps no other city in China
where its presence is so palpable. Imposing government buildings abut residential neigh-
borhoods and tower over common thoroughfares. Bodies of troupes march the streets, and
