Visitors to Beijing's Forbidden City are routed along a one-way path that snakes through the palace grounds and out through an exit on Jingshan Gianjie road. The path is bordered on one side by the tree-lined palace moat...
and on the other side by Jingshan Gianjie road.
As I walked along the gravelly shaded path, upbeat pop music coming from a boombox on the ground caught my attention. I looked down to the source and saw the boombox on a blanket, next to a 30ish year old man with twisted legs and no left arm, motioning by glancing down to his basket for begging. Having been warned about the beggars, I averted my eyes and kept walking. Moments later, I encountered another boombox, playing a snappy dance rhythm. This time it was next to a man with facial deformities. I kept walking. Just as his tunes faded, more peppy music filled the air with yet a third beggar. The poor souls were tough to pass by. After the third, I reached the end of the pathway. But, those poor Boombox beggars are still with me.
and on the other side by Jingshan Gianjie road.
As I walked along the gravelly shaded path, upbeat pop music coming from a boombox on the ground caught my attention. I looked down to the source and saw the boombox on a blanket, next to a 30ish year old man with twisted legs and no left arm, motioning by glancing down to his basket for begging. Having been warned about the beggars, I averted my eyes and kept walking. Moments later, I encountered another boombox, playing a snappy dance rhythm. This time it was next to a man with facial deformities. I kept walking. Just as his tunes faded, more peppy music filled the air with yet a third beggar. The poor souls were tough to pass by. After the third, I reached the end of the pathway. But, those poor Boombox beggars are still with me.