Running to 50 shelters in six months
Even for a professional “backpacker,” traveling across half of China in half a year isn’t easy. Mr. Ding, who suffers from polio, managed to do it — and didn’t spend much money — because he did it by “station running.” So-called station running refers to people deliberately traveling around the country’s shelters to scam travel money. This middle-aged man from Hefei recently arrived at a shelter in Hainan Province. After staff checked his identity information, they were shocked — since June last year, this Mr. Ding has visited over 50 shelters nationwide and has long been blacklisted. He admitted that he suffers from nephritis and has a disability, and that he hasn’t had time to sightsee while traveling across the country — he’s just trying to survive.
Money refused, then outburst in the shelter
On the evening of January 2 at 9 p.m., a man using crutches came to the Hainan Provincial Shelter seeking help. He was then arranged accommodation, and the next morning at 9 a.m., after breakfast, the man suddenly had an outburst in the shelter’s duty office.
“Our medical staff examined his condition and gave him some medicine for respiratory infection and inflammation, but he flat-out refused and insisted we give him cash to buy cold medicine himself,” said Lin, a staff member at the shelter. The man needed crutches to walk and indeed had a leg disability, but after examination, medical personnel found no obvious symptoms of a cold. “His attitude was very aggressive. He kept insisting we give him money to buy medicine. Isn’t that just a roundabout way of asking for cash?” said Lin.
Blacklisted for running to 50 shelters in six months
The day after the man arrived, the shelter prepared to process his assistance procedures. When fingerprinting him, the computer displayed information that shocked the staff present. “His surname is Ding, from Baohe District, Hefei, Anhui. Since last summer, he’s visited 50 shelters,” the computer system recorded. From June 29, 2012 to January 3, 2013, Mr. Ding visited 50 shelters across Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangsu, Hunan, Anhui, Guangdong and other provinces. Some shelters were visited two or three times. “This is clearly ‘station running,’” said staff at the Hainan Provincial Shelter. Mr. Ding had long been blacklisted in the national assistance management system and, according to regulations, could be denied assistance. Seeing that Mr. Ding was indeed in difficult circumstances, the shelter offered to provide him with a train ticket home, but he said he would only accept cash.
Heading southward, going wherever it’s warmer
On the morning of the 3rd, Mr. Ding did not complete check-in procedures at the Hainan Provincial Shelter. He left, only to show up shortly afterward at the Haikou City Shelter. He said he is 43 years old, with a disabled left leg due to polio, and developed kidney disease in 2003. Mr. Ding receives 360 yuan in subsistence allowance each month, but said he spends 700 yuan monthly on treating his kidney condition, so he has to “station run” and beg to make ends meet. Staff at the Haikou City Shelter said they could provide him with a train ticket home, but Mr. Ding said he didn’t want to go home because there’s nothing there. He divorced his wife in 2006, couldn’t support their child, and both the child and the house were awarded to his wife, so he began a life of wandering.
Recently, with the cold weather, he traveled south through Anhui, Hunan, Zhejiang, and Guangdong, planning to spend a warm Spring Festival in Hainan.
Shelters: Helpless against “station runners”
Station running may be unfamiliar to the general public, but it’s well known in civil affairs departments. Cheng Zhengzhong, head of the Hefei Municipal Shelter, explained that it refers to the phenomenon of certain bad actors in society making a living — or even getting rich — by traveling to shelters to scam aid.
“In some areas, ‘station runners’ have started forming gangs. Once they get their tickets stamped, they refuse to leave or wash off the stamps,” Cheng said. This not only disrupts the normal operation of assistance work, but also allows government funds to fall into the hands of those who don’t work for them. To prevent station running, national assistance departments have internally networked administratively, blacklisting frequent “repeat offenders.” Generally, those who station run three or more times within three months are added to the blacklist. “In reality, even when shelter workers know someone is a ‘station runner,’ they still provide food, lodging, and train tickets home. It’s just that most station runners don’t appreciate it,” said Cheng Zhengzhong.