Well, during my busy work day, I decided to take a side trip to the office and see if I couldn't see for myself what was going on around the train station. The day was cold (6C) with a downpour of cold rain all day long. So, we drove through the city and up on to the Ring Road, which encircles GZ and runs right past the station. My driver told me that there was no way we could drive down below, so we would just pass by. Unfortunately, there is a hedge along the divider and I couldn't get a good view of the station square...so I just held up my camera and snapped pictures. This was the only shot that turned out...
Not satisfied with that, I asked if we could somehow get over towards the China Hotel, which is located about 1KM from the station, and directly across from the Trade Fair center, in which the government opened up to some of the stranded yesterday. My driver said, we could get to the hotel...and I could get out and walk around a bit.
Not dressed properly was the biggest issue...with only a hoodie sweatshirt and the rain pouring down, I was cold and wet pretty quick. Below are the pictures I snapped along the way...
The front entrance to the 'Trade Fair' hall...the hall is full of people (60K), so many of the extras just gathered under the eaves to get out of the weather...
Trade Fair hall ringed with people.
This is down the road from the Trade Fair building, looking toward the rail station...packed with people milling about. Many trying to get into the Trade Fair complex, but being turned away, as there are too many people there.
During the 20 minutes I walked around, I was probably asked 15-20 times for a hand-out. People are running out of money, fast. I also found some enterprising people selling umbrellas and other sundries to cash in on the crisis. I didn't ask how much...
After the quick walkabout, I headed back to the car and we proceeded down the road, towards the train station, to the ring road entrance. It was during this ride, that the crowds came more into focus...
You can see by the crowds, that everyone is toting luggage. Some more than others, as migrants head back home after quitting their jobs and packing everything up to take home.
You can see how hard it was raining in this picture...temperature was about 6C (43F) and pouring down rain. In Oregon, this isn't a problem...but here, they just aren't used to it. You can tell by the coats and lack of gloves people are wearing on the streets. Rumors are running around that people are getting sick from either bad food, bad water, or just the cold weather.
In the background, above, you can see the overpass for the Ring road, and off to the far left of the photo, you can see a clumping of umbrellas...this is where everyone has gathered to get out of the weather (those that weren't lucky enough to get into the Trade Fair hall).
The whole time, you hear loudspeakers telling the crowd what to do, where to go and to be patient. Basically, they are telling them all that they are screwed and they should go back to their jobs or homes in GZ...but they won't. They HAVE to get home for the holidays...
These were the only toilets I saw...about 15 of them. They cost RMB1.00 per use. So, when people run out of money, where do they go?? You guessed it.
As we got closer to the Ring Road and made our final right turn to hit the on ramp, you could see the thousands of people camped out under the overpass. The rail station is to the left, on the other side of the Ring Road. The first photo in the series was taken from the ring road overpass...so you can put the distances together.
The last picture I took before we hit the Ring Road and were back in the relative normality of Guangzhou again.
Because of the vastness of the situation, it was very hard to get a decent photo from the ground...the pictures I have here only tell the story from a short vantage/viewpoint. It is important to click on these pictures and to examine what lies beyond the initial view of the shot...what you will see are people. Thousands and thousands of them.
I worry that as these people run out of money and grow more and more frustrated, tired, hungry, cold and wet, things will come to a boil. You can imagine what will happen with these crowds once the first trains are announced on the loudspeakers...the crush of those wanting to get tickets or those that have tickets trying to get through in time to catch the train. It will be ugly...no doubt.
Instalanched!
Posted by: Ian | January 31, 2008 at 02:40 AM
Yeah...and it never fails that it happens after I shut down for the day...so I cannot welcome all the Instapundit readers!
M'eh...Welcome anyway!
And...sorry for all the typo's in this post...brutal. Never post an entry without proofreading first.
Posted by: GZ Expat | January 31, 2008 at 06:09 AM