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24-hour food joints shelter the homeless in Chinese cities
Straits Times - May 3, 2012
Scattered across the eatery were groups of two or three people digging into a supper of fried chicken or nuggets.
But in the quiet corners, a few were preparing to tuck in – for the night. A man in a black jacket and jogging pants rested his head on an empty table; another stretched his legs on the leather seat.
Similar scenes play out daily across 24-hour fast-food restaurants in big Chinese cities like Beijing and Shanghai, where more of these eateries have popped up in recent years and become havens for those in need of a roof.
The two biggest players in China have led the way: McDonald's first rolled out 24-hour restaurants in China in 2006 and has extended such hours to more than 70 percent of its 1,400 outlets. More than half of rival KFC's 3,700 shops are open round the clock, with plans for more.
At these joints, the homeless have everything they need, from food (half-eaten burgers and fries) and a warm place to sleep (leather seats are a bonus) to toilets to wash up before leaving at dawn. And the best thing is – it's all free.
"This place is very good," said an unshaven 22-year-old with straggly hair, of his KFC shelter for the night. The native of Guilin city in southern Guangxi region, who gave his name only as Zhou, said he has been in Beijing for a month and has no friends or job here. Nor does he have as much as a bag. He studied car repair at a vocational school and has worked as a cleaner before.
Qiu Gang, 43, a newspaper deliveryman who frequents the restaurant, said Zhou usually picks up leftover food from customers.
The homeless at these 24-hour eateries are mainly new arrivals to the city who need a roof over their heads and cannot afford the rents, said researcher Tang Jun of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. They do not like government shelters as these take in homeless persons for up to 10 days only and try to send them back to their hometowns.
An official estimate in 2008 put the number of vagrants and beggars in China at 1.7 million. The number of Chinese in cities also surpassed those in the countryside for the first time last year.
While the problem of the homeless, whether transient or chronic, is not unique, it is a bigger ill in China because of its huge population and yawning rural-urban wealth gap, said sociologist Xia Xueluan of Peking University.
Usually, out-of-towners needing a roof sleep in places like underground passageways or railway stations. Now many are found at the 24-hour eateries.
KFC and McDonald's in China answered queries about how many 24-hour outlets they ran but did not reply to questions about their policy on people who sleep in their restaurants.
There were people sleeping in the three KFC and McDonald's outlets The Straits Times visited during the wee hours on three different nights. Some had spread themselves on the leather seats in unsightly fashion, with their shoes on the couch.
A KFC outlet manager said he and his colleagues do not ask those who sleep in the restaurant to leave so long as they do not disturb others.
Zhou Shicheng, 50, who sleeps outside a McDonald's on pieces of cardboard, said: "As long as you don't make trouble, they won't ask you to go."
Hailing from eastern Shandong province, he says he is in Beijing to contest a lawsuit over a house. "Other places will shoo you away," he said of 24-hour Chinese restaurants. Indeed, a check with three such restaurants saw no one sleeping in them.
A waitress at Goody House, a chain selling Taiwan dishes, said of its policy of not letting people sleep in the restaurant: "It affects our image."
Besides 24-hour fast-food outlets, the homeless also head for other round-the-clock places. When the Shanghai Popular Bookmall opened a 24-hour store in March, it did not take long to become a hit – with the homeless.
To better help those on the streets, the role of shelters should be relooked, say experts. For instance, they could offer services like job training, said Professor Xia. Non-governmental groups are also more suited to run the shelters, said Tang.
But until more targeted assistance is on offer, these round-the-clock businesses that are open to all provide some relief to those on the streets. Said Qiu: "In the past, the homeless could sleep only on the streets. Now, we have 24-hour restaurants."
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