It is not easy to realize how strange it is when you live in an existing system, but when you have the chance to talk with people from other countries, you realize the huge difference.
I enjoyed my talk with my great friends tonight, and we talked about the Resident Permit (Hokou) system in China. To be honest, I didn't feel it too strange before I explained it with my own mouth. After that, even I think it is not reasonable at all, and astonished to hear what came out of my own mouth. Let me explain it to you.
What is Hukou
Hukou is basically a resident permit given by the government of China. It is issued on family basis. Every family have a Hukou booklet that records information about the family members, including name, birth date, relationship with each other, marriage status (and with whom if married), address and your employer...
Everyone has a Hukou in China.
Hukou before 1980
Before 1980, Hukou is extremely important. People are required to stay at the small area they More
First, the name of my baby is finally determined. We decided to call him Wang Yifan 王逸凡. Out of all the name, we like this name best and there is no bad similiar meaning related to it. We are happy to announce his name. The english name is Yifan Wang...
Second, he got his Hukou today.
In China, everyone must have a Hukou (refer to Hukou System in China). It is a residential permit that bind someone to a piece of land and restrict free move from one location to another. As I decribed in my previous article, this stupid system is not as powerful as 20 years ago, but it is still in effect, so my darling has to register with the police to get his Hukou. I did it today.
With the Hukou Booklet, the marriage certificate, national id and new-born baby certificate, I added Yifan's name on our Hukou booklet. Officially, Yifan is now part of our family.
Something interesting for Yifan's Hukou.
1. There is a column saying: When and why you moved into this family?
The More
PC is an investor running Investor Diary in Hong Kong. He is also a good friend of mine after we exchanged some emails. He dropped me an email today and discussed about the idea of moving to smaller cities.
Dear Jian Shuo,
In the US an increasing number of people choose to live outside of the big cities because of lower costs of living and better quality of live. See http://www.forbes.com/bestplaces/2005/01/20/life2land05.html
I wonder if the same can be applied to China. Apart from the big cities like Beijing and Shanghai, are there smaller cities in China that are cheaper and nicer (e.g. air quality, population density etc.) to live? For example, what about places like Tsing Dao?
Maybe that can be a topic for your post later on. Anyway just a thought.
Kind regards,
PC
PC, thanks for the good topic. Yes. I will write about it.
Moving into Cities? It is a Dream
China is still at the stage of urbanization. It remains a dream for the 0.6 billion population in country-side More
No es fácil realizar cómo es extraño es cuando vives en un sistema existente, pero cuando tienes la ocasión de hablar con la gente de otros países, realizas la diferencia enorme.
Gocé de mi charla con mis grandes amigos esta noche, y hablamos del sistema residente del permiso (Hokou) en China. Para ser honesta, no la sentía demasiado extraña antes de que la explicara con mi propia boca. Después de ése, incluso pienso que no es razonable en todos, y asombrado oír qué salió de mi propia boca. Dejarme explicarlo a ti.
Cuál es Hukou
Hukou es básicamente un permiso residente dado por el gobierno de China. Se publica sobre base de la familia. Cada familia tiene un librete de Hukou que la información de expedientes sobre los miembros de la familia, incluyendo el nombre, la fecha del nacimiento, la relación con uno a, el estado de la unión (y con los cuales si está casada), la dirección y tu patrón
Cada uno tiene un Hukou en China.
Hukou antes del an o More