Several times over the years, various foreigners in Liuzhou have commented on how little crime there is in the city. I always want to ask them how they have arrived at that conclusion without being able to read or understand Chinese. True, crime against foreigners is low (the occasional pick-pocketing and petty theft), but getting any idea of the incidence of crime requires an ability to read and understand the local media. Most of our perception of crime rates comes not from personal experience or hearsay from friends and colleagues, but from the media. And when you don't understand the media, it is easy to assume things don't happen.

I would say that Liuzhou has as much or as little crime as you would expect in a city of around 1,000,000 people. We have our share of thefts, fraud, car crime etc. Recently we have seen the capture of a million in counterfeit bank notes (along with the counterfeiters). From time to time, someone finds themselves beaten or even murdered, usually by friends or family as everywhere else. From time to time, the locals execute people.

A quick scan of today's paper reveals concern over the rising number of hit and run accidents, a government employee is on trial for embezzling money to feed his gambling habits, a couple of  peasants in their 70s take to fighting about a disagreement over logging rights on their land and various drunken drivers get caught, including this pair who fell asleep in the fast lane of the highway. A quiet, normal day.

The occasional foreigner gets caught, too. There is one foreigner, described as being of Middle Eastern origin, serving a long sentence in Liuzhou prison, although his crime - rape - was committed in Nanning. An Australian was recently held in detention for financial irregularities over a proposed joint venture. A few have been deported, mainly for visa violations, but also one for being a drunken violent slob.

Many crimes probably go unreported. Either because they are not interesting and newsworthy enough or because they are being covered up. This could be for political reasons or because the newspapers and reporters have been bought or warned off in one way or another. Also, the Chinese press prefers to run 'good news'. Negative stories are often spiked.

Of course, we also get our share of mindless violence. Here is an example of a case which has never been reported in the Liuzhou media (although there was some mention on local bulletin boards - now removed.)

Shatang is on the northern outskirts of Liuzhou. It is really a small market town serving the local rural population and farming villages. Unemployment is high and, most of the time, groups of young men can be seen hanging around doing nothing much in particular. Same as any small Chinese town.

What marks Shatang out is that it is home to a number of higher education colleges including Guangxi Biotechnology Vocational College, Guangxi Animal Husbandry and Veterinary School and the three campuses of Liuzhou Teachers' College. Outside each college campus there are small restaurants providing simple food at student prices.

The details of this story are hard to come by due to the lack of reportage, but what follows is as told me by more than one member of staff from the various colleges. It is not verifiable to the level I would like but ... 

At some time, two weeks ago, (the precise date and time are not clear) a bunch of students from the Biotechnology College were having an evening meal in one of the small restaurants. They accompanied their meal with a few bottles of beer. As students do.

Sure enough, at some stage one student, in his second year, felt the need to relieve himself. While he was doing so, one of the local lads stood beside him and claimed that the student had splashed him with urine. He said that if the student bought him a pack of cigarettes he would be willing to forget the errant urine. The student refused.

A fight broke out between the students and the local lad and his friends, leaving the urinating student dead and two of his friends in serious condition in the local hospital. The dead students major? Hospitality and Tourism.

The school is desperate to keep this quiet - those enrolment figures (i.e. income) must be kept high and this is not the kind of publicity which attracts new recruits. So nothing has appeared in the official media. Police may or not be investigating.

This is not the first time there has been trouble between town and gown. About a eighteen months ago, a couple of of local youths decided to pick on a student in a restaurant outside the Teachers' College main campus. The student in question was a PE major and a little more than they could cope with. He beat the two of them decisively. They then retreated to their villages to gather reinforcements, returning somewhat later in a minivan with a group of around ten youths. 

These ten very quickly found themselves surrounded by around 100 students from the college PE department and were beaten to a pulp. The vehicle they arrived in was also damaged. When they got out of hospital, the ten arrived at the college demanding compensation for their injuries and for the damage to their vehicle. First they demanded money from the students but were seen off again. Later they turned their attention to the college authorities but were rebuffed.

Resentment lingers, but the locals are unwilling to take on the PE students again. They have earned themselves a reputation which puts off most aggressors.

Finally, let me say that occurrences like these are rare. Most of the time, Liuzhou is friendly and peaceful. 

Four Dutch tourists, two couples aged around 50, are reported to have died at around 8:30 this morning (14th October). According to reports, they were killed when a hot-air balloon exploded and crashed 30km (20 miles) south of Yangshuo in Guangxi. . 

Five passengers, all from a tour group from the Netherlands, and two Chinese pilots were aboard when the accident took place in Maling Township of Lipu County. Lipu is on the road between Liuzhou and Yangshuo. The surviving passenger and the crew are being treated in a local hospital.

