Together they are members of what the Chinese press unkindly refer to as the “rat tribe”people who live underground in a warren of basements and air raid shelters in Beijing.
Usually migrant workers, they can’t afford private housing and, without the official resident permit known as the “hukou” they have no access to low-cost government housing, so they find themselves living underground.
Estimates suggest there may be more than one million people living underneath the Chinese capital.
Photographer Sim Chi Yin has been documenting their lives for the past five years.
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“I think for some people there is true upward mobility but for many people the hukou system, whereby migrants can’t actually buy homes and settle down, is still a huge barrier to them building lives and families here.”
“Most think they will eventually go home and maybe set up a shop and raise their families.”
READ: Migrant workers seek a life back home
CNN’s Anjali Tsui and Kristie Lu Stout contributed to this report
