2010-07-13 15:26

An 85-year-old beggar, with a few packs of luggage on the back of a camel, walked all the way through North China's Shanxi province to Beijing, the Beijing News reported on Tuesday.

Yang Meilao, the 85-year-old beggar, sits at a park in Beijing on July 12, 2010. [Photo/Beijing News]

The old man, Yang Meilao, who used to be a farmer in a village in Shanxi, told reporters that he was still a bachelor and didn't have any children. He started begging at the age of 42.

Being a beggar, he has been to a few provinces like the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, and bought the camel there seven or eight years ago.

"The camel is not a common animal. If I take it to tourist attractions, I can make money if tourists want to take photos with it," he said.

The old man actually had other choice besides begging - one rest home in his hometown had given him an offer to live there for free due to his veteran status, but he turned it down.

This past Monday afternoon, a staff member from the Ministry of Civil Affairs of Beijing Fengtai District came to the place where the old man stayed, told him he would like to help him and his camel get back home. But Yang refused. "If you don't allow me to beg here, I will just leave the place."

Taking his camel, the old man left, saying "as long as it's not against the law, I will still do what I have been doing."