Skyrocketing housing prices and rents in Chinese cities have always been a vexing issue for urban dwellers in the past decade. Luckily, necessity is the mother of invention. Migrant workers who really have to tighten their purse strings have come up with a variety of ideas, ranging from ‘Egg House’ to ‘Capsule Inn’, from ‘Ant colonies’ to ‘Air-raid shelters’, to avoid costly rents and get havened.

If you have read all those stories about how young migrants suck it up and tough it out in order to secure a relatively better life in the city, this one probably comes across less surprising: a family of three living in a men’s public restroom after it went through a makeover.

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Zeng Lijun plays a song by Michael Jackson, his idol, on his desktop computer, the most valuable asset under their roof.

The 200-square-foot place called “home” is repurposed as a living room and workshop for the current resident, Zeng Lingjun, but the urinals jutting forth from the wall and the occasional bad smell they give off are ruthless reminders of its origin.

Zeng Lingjun was born in a small rural village in northeastern China’s Jilin province. In 1999, 20-year-old Zeng Lingjun received a letter of acceptance from a community college in the neighboring Heilongjiang province after he took the national college entrance exam. However, his family was too poor to afford the annual 5,000-yuan (US$602) tuition fee. Zeng gave up the opportunity of seeking higher education and came alone to Shenyang, the largest city in Northeast China, with only 50 yuan (US$6)in his pocket.

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Zeng makes a living as a shoeshiner, cobbler and locksmith. His work is never slipshod. Over time, his quality services have attracted many customers and managed to keep them coming back.

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By polishing shoes and duplicating keys, Zeng now makes 2,000 yuan (US$310) a month with his own hands.

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Six years ago, Zeng Lijun learned from his friend that a small inn has a rarely used restroom for rent. He borrowed some money from his friend and leased the restroom from the inn. He removed the locking doors and the barrier of two stalls and put wooden planks over the squat toilets to form a twin bed. When sewer smell comes out from the restroom downstairs through the squat toilets underneath their bed, they flush the toilet.

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During the day, he mostly polishes shoes downstairs.  When customers come to him for shoe repair and locksmithing, he brings them to his little workshop. After  the night falls, he winds up his businesses and comes back to his nest.

He met his wife, also a rural migrant, in 2008. They got married in 2010. Even thought he could not scrape together enough money for a real honeymoon, he wanted his wife to have a taste of better life. He took out 500 yuan from his savings and rented a 900-square-feet apartment in a high-end neighborhood. They lived there for six days before they came back to start their new life in the little restroom.

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Zeng and his wife show the reporter one of his wedding photos taken at a professional studio.

The other two stalls were turned into a wardrobe, where they store their clothes, and their framed wedding photos, which Zeng has carefully put away, “We will only display these photos after we move into a new home. If we take them out now, they can be easily broken by our son.”
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Their home is so small that there is not enough storage room. They put many things on top of the stalls. Sometimes Zeng Lingjun has to climb high up to reach them.

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A poster sign pasted to their door advertises services that Zeng Lijun’s little business provides, including shoe repair, shoe cleaning, key duplication, and leather repair.

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Their son is 14-month-old.

Zeng Lingjung loves to dance to the music in front of his son.

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A portrait of Michael Jackson drawn by Zeng Lingjun.

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Zeng’s family often eats napa cabbage, potato and spinach, all of which are among the cheapest in the farmer’s market.

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Having no kitchen in their home, Zeng’s wife has to cook in the aisle on a small stove.

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Many people can’t imagine life in a restroom. However, Zeng has been living here for almost six years. He said this is his place of happiness, where he married his wife and got a lovely, healthy son. He said, “I am content with my lot!”