"Recognizing Phonies"

Can't tell the difference between a pitiful PATHETIC beggar and a conniving, but nonetheless PATHETIC swindler? Let Shanghai's Civil Affairs Bureau enlighten you. The illustrated guide, "Recognizing Phonies", lists popular scams, from women faking pregnancies, to counterfeit monks and bogus students asking for tuition help. "Amid the great army of city vagrants, there is a cadre of professional beggars who prey on the sympathies of citizens," reads the manual, issued last month by the city's Civil Affairs Bureau. "There isn't a trick they won't try," it adds above a drawing of a kindly looking elderly couple forking over cash to a grinning scam artist. The guide is just one of the ways in which Shanghai and other cities in the country's booming east are struggling to cope with an influx of beggars and vagrants following a 2003 decision to eliminate police powers to detain them. "We don't want to discourage people from helping beggars," said an official with the Civil Affairs Bureau, who like many Chinese government officials, asked that he only be identified by his surname, Ding. "We just want to make sure they don't get tricked and end up helping a cheat. But the manual also reflects common Shanghainese suspicions and prejudices about people from China's rural areas, blamed here for everything from traffic congestion to crime and dirty streets. " Whatever happen to the omnipotent "Beggars' Clan" (immortalized in the pages of Wuxia novel as the so-called number one clan in the world)? Other than seriously undermining the intelligence of tourists and citizens alike, the publication of this "illustrated guide" also showcases the uglier sides of Shanghai, famed for being China's most wealthy city, a urban metropolis filled with gleaming skyscrapers and designer-clad shoppers who are worlds away from the underdevelopment and poverty of the vast rural regions. Gotta grab a copy just for the zeitgeist of it. Back on Mother Earth, while browsing for this news online with the keywords "China Beggar", I stumbled into a rather disturbingly annoying online shop, selling "Great Finds! Art Deco, Vintage Postcards, Antiques, Autographs and more", with the below product... Old China: Beggar Woman selling Babies Collectibles : Vintage : Unusual - Weird $18 USD Old Chinese picture postcard depicting a beggar lady selling her children. The kids are in baskets, hanging on a pole round her neck. The card has been issued by the Chinese American publishing company Shanghai. Mint, fine condition. (Item #col2751) In time to come, perhaps "Recognizing Phonies" can also be sold as some kinda vintage item for all eurasians to take a dig at Chinese with their "Fu Manchu" angle.