The Census Is Here… Again

Lauren McCarthy | Nov 1, 2010 9:00 am | 7 comments | 1456 reads

Some of you may remember the “pre-census” census back in August and September. Now the real thing is here and will last from November 1-10. We compiled some of our previous findings to remind everyone what to expect when the census takers show up.

Questions to expect:
Questions will include name, age, gender, nationality, reasons for coming to China, levels of education, and length of stay. We’ve never had a definite number on the questions expats can expect, but we believe it will be between 6 and 11. Authorities have stated income and religion will definitely not be part of the questions.

Information and Documents to Have:
Expats should make sure that they have their passport, visa information, registration and even landlord information on hand. Foreigners that are not properly registered with local police will be reported.

What to Look For and Watch Out For:
During the pre-census there were incidents of real estate agents and cops posing as census takers for one reason or another. Census takers should – but may not – have official census t-shirts and lots of other official bags, pens, etc, all with red Chinese and English lettering. However some takers admitted they didn’t always wear the requisite gear when collecting during the pre-census census.

Participation:
Officials constantly stress the need for participation and cooperation in the census. From our experience during the pre-census there seems to be no means of enforcing participation, and while punishment has been threatened, it seems pretty empty. When we called the census office they stated expats were not “required” to participate but they hoped foreigners would “cooperate.” Unless you’re here illegally – and being anywhere illegally is really not a good idea – it’s probably easier to simply answer the questions. And who knows, you might even get some soap.

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danedwards's picture danedwards Submitted by Guest on Tue, 11/02/2010 - 16:20

My friend was visited this morning and after answering the questions was handed a book that tells the reader what to eat, what to do when an earthquake happens and how to live a healthy life.

I can't wait. I'm guessing step one to living a healthy life is living somewhere other than Beijing...

Register and post your own events on the beijinger website.

Aier2's picture Aier2 Submitted by Guest on Tue, 11/02/2010 - 13:17

Guess I'll just be not answering my door, like usual.

Pretty amazing that they can organize something like this though.

Ten days for the whole country?
They can seriously mobilize.

danedwards's picture danedwards Submitted by Guest on Mon, 11/01/2010 - 14:58

Nothing much you can do except explain the situation to them.

They'll probably say, "What's a visa?" and "What's the PSB?"

And then you can go back and forth for ten minutes trying to explain, and then they'll decide it's all too difficult since no-one told them what to do in such a situation, and then they'll say "Mmm, xing, mmm, hao, mmm, bye bye."

Then they'll come back the next day and you'll have to go through the whole thing again.

Register and post your own events on the beijinger website.

Aier2's picture Aier2 Submitted by Guest on Mon, 11/01/2010 - 12:58

Hmm, my passport is being processed for a visa at the moment.
What should I say if I accidentally open the door to these guys?

Good thing that I registered the other day after about 6 months of forgetting to do it.

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