Chengguan literally means "city management". The chengguan are basically officials who are in charge of cleaning up the city image, cracking down on unlicensed street vendors, etc. They are also notorious for being extremely violent. I've heard about how violent and brutal these guys can be, but the following incident really makes me 难过.
Du Wei and Pepe told us about the 城管 incident they witnessed on Sunday night. They were walking on Nanjing Xi Lu, when a chengguan car pulled up. Five officials jumped out, grabbed a fruit vendor, pinned him against the wall and started violently beating him. One of the officials picked up his baskets of lychee and yangmei and threw them all over the street. The vendor was begging for them to stop, saying that it's his 饭钱 (livelihood) but the officials only beat him harder. Pepe recorded part of this on his phone and it was sickening to watch.
If that wasn't bad enough, people started coming out of the nearby shops and restaurants to 看热闹 (see the commotion, a Chinese favorite pastime). The crowd began picking up the lychee, peeling it and eating the fruit as they watched the vendor beg on his knees. Other people grabbed the yangmei, took them into their shops to wash them--and then came back out to watch while munching on the expensive fruit. Pepe and Du Wei were livid, but didn't know what to do.
The state media downplays the whole "city management officials" issue, but the truth is, the government doesn't want peddlers and vendors on its streets so management officials will continue to act with impunity. Recently Nanjing set down new disciplinary rules for chengguan, but I doubt they will be effective any time soon. They already have such a negative public image that even if they are properly trained and act civilly, people will still side with the vendors.
My neighborhood is devoid of those unofficial night markets, places where people hang out and snack on skewers, places that are social and Chinese. I still remember 3 years ago, us American students would go out for midnight snacks at the stir-fry noodle carts or spicy skewer stands and hang out with locals in their matching pajama sets. A few months before the Expo, we used to buy "fake" books on Wujiang Lu. Those peddlers were giving out their numbers so they could continue to sell from their homes during the crackdown period. But what can fruit peddlers do?
Everyday everywhere, I see the Expo slogan "Better city, better life". But what measures are you allowed to take to make a city better? And whose life is being improved?
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I remember seeing something similar in Beijing, minus the physical violence, just a lot of shouting and an overturned cart. Seems common in China.
ReplyDeleteOMG, it's always so heart-breaking to hear stories like this. For me, I feel like, at least they're trying to make a livelihood from the sweat off their brow, unlike the beggars that litter the streets. Welfare in China is just so poor.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree. How is this a better life? And what kind of people are they if they steal from a poor man that is getting the living daylights beat out of him? I've always found this an issue with China. They want to be 文明, but you can't do that if you don't even "teach," "manage" in a civilized manner. Nanjing is trying to make that transition, and so the police officers on the streets that direct traffic have been enforcing it more strictly. However, yelling at people does little to help your overall image. They argue with these people, instead of kindly instructing them to move back behind the line. I can understand if the individual was very adamant and refused and you may loose your temper, but this is their overall attitude. It's a major issue, and is rather sad.
Thank you for posting this! It seems the China Daily editorial board also has troubles with this kind of chengguan violence. We are not alone!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.chinadaily.com.cn/opinion/2010-03/30/content_9659504.htm