Editor's Note:
In the area surrounding Beijing Children’s Hospital (BCH), one of China’s largest pediatric institutions, mothers and fathers huddle in box-sized spaces that can be considered some of the most expensive real estate in Beijing.
Struggling to afford medical expenses and facing long waits for treatment, many families from across the country turn to short-term subleases, or subdivided apartments that most often offer little more than a bed.
Though often sought out by new arrivals to the capital, such as recent college graduates and migrant workers, subdivided apartments are particularly popular around prestigious hospitals among those families in need of a cheap room.
Prices for the cramped quarters, often subdivided by curtains, can reach 130 yuan a day. While some families only stay for a few months, others endure years of waiting to receive treatment. Photos: CFP
Yao Zhi sits on his bunk bed in a subdivided apartment on March 15, where he lives for 50 yuan ($7.7) a day. The 60-year-old grandfather has lived in Beijing for 2 years waiting while his grandson receives treatment. 
Zhao Lixin and his son sit in a rented basement room they rent for 80 yuan ($12) a day near the BCH on March 25. Zhao and his wife took two of their ill sons to Beijing for treatment. They share lunch together every day. 
A woman surnamed Zheng and her son spend 80 yuan ($12) a day on their small room. They have lived in Beijing ever since the boy received a bone marrow stem cell transplant from his father in 2015. Although the treatments have nearly cost them all their savings, Zheng still tries to comfort him with gifts, such as his iPhone6 plus. “I don’t want to make him unhappy or leave him with any regrets,” she said. 
A father sits in his apartment, a converted kitchen, on March 14. The around 5-square meter space costs 60 yuan ($9) a day. The man, whose name phoneticized in Chinese is Alatengbagen, traveled from the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region to seek treatment for his 5-year-old son, who suffers from a blood condition. 
Waiting for his child to undergo sex-assignment surgery, Fan Xifa sits on his bed he rents for 50 yuan ($7.7) a day near BCH on March 8, 2016. A curtain divides his space from a number of others who are also waiting for family members to receive treatment. Fan has been renting since late February. His adopted child was born a hermaphrodite, and after his story was reported by media, local NGOs and other donors on social media raised nearly 400,000 yuan ($61,880) for the sex-assignment procedure. 
A woman surnamed Gao weeps in her rented room on March 17. Gao has been watching her son in Beijing while her husband works at home to earn money for their child’s treatment. 
Liu Xiaodong waits to bring his wife and son a meal at BCH on March 15. The family rent a small partition nearby. 
Song Changping and his wife in their closet-sized rental space on March 8. Their landlord partitioned off the area with sheet metal. The couple said they often are woken up by footsteps in the hallway at night. 
A mother teaches their 2-year-old son, who suffers from eye tumors, to read in their small room on March 25. The father, surnamed Su, earns 4,000 yuan ($618) a month, which barely covers their living and medical costs.
