A Chinese man has been living at the Beijing Capital International Airport for the last 14 years due to his desire to “smoke and drink” without his family meddling. Wei Jianguo, who is in his early 60s, has lived at the international airport within Terminal 2 since 2008.
In an interview with China Daily, Wei said that he had been fired from his job when he was in his 40s and struggled to keep any form of employment due to him being too old.
Talking about his typical day. Wei Jianguo said he visits the nearest morning market and buys six steamed pork buns and bowl of porridge for breakfast, some more food for lunch and a bottle of Baiju which is a Chinese liquor. "I can't go back home because I have no freedom there," he added. "My family told me if I wanted to stay, I had to quit smoking and drinking. If I couldn't do that, I had to give them all my monthly government allowance of 1,000 yuan ($150). But then how would I buy my cigarettes and alcohol?"
Wei has also said that he often has no idea what time of day it is and now is not perturbed by waking up around a sea of travelers.
In 2017, just before Christmas, airport authorities asked Wei to leave and the police even drove him to his home which is 20 kilometers from the airport. However, he returned to his adopted home within a few days saying, "I get expelled, lay low, and then I come back, just like old times… at least I have my freedom in the airport."
