What is the price you are willing to pay for your freedom? Meet this Chinese man Wei who ran away from his home to live his life in peace with his alcohol and cigarettes and has found a home at Beijing Capital International Airport where he has been living without anyone bothering him for the past 14 years. Wei says that police and security have often kicked him out and driven him back to his home in Wanjgin but somehow he always manages to come back.
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Airports have been portals for people to escape to other countries, whether it is for work purposes or for pleasure. However, this one person decided to make his escape to the next level as he decided to make the airport his home.
This Chinese man has been venturing at the Beijing Capital International Airport 14 years ago and people are speechless as to how is this even possible.
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Wei Jianguo, a Chinese man in his 60s, has lived at the airport's Terminal 2 since 2008.
His reason for living away from his home? He wants to smoke and drink as much as he wants without being bothered by his family.
Well for a normal person when they need a getaway from family and life, they plan a vacation, however, this Chinese man's vacation lasted for some good 14 years.
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So basically Wei decided that he does not want his vacations to ever end.
He told China Daily: "I can't go back home because I have no freedom there.
"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 (AU$200). But then how would I buy my cigarettes and alcohol?"
Not only this but taking his freedom to next level, Wei decided to give up on looking for work after he was laid off in his 40s and struggled to keep a new job because of being 'too old'.
Well, surprisingly, he doesn't have the longest tenure of living at an airport either.
If you remember, one Turkish man Bayram Tepeli moved to Ataturk Airport in 1991 for similar reasons to that of Wei's, and lived there for 27 years before the airport closed in 2019. He now lives in Sabiha Gokcen Airport.
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As per Daily Sabah, Tepeli left his hometown in Gemlik due to family problems, before flying to Istanbul to find work.
He struggled to find a new job at the airport after getting directions from his boss, he worked there for a very short period but has lived there ever since.
He told Daily Sabah: "My former boss told me one day that he found me a job where I wouldn't need to find a place to stay anymore. Then, I came here."
After suffering from health problems, he was forced to quit the job at the airport but decided to continue making the terminal his home.
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Wei says that often police and security drive him back to his home in Wangjing but somehow he always manages to come back.
He said: "I get expelled, lay low, and then I come back, just like old times.
"At least I have my freedom in the airport."
Credit Video Pear