Here’s my building:

When I moved in, both the north and east gates were open and in use. At night the north gate was often kept almost closed, so that only pedestrians could fit through and cars had to go through the east gate. Fair enough. But after a couple of years, the north gate was locked shut without warning. I asked the wuye about it and was told that there wasn’t enough money to keep a guard posted there.

Let’s do some math.

I pay approximately 4000 RMB every year in management fees. There are six building entrances, each of which holds 20-24 apartments (two doors on each floor, and 10-12 floors per entrance, depending on the location). So let’s say 136 apartments. That’s 544000 RMB per year from basic fees. There are also at least 100 cars parked inside the gates, covering almost every single inch of available space. Let’s say 300 RMB per month for parking; that brings in another 360000 RMB. So with close to 1 million RMB at their disposal, the wuye have decided it’s out of their budget to assign a skinny 18-year-old kid with a crustache and an oversized shirt to sleep in the guard box at the north gate.

The joy in this story comes not from the stupid decision by the wuye but rather by the sad and predictable effect of that decision. Because unlike me, someone was not content just to complain to everyone who would listen. This guy wanted his north gate back, and he got it back — by bending and removing the metal bars of the gate until he could fit through them. Here’s the gate now:

Even with the makeshift bars tied on, it’s easy to get in and out. There’s no guard there, so whoever was being kept out “for my safety” now has easy access. You couldn’t even open the gate if you tried, and replacing it surely won’t be cheap.  All in all, a brilliantly played hand by the building management.

Here are a few more pics. Note the cars parked directly in front of both sides of the gate, as well as the graffiti sprayed right next to the guard post.

This SMS came in at 2:59pm on Monday, May 2:

新闻早晚报快讯：美国总统奥巴马1日表示，美军方当天对巴基斯坦一所建筑发动袭击， 打死了“基地”组织领导本·拉丹，并对其尸体进行了确认。新华社

News Alert: On May 1st, United States President Obama said that earlier in the day U.S. military forces had attacked a building in Pakistan, killing Al Qaeda leader bin Laden and confirming the identity of his corpse. Xinhua News Agency

The sender was 10658000,  also known as China Daily Mobile News, a paid service that sends daily news headlines and links to mobile users.  I don’t subscribe, but occasionally they’ll send me  particularly important updates — usually matters of obvious nationwide concern, such as natural disasters or the latest epidemic sweeping through the capital. I never received any “regular” news like this, though. It was also odd that it arrived over three hours after I had watched Obama’s speech live (or, more likely, almost live) on Chinese TV.

So, why? Here are my top four theories:

1. China Mobile hoped to earn money by getting millions of people to forward the message to each other or call each other. But presumably that was already happening. And besides, if they sent the message to all their users, then they would be more likely to discourage a flood of text, since everyone would already know. Which brings me to my second theory:
2. China Mobile wanted to tell everyone once and for all because the network was being overloaded with texts and calls. This is also unlikely, though; I doubt traffic could compare to the Chinese New Year peak period, where everyone sends good wishes to their family and friends.
3. Rumors and disinformation were already spreading, and the government deemed it important enough to send out an official statement to quell those rumors.
4. The folks at China Mobile got caught up in the Twitter-fest like everyone else and just wanted pass along the news to their (several hundred million) customers.

Of course, the correct answer is “no why” (不为什么) .

Spent at least half an hour in the taxi from the train station to Jianghan Lu, by far the longest that trip has ever taken. Total cost: 21 RMB.

Cheap taxi fare was the third sign I was back in Wuhan. The first was getting into the taxi, revealing to the driver that I was American, and listening to him go on and on about war, North Korea, Jews, American Indians, and the NBA. (Yes, his favorite team is the Rockets.) The second was watching two separate shouting/shoving matches between pedestrians and police during. The driver explained that in hot climates, people have hot tempers. Even in December, when its comfortably cool.

I checked into the hotel, cleaned up, and headed straight to my favorite hot and dry noodle shop, which is in an alley behind the People’s Paradise shopping center on Zhongshan Dadao. Excellent as always, as were the mianwo.

After that we walked back toward the Wanda shopping center. At one point a pigeon crapped from a ledge several floors above, missing me by inches and a fraction of a second. I thought how lucky I had been, but I would have happily endured a pigeon attack instead of what I saw next. Inside the Wanda area we noticed a few people standing around and staring at one of the shops. It was obvious something interesting had just happened. We walked closer and saw this:

It appeared that a man had raised himself up to the the glass plates, perhaps to wash them, and then fallen through. You can see a glimpse of him holding his head. The glass is well supported from below and don’t look like they’d just fall on their own accord. What appears to be a hydraulic lift is just to his left.

Here you can see part of the shattered glass that hasn’t yet fallen. (Also, the woman in front, with her skin-tight jeans, leather everything else, and thousand yard stare as she walks through the disaster area, was sign number four that I was back in Wuhan.)

