Inside Beijing's 'Rat Tribe': Hidden world of one million migrants who turned underground bomb shelters into homes to escape sky-high property prices
They moved to the city with dreams of making it big.
But for countryside-bred migrants, life in Beijing is not cheap, the Daily Mail reports.
The answer? Go underground.
Welcome to the so-called Rat Tribe: the one million people that have made a home out of bunkers below the surface of China's second-biggest city.
With some as low as 300 yuan a month ($48), they are a fraction of the price of rentals above ground.
The structures were erected in 1969 under Chairman Mao's rule during the Cold War.
Fearing an imminent Soviet attack, cities were ordered to prepare safety measures. Around 20,000 bomb shelters were dug.
When Mao died and Deng Xiaoping came to the fore, such defensive tactics were sidelined - leaving the city with a pointless network of caves.
Unsurprisingly, hundreds of entrepreneurial landlords descended on the bunkers, letting out rooms as hostels.
By the mid-90s, the government latched on to the scheme and many of the rooms are now part of a for-profit housing system.
It means people like Zhang Xi, an aspiring actor from Mongolia, can support themselves and pursue their dreams.
His parents implored him to take a job as a policeman back at home where he could be comfortable. But he is determined.
In a short film by artist Sim Chi Yin that explores the subterranean network, he explained: 'When my father came to visit me he cried when he saw where I lived. He said, "Son, this won’t do."'
'But I told him: "When I go out and meet people I always look very presentable. Who's going to be able to tell that I live in a basement?"'
Other dwellers include Chen Laxiu, a 50-year-old woman from the coal-mining town of Liupanshui, who moved to Beijing to be near her sons after farming proved unprofitable.
Zhang Xinwen moved to the bunkers after graduating from high school in Hubei province to pursue a career as an artist.
Li Yang, from Beijing suburb Tongzhou, wants to be a fly fishing official, but currently works as a car mechanic, and lives in the bunkers to save money.
And an entire family - Xu Junping, her 17-year-old son Zhou Zhengdi, and her husband Zhou Hailin - have opted for a simpler life.
Located near the deserts of the north east, the underground network is also a welcome environment for all seasons: cool in summer, warm in winter.
Though most of the inhabitants foresee a move on to bigger and better things - above ground - the vast majority are content and grateful.
However, a question mark hangs over their future as officials in 2010 announced a crackdown on health and safety in the city.
And the native citizens see the Rat Tribe as unwelcome intruders.
But despite city plans to wipe out the system by 2012, it provides a convenient answer to the question of affordable housing.
For now, the future is uncertain.
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