The Lipu county government sent 400 people to search for the victims after receiving a report that the balloon had crashed. The balloon was operated by the fully licensed Dongguan Meixiang Aviation Club from Guangdong province.

The tour group has cut short their trip and returned to the Netherlands.

The identities of the dead are not yet available.

China Daily 

More Details from Earth Daily 

The State Council AIDS Working Committee is visiting Liuzhou following the release of the latest figures. The main points are as follows:

There are over 9,000 known cases of HIV /AIDS infection in Liuzhou. 

The main transmission route is now via heterosexual sexual contact, having risen from 1.92% in 1998 to 59.05% in 2008.

Intravenous drug users, previously the largest infected group has fallen from 97.7% in 1997 to 19.6% in 2008. This fall is thought to be the result of a city needle exchange system.

The number of infected women is rising, now accounting for 32.71% of new cases.

More new cases are being seen in people not previously considered to be in high risk groups, suggesting that HIV / AIDS is moving into the general populace.

80% of cases are among 20-49 year-olds, but the number among the over-60s is rising (from 5.35% in 2006 to 12%   in 2009).

The number of rural workers infected has increased from 12.64% in 1998 to 39.51% in 2008. 

Guangxi has the second highest incidence of HIV / AIDS in China, after Yunnan. 

As the water sports wind down, the city is beginning to get back to normal. Well, as normal as it gets. At the weekend the locals get their river back. 

To my surprise some aspects of the mutterings of discontent seem to be being addressed. The local rag is reporting that those people who managed to find day tickets feel that the price was too high and there have been many complaints about the lack of shelter and other basic facilities at the competition site. People either had to sit in the baking sun or take shelter and be unable to see.

Of course, this didn't have any effect on the week ticket holders. They were OK in their VIP area and, of course, didn't pay for their tickets anyway, so they aren't complaining about the price. 

All of these concerns are to be met by moving the venue away from the city centre to a dedicated water sports venue elsewhere on the river. Deputy Director of the event Jia Shushan said that the city centre site was merely a temporary venue and therefore cannot be perfect. Clutching a five-year contract for the games, he said that the new area, in the Jinglan Bridge area, will be more professional. 

And the locals get their river back!

But before I drop this subject, it is only fair to throw in a clip of the final sport - the F1 Powerboat racing. This is the second year this stage of the finals has been held in Liuzhou. As ever, from Liuzhou TV.

Alternate Link

After the water ski events, we moved on to what is known as power ski.  A bit like the millions of electric scooters plaguing Liuzhou, but these run on water. Apart from just doing speed races, they also like to do stunts - again like the e-bikes!

Anyway, as I'm posting videos this week, I suppose it's only fair to show some of this event. Again from Liuzhou TV.

 Non Youtube link for China

So the water skiers have gone. Now we move on to the F1 Speedboating. But before we go there, here are some clips from Liuzhou TV showing some of the water ski events. But first, the opening ceremony and firework display! Note that it was China's 60th National Day and the fireworks were scheduled for that rather than the water sports. Still, why not combine the two? 

Alternative Low Resolution Video for those who can't get to Youtube. 

Then three clips of news and skiing.

Alternative Videos (lower resolution). Non Youtube so available in China.

Part 1  Part 2  Part 3 

Tomorrow (2nd October), sees the start of the two day, first Liuzhou Waterski & Wakeboard World Cup to be held on the river between the No 1 (Liujiang) Bridge and Wenhui Bridge. It will be followed by the F1 Powerboat Grand Prix, being held here for the second year.

It seems that at least one competitor in the water ski events is less than happy. Today was a practice day and the competitor in question has complained on Twitter that "Conditions [are] the worst I've ever seen. Almost fell before I got to the ramp on a ride over." On his website he includes a video apparently intended to show how dreadful the conditions are. It looks like a man water skiing to me. Then bad-temperedly throwing his helmet into the water. Helmet abuse!

(The above is a Youtube video - not available in China. Alternative low resolution video here.)

I happily admit that I know next to nothing about water skiing, but today was a beautiful, warm, windless day and the river looked pretty calm and normal to me. The competitor doesn't say what it is that bothers him about the competition site, but I would have thought that if you are a professional skier and taking part in a world championship, you should be able to deal with any almost water conditions. That said, he was complaining on Twitter before he even visited the site. "Rumor has it site is death on a stick" he reported within hours of arriving and going straight to his hotel. Now he is speculating on whether everyone will get out alive. Perhaps he should remember what he wrote on his website - "water is water".

People with more legitimate complaints have been grumbling, too. The locals. Once again the entire riverside, one of Liuzhou's favourite leisure spots, has been taken over. No longer content with having a few cops around to hold people back, this year they have fenced off the whole riverside. 

And erected barriers on the bridges to stop people getting a free peek at the river.