This shows the that the injured man, and whoever is attending to him, are directly below the remaining section of glass. The man wasn’t exactly young, either — he looked to be in his fifties. And even though he was bleeding a bit (note the small red spot just in front of the coil of rope to his left), his most serious injuries likely came from the fall itself (during which he lost a shoe) rather than from the broken glass. He seemed dazed but somewhat conscious.

We gawked a bit with the others and were starting to walk away when we shouting. We ran back just in time to see a huge chunk of shattered glass fall down, right where he had been less than a minute earlier. The hunk of glass was probably three feet long and fell pointed side down, like a giant icicle.

This set off a panic, as the Wanda attendants realized how dangerous the situation was, and how close they had come to a real disaster. Several groups of reinforcements ran up and cordon off the danger zone and get control of the situation. Meanwhile short woman with the white hair was retelling others how she had kept telling the mall attendants to move the injured man out from under the glass.

All this before 10:30 in the morning!

I used their services several times, back when it was difficult and expensive to get an F visa in Beijing. The same visa bought in Hong Kong was cheap and easy to get, and I am always up for a trip down to HK. Here’s the price list on the back of the card (from around 2005):

Beijing has become the better option in recent years, as the HK places got more expensive and less reliable. Trader’s Link is probably the best-known agency in Beijing; it’s still expensive, but generally reliable. The only trick now is to time your visa renewal with a China entry, due to the policy of making all F visa holders leave the country once every year, regardless of how much time is left on one’s visa.

I talked to the new manager at Traders Link on my last visit; he said the place is run by the Public Security Bureau. A bit surprising, but it does explain the ever-growing number of meaningless gestures required in the application. (My favorite part of that procedure is having to stand in front of the reception desk as they photograph me with the company logo behind me to prove that I actually came into the office.)

But just like the “Chinese food” in America that bears little resemblance to the wide range of fare available here, a real Chinese drill is a far more nuanced and complex performance in its homeland:

• A true Chinese fire drill should be performed not when stopped at a red light, but right in the middle of a crowded intersection, where one can block multiple directions of traffic instead of just a single lane.
• Participants in an authentic Chinese fire drill should not run around the vehicle in a wacky, chaotic matter; instead, it is preferred to keep a slow and steady pace, and not to betray any sign of concern about possibly blocking other vehicles.
• Expert Chinese fire drill practitioners prefer perform at the peak of rush hour; a weekend night out with friends would be unacceptable to the masters of this art.
• The audience shows its appreciation for the performance not with a couple of short taps on the car horn, but instead with extended blasts lasting five seconds or more.

It seems the rest of the world is has barely scratched the surface in terms of understanding this part of Chinese culture.

1. Buy houses for his mistresses
2. Trips to Macau for gambling
3. Crazy expensive cars
4. Play the stock market, day-trader style

Think of your own list, then read this article from from the Wall Street Journal’s China Realtime Report:

On trial is the head of a finance company who stands accused of bribing bank officials in return for more than 700 million yuan, or more than $100 million, in loans for fake mortgages and small businesses, according to Chinese media reports.

The 30-year-old head of the Beijing Huading Credit Security Company, Hu Yi, allegedly paid officials at the Beijing Rural Commercial Bank to help him apply for loans with fake names and businesses from the end of 2007 to February 2009. A total of 18 people are on trial, eight of them senior bank officials.

The official allegedly used the money to gamble in Macau, invest in mines and buy calligraphy and paintings, most of which turned out to be fake, according to the Legal Mirror. Only half of the total 708 embezzled yuan was recovered, the Chinese reports said.

Bonus points if you guessed that the expensive paintings and cultural artifacts were fake.

Sunday morning 9 am, intercom rings.

– Excuse me does ODB live here?

– Who is asking?

– I am from the local police department. May I come up?

– Sure. Come on up.

ODB buzzes the kind lady in only to realize that although his papers are all in order he forgot them at the office.

Police lady knocks on the door. ODB answers.

Pointing to a sheet of paper with names on it she asks:

– Is this your name?

– Yes.

– I need to check your passport and residence permit.

– Why? What’s the matter?

– There is going to be an inspection tomorrow morning.

Pointing to another name on the list:

– Does this person live here too?

– Yes, but only for a few days. She is traveling in China and will go back to her home country in a few days.

– Is she here?

– No she is traveling at the moment.

– Will she be here tomorrow morning?

– No she will not. Actually neither will I.

– You both won’t be here tomorrow at around 9am for the inspection?

– Nope. Will be at work.

– Are you certain?

– Yes.

– Thank you for your cooperation.

Police woman leaves without checking passport.

Think about it.  The sitting mayor of Baltimore is on trial for petty theft.

Meanwhile, while American city mayors are bogging their cities down by committing criminal activities, Shanghai is emerging as world economic center.  Well, I suppose Shanghai did have its Chen Liangyu.

Here’s hoping Dixon meets the same fate.

