Tai-Tai and I had a very strange experience on Saturday night.
We attended a going away party for some friends at our old neighborhood. We left the party around 11:30pm and headed home. Normally, a 15 minute drive with traffic at that time of the evening. As we were about 1km from our complex, the traffic ground to a halt. Now, here in GZ, its not a big deal to us...but, it was late and we were both a bit tired. Usually, its a bus or a truck that has decided to do a u-turn in the middle of the road, and it just blocks everything up for 15 minutes. Chinese drivers being what they are, try and go around it by driving in the oncoming lanes, sidewalks, whatever works for them.
And...as usual, my driver did the same thing. He started working his way around traffic until he came up to the front. We began to see a crowd gathered, and I am thinking, 'oh boy, carnage.' The crowds really gather when there is a horrific crash to gawk, etc. After a couple minutes, we were at the front of the pack...
Protest. Demonstration. Sit-in. Social Disturbance.
You name it...that is what was going on. I looked down between the seats in our van and noticed I did not have my camera with me. Arrghghghgh. What kind of a blogger am I??
The crowd was probably 150-200 people actively linking arms and blocking traffic on the road. There were a couple of characters walking up and down the line of people with bullhorns, and they were all chanting something. My driver, following company orders, saw the disturbance, heard the sirens, turned and got the hell out of there. If I had my camera, I would have told him to stay for a short time...just to get a peek at some head cracking.
Not sure what the protest was all about. My guess is these people were probably being displaced because their apartment building was going to be razed for some new complex or something. But, people are getting more and more bold about expressing their displeasure in ways that make people in charge very nervous.
Hope to find out more about what was going on...but I doubt anyone wants to talk about it.
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