BEIJING/HONG KONG ¨C Yang Guang¡¯s rise from a village farmer to an Audi-driving businessman with two properties hinged largely on one of the most coveted documents in China: an urban hukou, or residency permit.
The 45-year-old who lives in the central city of Zhengzhou likens the permit ¡ª which typically ties a person¡¯s access to health, education, loans and other services to their birthplace ¡ª to a ¡°cattle ear-tag the state clipped us with.¡±
¡°It uses this tag to sort us into different categories of people entitled to different sets of privileges and subjected to different obligations,¡± he said.
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