Low economic conditions in China’s urban areas have sparked an increase of beggars faking disabilities in an attempt to gain more money. Cities like Shanghai and Hong Kong are littered with naive tourists who are more than willing to hand over a few yen to anyone appearing to be handicapped in anyway.

This 2014 series Shanghai Tian Wa saw Chinese photographer Liu Tao train his lens on two distinct districts in Shanghai. Here: “Shanghai Tian Wai №26, 2014”. (Photo by Liu Tao/The Guardian)

Lucie Clayton instructs pupils in the art of correct posture by balancing a glass and book on their heads at her finishing school in Old Cavendish Street, London. (Photo by William Vanderson/Fox Photos/Getty Images). 25th November 1936

Nick Bull captured the Geminid meteor shower above Stonehenge in Wiltshire, UK on December 14, 2023. (Photo by Nick Bull/Picture Eexclusive)

Sunrise in the New Forest near Lyndhurst in Hampshire, UK this morning, August 15, 2024. (Photo by Cenk Albayrak-Touye/Picture Exclusive)

UK Eurovision girlband Remember Monday feature pals Lauren Byrne, Holly-Anne Hull and Charlotte Steele, 2025. (Photo by Rob Parfitt)

A chimpanzee bottle-feeds a lamb at Southam Zoo Farm in Warwickshire. The owners of the zoo, Mr and Mrs Clews, bring up many of the animals as their pets; the animals, are, as a result, of a friendly disposition. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images). 23rd August 1968

Three workers demonstrating the different types of gas masks used in mine rescue work. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images). December 1925