No Vendors

No Vendors
Originally uploaded by triciawang.

XunWumen; Beijing, China

Sometimes the streets will be filled with vendors - selling socks, chestnuts, fruit, dvd's, purses - and then that same street might be totally empty for a few hours one day. It seems that the police sometimes crackdown on vendors who don't have a liscence to sell - b.c then they don't report taxes. The problem is that most of these type of vendors don't have a liscence to live in Beijing because it's hard to get one in the first place. therefore it's almost illegal for them to even be here. to obtain official Beijinger status is actually quite difficult - up until a few years ago it was almost impossible to move here legally. now, if you have enough money you can rent or buy a house here. It's not like these vendors are avoiding to get their liscences. To have official license to live here means you have access for your kids to schools and healthcare and etc.