ODB and I walked by Workers’ Gymnasium at about 4:30pm yesterday and saw a couple hundred Hangzhou fans cheering and carrying a dragon made of yellow balloons. Later in the evening, as JZ and I tried to hail a taxi in a cold rain, it was easy to spot an inordinate amount of Hangzhou blue on sweatshirts, umbrellas, and glowing devil horns.

Currently The Beijing-Hangzhou match is less than an hour away. I’ve got the TV on but both CCTV and Beijing TV sports channels are showing boring studio talk shows for the pregame. No College Football Gameday in China yet, unfortunately. A Reuters article quoting the Beijing Youth Daily confirms my prediction of a heavy police presence, though even I didn’t expect it to be so high:

Up to 6,000 police will be on duty for Beijing Guoan’s Chinese Super League (CSL) match on Saturday, where they could seal their first title, after fans rioted on Thursday after failing to get tickets for the game….

About 10,000 fans had gathered outside the stadium on Thursday in the hope to buy tickets, but only 13,000 of the 60,000 seats in the stadium were put on sale, leaving thousands frustrated, the paper said.

I didn’t even think a riot would be possible with all the police assigned to the ticket lines. And honestly, I don’t really trust that 6,000 cops will be able to control a stadium full of fans, who will surely walk out either ecstatic or enraged.

Kickoff is now about 25 minutes away. BTV gave a minute or two to the sideline reporter and is back to the studio chat with the sappy background music; CCTV is now showing figure skating.

UPDATE: Added a pic of the riot police lined up outside Workers’ Stadium.

The typical Beijing Guo’an game fills about a quarter of the seats in Workers’ Stadium, though those who do show up are very vocal in their support. I would not be surprised if this match brings in a full house. Here’s a photo of the crowd from a match I attended back in 2005, when the team was known as Beijing Xiandai (the Chinese name for carmaker Hyundai):

In contrast, here’s a picture of the same stadium during China’s victory over Qatar in the 2004 Asian Cup:

Beijing currently is tied with Henan Siwu at the top of the table but is ahead due to a five point lead in goal difference; the title is thus Beijing’s to lose. Changchun Yatai (47 points) also has a reasonable chance to win, and Shandong Luneng (45 points) is mathematically still in the running.

Beijing’s opponent is Hangzhou Lücheng, currently second to last in the table and facing relegation if they lose, so it won’t be a walkover. Henan’s opponent is mid-table Shenzhen (ninth out of sixteen teams), and Henan will be playing away. The greater threat is probably from Changchun, which faces last-place Chongqing Lifan at home. Chongqing cannot avoid relegation and has little to play for besides pride, so Changchun has a good chance to win. This makes Saturday’s match-up a critical match for Beijing.

Even though Beijing’s team is consistently one of the best in the CSL, it’s rare to see much open support for them. The only hint I saw of this week’s excitement came a couple of months ago, when thousands of (mostly young) paraded down Gongti Bei Lu after a match, presumably toward the Dongsishitiao subway station.

Below is a picture I took before the 2005 home match again Dalian Shide, the strongest team in the CSL over the past 15 years and a major rival. There was no line; I just walked up and bought my tickets. Note the dirt-cheap prices, which ranged from 20 to 80 RMB. The “booth” consisted of a guy sitting behind the (locked) entrance gate–you can see his empty chair in the picture. I handed my money through the gate and he gave me my tickets.

Whether in response to aforementioned post-game march, which appeared to be spontaneous, or simply out of habit after the Olympics and recent National Day celebrations, the police are out in full force today. There are perhaps 500 to 1000 officers and dozens of vehicles surrounding the ticket buyers. To avoid even the chance of anything getting out of hand, the ticket line was not a line at all but rather bunches of a few hundred fans, each completely surrounded by dozens of police officers and at least 30 yards away from the next group.

Back in 2005, police were at the games but not down on the field for most of the match, as you can see from the pictures above. Standard procedure was to have them ringing the pitch until game time, at which point they would march up to their own section and enjoy the game.

Meanwhile, Beijing’s fans tended to get very rowdy, making up dirty cheers, hold up signs attacking the refs and others, and throwing anything available onto the pitch.

The most obvious rabble-rousers would be taken away during the game. From my observation, holding up a sign was far more likely to get you into trouble than thowing things at opposing players. (The authorities are well aware of the political dangers of letter fans holding up signs).

Only in the final minutes of the game would the police march back down to their positions around the pitch. Based on the security presence today, one can only imagine how many police they’ll have out for Saturday afternoon’s match.

UPDATE: Talked to a guy at the Subway sandwich shop across from the stadium at around 5pm today; he said tickets had sold out hours ago, and that many of the fans had been camping out for the last two nights. Probably some good business for Subway.

UPDATE: Titan Sports has some good slideshows, including the strict police control of the crowds, happy faces of fans with their tickets, and of course the pretty girls in line.

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