Chinese ‘beggars’ shop for branded goods, dine at 5-star hotels

The Straits Times/Asia News Network

The Straits Times/Asia News Network

The Straits Times/Asia News Network

SINGAPORE—A photographer who tailed three old beggars in Zhengzhou, China, made startling find about the lavish lifestyles they led.

A photo collage titled ‘A day’s life of China’s professional beggar’ has been circulating online, reports  AsiaOne.

It shows a “family of beggars” starting their day by eating hamburgers for breakfast at a fast-food restaurant; beef and beer for lunch, watermelon and popsicles for tea, and dinner at a fine dining restaurant in a five-star hotel.

They also shopped at high-end luxury stores such as Cartier.

The beggars would pretend to be sick and lay on the ground while another would plead to passers-by for money.

They would also feed the “sick” beggar with cold beer, poured into a bottle labelled as me­ dicine.

It was reported that they could earn between RMB$2,000 (S$412) and RMB$3,000 a day.

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