He sleeps in a tiny room three stories down in a dimly lit civil defence shelter, part of a thriving subterranean rental market that has gained prominence as inflation further marginalises the capital's underclass.

China's government has for decades allowed rental of the countless such cellars in Beijing. State media reports say up to one million people -- known by the slang term "mice" -- live in the shelters and other basement accommodation.

Li and his wife Qi Shulai, who are from the eastern province of Anhui, moved into their home two months ago as rising costs bit into the meagre 2,000 yuan ($300) they might make in a good month of selling hot snacks on the streets.

For 200 yuan per month, they get a windowless, four-square-metre (43-square-foot) makeshift room with peeling paint. A communal unisex toilet is located 50 metres (yards) down a gloomy hall.

But the room is warm compared to the biting winter winds up at the surface and -- compared to area rents that are 10 times higher -- within Li's price range.

"It isn't ideal but that's why it's cheap," said Li, 41, looking careworn as he sits on the beat-up bed that takes up nearly half their space.

"That's the situation we are in now. At this price, this is what you get."

China's Communist authorities ordered an extensive network of civil defence shelters built in the capital after they took power in 1949, fearing attack by Cold War foes, and most new buildings are still required to provide them.

Over the years, building operators supplemented their incomes by sub-contracting out the rental of such spaces. A market bloomed, mainly among the migrants -- now estimated at between five and seven million -- working in the city. Beijing has about 20 million people.

Some shelters are so well-entrenched that they have their own underground stores and Internet and phone access.

Qin Qiming, 50, a migrant from eastern Shandong province, moved into his room in southeast Beijing last month after losing a job as a clerk at a technology company.

He spends much of his time surfing online job ads on his computer, which rests on a cheap desk next to a bag of chilli peppers and instant noodles and is connected to the Internet via a cable snaking down from the ceiling.

But Qin may have to move soon. The city government has said it wants such cellars cleared in the wake of a deadly November fire in Shanghai that killed 58 and spotlighted China's dismal fire-safety record.

The campaign comes at a sensitive time as the highest inflation in over two years compounds a property market surge that already was a key national concern. Both have sparked a slew of new policies aimed at curbing prices.

The higher costs have put more pressure on the migrants -- estimated at more than 200 million nationwide and often from poor farm villages -- who work far from home on the margins of the fast-growing cities and coastal regions, and whom the government fears could be a source of unrest.

Beijing police were called in last week to break up a protest by more than 100 underground "landlords" complaining over lost income.

An official at the city's Civil Defence Bureau, who asked that his name not be used, refused to confirm whether all shelters would indeed be cleared, or when. He said "guidance" would be announced at a future date.

"Where will I go? The government has not thought this through," said a woman who gave only her surname Liu and who pays 320 yuan per month for a small space in a civil defence cellar.

Despite the lack of privacy, she said she fears leaving the bustling yet orderly underground community, which has a convenience store stocked with cooking oil, rice and other dry goods. A whiteboard at the store lists available rooms.

Management has even made an effort at decor, hanging fake plastic vines from the ceiling of the clean and well-lit central hallway, where the smell of meals cooked on hot plates mingled with odours from the toilet.

"The government needs to come up with policies that meet everyone's needs. They should put a cap on prices (of key goods)," she said.

Liu Fuzhong managed the rental of a nearby air-raid shelter for six years but city officials cleared out its dozens of tenants last month, wiping out up to 20,000 yuan in monthly income upon which his family depended.

However, such lodgings remain openly advertised in signs on area walls. Calls to several numbers on the signs were answered by people saying they were still accepting tenants.

"Once this passes, the government will step back and things will get back to normal. It often works that way," Liu said wryly.

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