There is a special permit for the vending of goods available to persons with a disability, but even then the vendor is limited to particular areas of the city. Both Lee and Wang are ineligible for such permits and have paid their share of fines over the past few years. Most police officers, however, recognize this as the couple's livelihood and let them off with a warning, Lee said.
Despite employment problems faced by elderly people in Taiwan, such as the growing number of factories relocating to China, Wang's impression is that the number of yulan sellers is decreasing. One reason, he believes, might be emerging casual cleaning jobs in the city's mounting office buildings. In the future yulan sellers may all but disappear from the streets of Taipei, but it won't necessarily mean the underlying social problems have been resolved.
How long does the pair plan to make a living on the compassion of commuters and pedestrians willing to part with a few dollars?
"We will keep doing it forever, until we are too old and can't do it anymore," Wang said.
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