Calling Taipei's streets home

"It's regimented for their own good, rather than for any other reason," Ou said.

The larger center in Chungho can house 70 and is partially overseen by the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation (慈濟基金會). The center not only acts as temporary housing, but is also used as a meeting place, where the homeless can go see social workers and listen to lectures.

"First, we want to see them feeling good about themselves, so we give them new clothes. Secondly we try to help them readjust to society. We hold lectures and invite artists and musicians along to talk to them and try to teach them about self expression," said Thomas Huang (黃秋良) of the Tzu Chi Foundation.

Easy prey

Crime among Taipei's homeless is quite low and apart from being arrested on drunk and disorderly charges, very few, according Kan, are criminals. That's not to say they don't fall prey to criminal elements.

The homeless are often persuaded to sell their identification cards for as little as NT$1,000. These cards are then used to open dummy bank accounts by credit card fraudsters. And it's not only fraud that homeless people inadvertently find themselves caught up in.

It's not uncommon for sold or stolen IDs to be used for the trafficking of prostitutes from Southeast Asia and China to Taiwan. The going rate for the use of ID cards to fake marriages is considerably more NT$1,000 and can enable a homeless person to earn anywhere from NT$6,000 to NT$40,000.

"I know one man who has been to China twice and Indonesia once to participate in fake and arranged marriages that have enabled gangsters to bring women into Taiwan," Ou said.

According to Chao, he has never partaken in such scams, but has been a victim of wanton violence at the hands of both gangsters and juvenile delinquents on more than one occasion.

"They've beaten me up, stolen my sleeping bag and taken everything I had several times," he said.

"There was no point to it. I'm not a threat to anyone, they did it for fun."

Chao will remain at the House of Peace for the next few days, but he knows that his temporary respite from the cold winter chill will come to an end sooner rather than later. The center will need his bed and he will once again have to call the streets of the capital home.

"I'll be back out there in a week or two," said the shy and despondent homeless man, pointing out of the center's window.

"This year will be no different to last year or the year before that."