economy - More beggars in the cities?

Jim Yardley of the New York Times sees more beggars on the street and links that with China's modernization. He quotes local government measures to stop the number of beggars.
I'm not that sure the number actually went up: counting beggars is not an easy job. In Beijing they traditionally gathered around the compounds for diplomats and journalists, but in Shanghai I never saw that kind of concentration. Is the number going up? I see the merchants becoming more aggressive, and that is of course also a hidden kind of begging.