News Translation:Where should we register our son's hukou?我们该到哪儿给我家儿子上户口啊？

[studentyoung]

Where should we register our son's hukou?

我们该到哪儿给我家儿子上户口啊？

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-03/06/content_6513573.htm

(The copy right of the English texts belongs to Chinadaily.com, and the Chinese texts are translated by studentyoung. )

Hoping to register their newborn son's "hukou" in Beijing, a migrant couple took a local police station to court. Although they knew that there was little chance they could win the lawsuit, the couple said "We just want to know how the court will rule the case.”

为了给刚出生的儿子在北京上户口，一对民工夫妇把北京当地一家派出所告上了法庭。虽然他们知道胜诉的机会不大，可他们却说：“我们就是想知道到底法院会怎么判这个案子。“

Like other migrant families in Beijing, if the father Zhang Yong wants to give their newborn son, Shuoshuo, a legal household registration record, he only has two choices: register their son's "hukou" at either of the couple's birthplaces, or buy the baby a Beijing "hukou" with tens of thousands of RMB.

就像其他在北京的民工家庭呀样，如果张勇（音译）想给刚出生的儿子，烁烁（音译）一个合法的户籍登记记录，他只有两个办法：把到夫妻双方其中一方的出生地给儿子登记户口；或者给儿子花上几万块人民币买个北京户口。

Of course, neither of the two plans satisfies Zhang Yong and his wife.

当然，上述两种方案周氏夫妇都不满意。

The Chinese term "hukou" is not an easy word to explain to foreigners, but it matters to the livelihood of every Chinese. A hukou can refer to the registration of a family, since every household in the nation must have a registration record. Though only a piece of paper, it gives an individual the legal right to reside in a certain place, and comes with certain social benefits, including medical treatment, social welfare, housing, education and etc.

汉语里的术语“户口”可不是三言两语就能给外国人解释清楚的，不过它却影响着每个中国人的生活。户口是指一户家庭的户籍登记，因为国内的每户人家都得有个户籍登记记录。虽然这只是一张纸，它却让每个人在一定地区合法居住的权利。此外，它牵扯到社会利益，包括医疗、社会福利、住房、教育等等。

Later, Zhang Yong found that he might have a third choice, through which they can give their son a legal certification in Beijing without paying too much money. They decided to help their son get a Beijing hukou through a lawsuit.

后来，张勇发现他可能还有第三种选择，要是按着这个办法去做，他们可以不用花那么多钱就给儿子弄一个合法的北京身份了。他们决定通过打官司来给儿子一个北京户口。

Where can we register our son？

我们该到哪儿给我家儿子上户口啊？

Zhang Yong was born in northeastern China's Anshan city, and his wife Wang came from a small town in north China's Hebei Province. In this case, according to relevant regulations, their son can only register his hukou in either of the parents' birthplaces. But Zhang Yong couldn't accept this.

张勇是在中国东北的鞍山市出生的，而他的妻子小王（音译）来自中国北方的河北省的一个小镇。在这种情况下，根据相关的管理条例，他们的儿子只能在父亲或母亲的出生地登记户口。但张勇对此并不满意。

Zhang has been working in Beijing for over five years, and in 2005 the couple bought a commercial apartment in Beijing. They even planed to take their parents to Beijing so the whole family can reunite. But if their son's hukou can't be registered in Beijing, the boy has to go to other cities for school in the future.

小张到北京工作五年多了，而且于2005年这对夫妇在北京买下了一处商品房。他们甚至计划着把他们的父母都接到北京来，这样一家子就团圆了。但如果儿子不能上北京户口，他将来可能就得到别的城市去了。

"It's unacceptable that we work in Beijing but have to leave our child in our hometown for his education.”

“我们在北京工作却还得把儿子留在乡下上学——这个我们可接受不了啊。”

What if they have the boy go to schools in Beijing?

