BEIJING // Liang Dong sits on a chair in his tatty bedroom, a laptop computer on a tiny desk beside him and piles of rubbish on the floor. The walls are plain white and the tiles on the floor would be white as well, but the footprints and smears of mud dirty them.
Outside, in a dank corridor where electrical wires hang from the grimy walls, are another eight doors leading to rooms that other young adults call home.
To some, a place such as this may seem only a few steps up from a slum, but there are thousands of people in the Chinese capital living in accommodation little different from Mr Liang's. What is more, many of them, like Mr Liang, are graduates.
"There are 50,000 people living here," he said of Tangjialing village, a district in the north-west of Beijing that has seen its population rocket in recent years, causing it to be named an "ant colony". The area is packed to the rafters with modestly paid graduates attracted by low rents.
Mr Liang, 28, who graduated in materials engineering in Sichuan province in central China four years ago, is looking for a job after quitting his previous post at a software company. A room in the four-storey block where he has lived since September costs about 600 yuan (Dh333) per month. A room nearer the centre of Beijing may cost twice as much.
Inside his block, which residents said was built in the 1990s, most of the rooms are secured by small padlocks. At one end of the corridor is a tiny dark kitchen with greasy work tops.
The ground-floor entrance sits beside an alleyway in which washing hangs from coat hangers and a handful of chickens live cooped up in enclosed recess beside the alley.
Mr Liang is luckier than some of his contemporaries, because at least he has his room to himself. Some are reported to share rooms with as many as five others to save money.
The term "ant colony" has been used widely in the Chinese media to describe such graduate magnets, particularly since a book titled Ant Tribe was published last year by the Beijing-based academic, Lian Si. According to Mr Lian, who declined to be interviewed for this article, there are as many as one million "ants" in total living in Beijing and other major cities such as Shanghai, Xi'an and Guangzhou. The vast majority have come to the large cities from smaller towns and rural areas.
Yang Ru, 24, lives with her boyfriend in the same building as Mr Liang. A languages graduate from Hebei province north of the capital, she said the term "catches the theme of the young graduates trying to start their life after college" with salaries that typically do not exceed 2,000 yuan per month.
"It describes these people who work hard but they're a weak group in society," she said.
But Tangjialing, thought to be home to about 3,000 original Beijing residents as well as the 50,000 "ants", may not be an ant colony for much longer. The area is one of dozens the Beijing municipal authorities have said they plan to renovate by the end of this year, which many believe will mean large-scale demolitions, forcing the graduates out.
For the moment, however, the paper advertisements plastered on walls advertising cheap rooms remain, and although there are reports that some people have already left in anticipation of the renovation, others are staying put.
Even though Tangjialing may soon no longer be an ant colony, the factors that created such places are likely to remain, according to analysts. Ren Xianfang, a China analyst at IHS Global Insight in Beijing, said the creation of the ant colonies reflected "structural problems in the Chinese economy".
In particular, the heavy increase in enrolment at universities has created a vast supply of graduates, but the number of skilled jobs has not grown at the same rate. In 1998, China's universities produced little more than one million graduates; last year the figure was 6.1 million.
"China's economy is still anchored in the low-skilled, labour-intensive industries, but it doesn't have a significant increase in demand for better trained professionals such as college graduates. It's a mismatch in supply and demand," Ms Ren said.
dbardsley@thenational.ae
Porsche Taycan Turbo specs
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
No more lice
Defining head lice
Pediculus humanus capitis are tiny wingless insects that feed on blood from the human scalp. The adult head louse is up to 3mm long, has six legs, and is tan to greyish-white in colour. The female lives up to four weeks and, once mature, can lay up to 10 eggs per day. These tiny nits firmly attach to the base of the hair shaft, get incubated by body heat and hatch in eight days or so.
Identifying lice
Lice can be identified by itching or a tickling sensation of something moving within the hair. One can confirm that a person has lice by looking closely through the hair and scalp for nits, nymphs or lice. Head lice are most frequently located behind the ears and near the neckline.
Treating lice at home
Head lice must be treated as soon as they are spotted. Start by checking everyone in the family for them, then follow these steps. Remove and wash all clothing and bedding with hot water. Apply medicine according to the label instructions. If some live lice are still found eight to 12 hours after treatment, but are moving more slowly than before, do not re-treat. Comb dead and remaining live lice out of the hair using a fine-toothed comb.
After the initial treatment, check for, comb and remove nits and lice from hair every two to three days. Soak combs and brushes in hot water for 10 minutes.Vacuum the floor and furniture, particularly where the infested person sat or lay.
Courtesy Dr Vishal Rajmal Mehta, specialist paediatrics, RAK Hospital
Details
Through Her Lens: The stories behind the photography of Eva Sereny
Forewords by Jacqueline Bisset and Charlotte Rampling, ACC Art Books
Specs
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