As I walked past today, I heard one man say to his friend, "Whose river is it, anyway?" Good question. Although, he wasn't quite so polite.

Tickets for the event cost ¥8,000 for a VIP ticket for the week (about 5 times the average local  monthly salary - I doubt if a single person will pay for that themselves. Corruption rules.) Normal day tickets are priced at ¥150 but are not for sale in any ticket outlet. I have seen precisely one advert which merely listed a mobile phone number and a QQ number. Where is the money going? 

Perhaps the rich kid might like to think what his expensive hobby is taking from the local community instead of whittering on about how terrible life is.

Update 1 - 3rd October

Seems our friend must have recovered from his jet lag.  He is now reporting that "Todays the finals. Yesterday was better than practice. City is great but a backwash system would be great."

Excuse me? We always wash our backs.

BTW, the firework display was to celebrate China's National Day - not for you!!

Complaints from the locals continue. People who work and live on the river have been unceremoniously removed and riverside related business have been fenced out.

Update 2 - 4th October 

I am happy to report that Liuzhou has finally won over our friend who hated it only three days ago. Today he is reporting that "Liuzhou is by far my favorite city in China!" and " All my trips have been good, but this is still my favorite to date." (Although I don't think he has visited any other Chinese cities!) Of course, it probably helped his mood that he won his event. He is still asking for a backwash system, but I don't think the city is going to change the river for the sake of two days a year. The organisers have signed up for the next four years. They'll be back.

Not such good news for the locals. 

After a day of watching the Communist Party parade its phallic symbols across our television screens for hours on end (no, I didn't watch it all. I did catch the female militia in their miniskirts and boots, though. Purely accidentally, of course), I thought I'd do a bit of time travelling to see where it all came from. 

So, here is Mao on October 1st declaring the Peoples' Republic  from the gate of the Forbidden City in Tian'anmen Square, October 1st 1949.

By the way, despite having huge genitalia military might, the Party are utterly terrified of a website which mainly carries pop videos and so, have blocked Youtube. Here is an alternative, lower definition alternative. Alternative Video.

Skip on ten years and we have Mao celebrating national day during the Great Leap Forward. Not many saw this as they were rather busy starving to death. Millions died.

Alternative Video

Another 10 years takes us to 1969 and the cultural revolution. In this first 1969 video, we can see Zhou Enlai wondering what to do with the raving lunatic who started all this off.

 Alternative Video

In a second clip from 1969, the PLA practice what they seem quite good at. Here they are waving guns around and shouting "Sha! Sha! Sha!" or  "Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Alternative Video

Finally, we have China in the early days of its opening up process.  Mao is gone but not forgotten. Deng Xiao Ping is in charge (but never officially). Five years later, the tanks rolled in Tian'anmen again.

Alternative Video

There is an excellent movie of the 1999 celebrations here (found via Danwei)

China is going totally over the top to remember 60 years of Communist Party rule, although they pretend it's China's birthday which is patently nonsense. Tomorrow, October 1st will see an outpouring of propaganda from Beijing (which is more than the Beijing people will see - they have been effectively banned from taking part.)

The education system has ground to a halt while all the kids sing patriotic songs over and over again from morning to night in a effort to get vaguely in tune before tomorrow. (The joy of living next door to a middle school!)

I'm glad to report that Liuzhou is going for the cheap environmentally friendly approach to the commemoration. At least that is the only explanation I can find for their recycling all the leftover bunting etc. from last years' anniversary of Guangxi becoming an Autonomous Region. 

The square is decorated with exactly the same cardboard tubes covered in paper flowers (only the numbers have been changed from 50 to 60)  and the city's trees are sporting the same old red paper lanterns. 

So-called volunteers have been patrolling the streets hanging up these red paper lanterns carefully making sure that they only cover the sides of the streets facing the road. The other side is naked. Mere pedestrians don't get to celebrate. The only exception is the four trees outside the government building on San Zhong Road - they are covered on both sides so that the party faithful get to see red things from two sides. Of course, loads of the paper lanterns have blown away in the last week, so they are going round once again. 

Somewhat cheekily, the pedestrian street seems to have hijacked the anniversary and are proudly celebrating the 30th anniversary of something or other! They are outrageously (and dishonestly) claiming that this is the anniversary of the downtown shopping area. There is hardly a building there which is 10 years old, never mind 30. I'd love to hear their explanation as to why they have never celebrated the previous 29 anniversaries. Total lies.

Fortunately, the local party have seen fit not to deceive us. The proud notice which claimed that, under the wisdom and leadership of the Party, the extension of  the underground shopping mall would be finished before the National Day holiday has quietly disappeared. Perhaps it fell down this big hole in the road where the underground mall remains firmly unfinished.

Purely for comparison's sake, here are two pictures taken last year. Look familiar?