如果他们让儿子在北京上学呢？

If he wants to be enrolled in a school in Beijing, the family has to pay an extra fee to the school, which is called temporary studying fees (a kind of schooling fees only for migrant children). Although the amount of the fee has been decreasing in recent years with the intervention of the Beijing municipal government, according to government rules, the fee adds up to 17,400 yuan for a kid to finish high school education.

如果儿子要在北京入学，家里得给学校一笔叫“借读费”（一种向民工子女收取的费用）的额外费用。虽然由于北京市政府的介入，近几年这个费用在不断减少。然而，根据政府条例，一个孩子要完成从小学到高中的的学业，这个借读费就高达17,400元。

They also need to give the school more money as sponsor fee, which is set by the school individually and is much higher the temporary studying fees.

他们还得给学校一笔更大的钱，作为赞助费。这个钱是每个学校都不同的，而且这个钱的数目比借读费可高多了。

Zhang Yong took his friend's son for an example. Each year, the boy needs to give his school an average of 10,000 yuan as sponsor fee. Zhang deduced that they should prepare over one hundred thousand yuan for their son before he enters college.

张勇用朋友儿子举例。每年，朋友儿子平均要给学校1万元的赞助费。小张推算他的朋友得准备10万人民币以上才能供儿子读完高中。

"And preschool education expense hasn't been included," said Zhang. Take a kindergarten near Zhang's home for an example, each year, they charge a migrant student over 30,000 RMB as sponsor fee.

“而且接受学前教育的那笔费用还没算上去呢。”小张说。就拿小张家附近的一个幼儿园来说，每年他们要收取民工子女3万多元的赞助费。

The extra charge adds huge burden to the migrant families. But it's not the worst. After graduating from a high school, the child has to return to the place where his "hukou" was registered to take part in the college entrance exam, which is the rule.

这笔额外的费用给民工家庭带来沉重的经济负担。不过，这还不算最糟的。高中毕业后，小孩还要回户口所在地登记参加高考——这是国家规定的。

There is only one way to help Zhang Yong solve all the problems - buying his son a Beijing hukou. Zhang said that he really thought this over before. The price is 200 thousand RMB, which is a bit less than the heavy schooling fees he has to pay in the next 12 years.

要解决小张面临的所有困难就只有一个办法——给他儿子上个北京户口。小张说他老早就考虑过这个了。这个钱呢要20万人民币，比上学12年要交的学校费用要稍低一点。

But Zhang held himself back from doing this.

但小张不让自己这么干。

In recent years, the government is working on various methods to lift limitations on household registration. Although hukou reforms differ from region to region, who can predict what will happen in the next ten years, Zhang Yong asked himself.

近几年，政府不断通过各种办法去消除户口登记的限制。小张心里琢磨着：尽管各地的户口改革不尽相同，但谁都知道这会在未来10年内发生。

There is another reason why Zhang abandoned his idea of buying a hukou. He heard about China's household registration law.

就是这个原因，让小张放弃了买户口的想法。他听说过中国有关户籍登记方面的法律法规。

One day, a friend told Zhang Yong that he could get his son a Beijing hukou according to the law, which says that if the family has a fixed residence in the city, their newborn baby is qualified for registration in Beijing.

一天，一个朋友告诉张勇他可以给儿子上北京户口了，因为根据相关法律，如果在城市里有固定居所，家里的新生儿就有资格入籍北京。

"This is impossible!" Zhang Yong thought. The friend suggested him to visit a man named Cheng Hai, who lives in the same community with Zhang.

“不可能！”小张想。可这位朋友却建议他去拜访一位名叫程海(音译)的人，他跟小张住在同一个小区里。

Let's protect our rights with "legal weapons’

让我们拿起法律的武器去维护我们的权益

Cheng Hai is a lawyer from Anhui Province. In 2007, Cheng filed a lawsuit against the public security stations in Beijing and Hefei, the provincial capital of Anhui, in order to transfer his residential record to Beijing.

程海是一位来自安徽的律师。2007年，为了把户籍从合肥转到北京，程律师起诉了北京和合肥的公安局。

Cheng Hai came to Beijing in 2003. From then on, every year, he needs to go to the local public security station in Beijing to apply for a temporary residence certificate. Things didn't turn any better even after Cheng bought his own apartment in Beijing.

