'Ants' feel the bite of being forced out
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Chen Xuanfeng rattled the small lock on the screen door. "It doesn't feel very sturdy," he said to the landlord showing him around a block of tiny apartments in northeast Beijing. He then looked at his girlfriend and shook his head.
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A young couple make their way home in Tangjialing. Many young urban couples live in the Beijing village. |
The 23-year-old cable factory worker has been looking for a new home since authorities announced plans to demolish Tangjialing, a run-down village synonymous with the "ant tribe" - a term given to the thousands of young people who crowd China's inner-city slums.
Like his fellow "ants", the only qualities Chen hopes for in his new home is that it is cheap and safe. He cannot afford to worry about living standards.
"They're not planning to tear down this village, too, right?" he asked the landlord as the couple left to see the next property on their list.
Tangjialing, which is in the northwestern suburbs close to Zhongguancun, "China's Silicon Valley", is among 50 areas that authorities last December earmarked for large-scale renovation by the end of 2010.
Officials with Beijing municipal government say that they hope the project will improve integration between the urban and rural areas, stimulate the low-end housing market and improve living standards for rural workers.
However, sociologists also argue there are fears that a large concentration of disillusioned, educated youths - the ant tribe is largely made up of graduates trying to make it big in cities - could pose a potential risk to social stability.
"As we learn from history, grassroots intellectuals are the most likely to cause social turbulence," said Yu Jianrong, a sociologist with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Although the demolition project is on hold while officials, residents and business owners thrash out a deal over compensation and relocation, the bulldozers are closing in.
Yet, few expect this to be the end of the Tangjialing ant tribe, as many of the 50,000 young renters who have flocked into the area in recent years are simply finding similar low-cost accommodation even further away from the city's downtown, past the North Sixth Ring Road.
Most of those who have already moved out went to rural areas, according to several village truck owners who offer removal services. "They're now living next to vegetable plots but it's cheaper," said one.
Despite the slow outflow of people since March, getting on a bus in Tangjialing on weekday mornings is still a mission impossible.
A member of staff working for a transportation agency said the number of passengers waiting for buses during rush hour has dropped about one-third "but there are still too many".
The overspill has spawned a rash of illegal taxis and bus services.
Zhang Ran, 26, who was standing at a bus stop, said he would not leave the village until the bulldozers arrived.
"Who knows when the village will be torn down? The transportation may even improve to some extent when more people have left," he said, adding that a major factor behind his decision to stay was that his landlord was refusing to pay back his deposit of 500 yuan because "I am the one asking to terminate the lease".
As well as those hanging on, new residents are also continuing to settle in Tangjialing.
Tang Lingling, who has a degree in Russian and used to work in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, rented an apartment here last week while she looks for a job in Beijing.
"I'll put up with living here for a while and move nearer to my workplace later," said Tang as she waited for a bus to take her to a jobs fair downtown.
"Tangjialing is just a stop, not the destination," she added.
