Guards are plentiful in Beijing. Not only every government building, but it seems that every store, restaurant, hotel, apartment complex, office, etc.. have one or a few guards at the entrance. It took me awhile to get used to seeing them everywhere but I still haven’t figured out why they are there? There is very little crime or public disorder. Everybody feels safe and the punishments are so severe you would think once, twice and thrice before doing something stupid. Some of the guards carry an armband (colored red of course) that says in Chinese and sometimes in English: “public order control volunteer “. The funny thing is that they are paid, there is no volunteering. Even my Chinese friends (read comrades) don’t know the answer on why they are there? Actually they have never asked themselves the question in the first place. Probably part of a Big Brother program. The only problem I have had is when I wanted to ride my bike through a gate to take a picture of a nice apartment building and the guard came rushing towards me, waving me to turn around and leave. I was probably the only excitement he had in the whole day, especially when I tried to convince him to allow me to take a picture of him. Needless to say, I failed. However, I took a picture of the guys across the street (really, you find them everywhere) when they looked the other way. You should have seen the face of my not so-friendly guard. I jumped back on my bike and gave him a big friendly (somewhat smug) smile. I know these guys are just doing their job but in my eyes this was a small (and yes meaningless) victory against mindless uniforms, one of those small pleasures in life.
By the way, I was reading in the newspaper today that there will be 100,000 security guards from across the country on duty during the Olympic games and about 30,000 police will keep a tight watch over the city. There are also currently an estimated 263,000 surveillance cameras covering the city. For those thinking about coming to the games, you and 2.3 million of other expected visitors will be well-guarded. Oh, and please don’t spit, there is a 50 RMB ($7) fine for those caught spitting.
By the way, I was reading in the newspaper today that there will be 100,000 security guards from across the country on duty during the Olympic games and about 30,000 police will keep a tight watch over the city. There are also currently an estimated 263,000 surveillance cameras covering the city. For those thinking about coming to the games, you and 2.3 million of other expected visitors will be well-guarded. Oh, and please don’t spit, there is a 50 RMB ($7) fine for those caught spitting.
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