程海2003年到了北京。至此一后，每一年他都得到北京当地的公安局去申请暂住证。即便在程律师在北京买下了公寓后，情况依旧不见好转。

Cheng then began to study related laws hoping to solve this problem. Zhang Yong's case gave Cheng another chance to challenge the household registration system.

程律师开始研究相关法律，希望能解决这个问题。张勇一案给了程律师又一个挑战户籍登记制度的机会。

Cheng Hai told Zhang Yong that according to a law put into effect in 1958, which is China's only law ruling the Chinese citizens' residential activities, Zhang Yong can register his newborn son's hukou at the city where they have a fixed residence. Since Zhang has bought an apartment in Beijing, he can give his son a Beijing hukou according to the law.

程海告诉张勇，根据1958年生效的一个，也是唯一的一个管理中国公民居住行为的法律，张勇可以给他刚出生的儿子在他拥有固定居所的城市上户口。既然小张在北京买了房子，根据法律，他就可以给他儿子在北京上户口了。

Then, Zhang Yong started his work to apply for the residential certificate for his son at the police station in Changping district. Just as he thought, the application was rejected.

然后，张勇开始在昌平区（音译）的派出所给儿子申请居住证明。不出所料，申请被拒。

On January 11, 2008, Zhang Yong sued the police station at the local court in Changping district. On February 15, Zhang was informed that the indictment was dismissed. It said that the case was beyond their jurisdiction of the court. It's the second time that Cheng Hai's attempt of challenging the hukou registration system was dismissed by the court. He felt very confused. China's big cities like Beijing did set significant limits on the eligibility of transferring or registering migrants' hukou. However, since there is law explaining how the residents can make their hukou registration, why can't the court deal with the case by law.

2008年1月11日，张勇把昌平区派出所告上了地区法院。2月5日，小张接到通知，起诉被法院退回，理由是这个案子超出了该院的司法权限。程海对户籍登记制度挑战的尝试又一次被法院推托了。程律师觉得挺困惑的。中国向北京这样的大城市早有明文规定什么样的条件符合户口转移，什么样的条件可以上户口。可是，即便是有法律说明居民可以如何登记户口，为什么法院就不能依法处理这个案子呢？

Some experts say that the ruling doesn't mean the court does not dare to deal with the lawsuit under the current system. The government also has its explanation of why they couldn't let the migrants' children register their hukou in the city according to related regulations. The only way to solve the problem might be reforming the current household registration system and eliminating the limitations that have been existing for a long time. Fortunately, the Ministry of Public Security has been working on it already. According to the resolution brought by the National Development and Reform Commission, they are hoping to eliminate the old household registration system in the next 3 to 5 years.

一些专家说该判决并不意味着法院不敢在现行制度下处理这起官司。政府对于他们不按相关规定给民工子女在城市上户口也有说法。解决问题的唯一办法是改革现行的户籍登记制度，消除长期存在的各种入户限制。幸运的是，国家公安部已对此着手展开工作。根据国家发展改革委员会的决议，他们有望在未来3至5年内废除旧有的户籍登记制度。

Cheers!

[AxelManbow]

I'm in no position to judge your translation, but thank you for the link to an interesting story. Am setting aside an hour tonight to read through the Chinese.

Interesting in a very Media way... China Daily doesn't go against the Party line, the story is about Hukous - a system that needs difficult reform, yet the story was in English and therefore was seen as a story that the world should know about - do Chinese language stories from China Daily usually put the moral issue so clearly, instead of instructing the audience what to think (and my experience of China Daily would be the latter, which also opens the question whether this issue and story is designed to soften the public to a reform, and in that case what public, English Reading and/or Chinese reading)?

[monto]

studentyoung:

You did a time and pains taking job. great!

The "original" story is here:

http://news.163.com/08/0222/10/45A4G2IC0001124J.html

[studentyoung]

You did a time and pains taking job. great!

Thanks so much for your praise, monto. Hehe.

Cheers!