1 July is the birthday of the C*mmunist P*rty of Ch*na. This year is especially significant as it celebrates the founding of the P*rty 90 years ago.
Although the day is not a public holiday, and I can find little in the news about it, I am sure there will be some kind of celebration taking place. You can also expect a general tightening up of controls in your area.
This may apply only to my area in Shaanxi but in the last 2 weeks there has been an increasingly concerted drive to 'tidy up' the streets:
- Two weeks ago I walked into my underground (it is in a basement) DVD market to find all the DVD's had gone from the stalls. They had been replaced with CD's and software - but you can still get Windows 7 for 10RMB! A shopowner said the DVD's will come back on 7 July.
- Last week a start was made on washing and then painting all the barriers on the roads and streets of the city. As there are mega kms of these there were many workers on the job.
- On Saturday the 10 km road from my college into the city was being groomed by gangs of workers. The verges were being weeded and pathways cleared of rubble. It looked like property owners were responsible for cleaning their frontage as many workers from the factories were working alongside villagers. The road now looks 100% better than before.
- On Sunday I noticed that some of the massage places were closed - on a day that is usually one of the best for business.
There are not many beggars in this city - on Sunday I could not see one.
- Yesterday traffic in the downtown area was totally controlled. There were teams on every intersection controlling traffic, including 2 policemen on every pedestrian crossing.
All motorbike taxis have been disappeared.
There is not a street vendor in sight in the central city.
In addition 'student volunteers' from military colleges in our area controlled every pedestrian crossing and bus stop through the urban area. Dressed in their army uniforms they had red caps and red flags to show they were there to help people be civilised citizens.
The village across the road has not escaped the general housekeeping operation. When I got back from the city a large group of chengguan were clearing stalls from the street and checking on shops and restaurants. This is very unusual because it is rare to see a uniform of any kind in the place - I have only once seen a policeman and he was in a restaurant with his friends.
An hour after the chengguan left I was in one of the small restaurants when the owner returned to show the staff 4 impressive looking documents - business licence, etc. - and the staff were suitably impressed.
The owner of a liquor store came in on a delivery and asked how much they cost. They both had big grins as they compared prices for legal documentation - Y4500 for the restaurant and Y4000 for the liquor store. They both knew they had swung a good deal.
These events may not be related to the birthday but there is certainly a concerted drive to make this a 'civilised' city before a certain deadline. The people are certainly getting the message and there is a rather sombre mood in the streets.
Anything happening where you live?
* It may pay to carry documents with you when travelling until the celebrations are over.
** For some background on the birthday check out:
http://www.ethjournal.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4153:the-steersman-in-a-long-march-towards-a-developed-prosperous-and-harmonious-china-the-unwavering-commitment-and-strong-leadership-by-the-communist-party-of-china-cpc-&catid=18:current-issues-and-events&Itemid=50
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