Spartan life

Every weekday, the alarm clock wakes Wang Jiawei up at 6 am. He wakes up, keeps his eyes closed, and washes his face. He then takes a nap for another 10 minutes before breakfast.

"I don't eat any other food than milk and small pieces of bread," said Wang. "This bread is small so I can eat fast, which saves my time. I want to get as much sleep as possible."

After graduating five years ago from one of the best financial schools in China, Wang got married in 2008. He works extra hours all the time, but, like many young people in the city, he can't afford a car, an apartment, or feed a child.

"The cost to stay in Beijing is too expensive. I don't have much savings even though I worked for many years, so I don't want to bring myself any new trouble," Wang said. The skinny young man has small but bright eyes. His parents offered to pay the costs for raising his child, if he has one, but he refused.

"I think it's the responsibility for me to feed my own family. I think my parents already spend too much energy and efforts on me, and I don't want them to waste their time on another child. To feed a child is expensive now. We even can't feed ourselves."

Last year, a record $560 billion of residential property was sold in China, an increase of 80 percent from the year before, according to the National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBSC). But the prices have more than doubled in the capital, pushing the price of a regular two-bedroom apartment up to 3 million yuan, while Beijing residents typically earn less than 60,000 yuan a year. At the same time, the price of living expenses has also sharply increased. The price of vegetables, for example, has increased 20 percent in the first quarter of this year, according to NBSC.

"I want to have a child, but I don't know when I can. I heard about the kindergarten is very hard and expensive to get in, and I don't have money to support my kid," Wang said. "Life is already tough enough for our young people, but at least I have the freedom to make my life slightly easier by not having a child."