Yes, who is a Beijing native? And why is this important at all?
Many Beijing natives work for the city in various
service segments such as transportation, park systems, and government administration.
I took a photo
with anonymity in mind on my bus ride to North Church last Sunday. This woman apparently is a Beijing native with an unmistakable Beijing accent. I took my photo with the intention of writing about it, because she reminded me of her admirable role as "moral code enforcer". She yelled out to youngsters to yield their seats to the seniors or other needy people, such as parents with small children. (By the way, I don't see any reason to give seats to school-aged kids, say 7-10 years old, when they can manage themselves well.)I do see good reasons to let parents have the seats while they hold their little ones on their laps. Incidentally, this woman is called generically a "service person," not a bus conductor. Waiters and waitresses have similar job titles in China. This is different than in other countries.
There are inherent job risks in being a service person on the bus. Two years ago, a female service person was choked to death by a crazy passenger who refused to follow orders and got angry at the woman on one of my bus routes 690 (then 726). That made me wonder how Beijing passengers could watch and let that happen. The collective lack of moral courage to help must have been something many people remembered for a long time after the incident.
Beijing natives with proper household registration paper enjoy preferential treatment in certain job applications and social welfare benefits.
There are even quotas for incoming freshman students in Beijing Universities. There currently are talks about lowering those quotas for Beijing natives and eliminating them eventually. The latter move would relieve the tight competition to get into some local schools, starting from the elementary grades. It is disheartening to see human energy spent over getting into "desired" schools by parents and children alike.
The coupling of benefits and advantages associated with the household registration system presents a serious obstacle to social harmony and might prevent further progress for China. The overhead of keeping the status quo can be better spent improving other social conditions. However, maintaining the status quo does give people some sense of security. That situation should be viewed as a social program and as a way to offer safety net to the needy in the city. Without those benefits, all-out free competition would drive those natives to the streets in no time. This should not be the only reason not to change. Things need to change, but changes will come with certain orderly controls as it always happens in China. As this progress occurs, there will be always smart and/or sneaky groups that are a few steps ahead of the regulations and rules. Many of the filthy rich in China are in this category.
The well-to-do and emerging middle classes in Beijing are mostly outsiders. It is hard to define outsiders versus natives. My definition is that who attended primary and middle schools in Beijing are natives. With this definition, fewer than 20% of those in my workplace are natives.
Beijing has been a capital city for many centuries. Wholesale replacement of top leadership and elite classes takes place every few years as political scene changes. These days, the sources of changes are not limited to the political shift. The newly created wealth and job opportunities attracted many outsiders whom the city needs to sustain the economical growth. The newly wealthy, well-educated elites are moving in and are becoming natives in a couple of generations. Their grandchildren will brag about their Beijing identifies. Yet, the new, bright, and diligent will continue to come to Beijing to replace them, if Beijing wants to continue to be viable.
