Living in the city

The Beijing government is considering extending the household registration system, or hukou, to nonnatives who fulfill certain criteria. Although many have welcomed the proposal, the capital's migrant workers fear they will miss out. Xu Wei reports.

The distance between Liu Chaoyang's home in Beijing and his son's primary school is 270 kilometers, even though the closest school is just 200 meters from his front door.

The 43-year-old migrant worker is paying the price for not having Beijing hukou, a household registration certificate, even though he has lived and paid tax in the capital for more than 12 years.