New Forbidden City

Starting July 20th, Beijing will be an easy to move-around city only for the Olympians.

First the most expected: only cars with license plates that are even can drive on the even days, odd plates for odd days. This means, on average, only half the cars are allowed on the roads. Beijing Municipality has done this trick many times and most citizens are used to it, but never for 2 months. On the wrong days, take a taxi (exempt), public transportation, car pool, or just work from home.

Next comes 200RMB fine for driving on the “Olympic Only” lanes. These are like car-pool lanes, just reserved only for those special permit. “Chump change,” you said. “I will pay US$30 for a speedy commute.” It is 200rmb per violation with no upper limit. You can get a ticket every 2 minute. By the way, same for the 1st rule.

All residential areas, particularly popular for foreigners or migrant workers, are now checked several times a week. Police or neighborly citizens come knocking on the door, request to enter, and survey the house for any strangers. Those without proper documentation — national ID card, passport, residential permit, etc. — disappeared.

Foreign worker’s family members used to work under a single working permit, although technically issued only to an individual. No more. Those without working permit to their name got dismissed, sometime after many years of employment.

Visa processes are so restrictive that legitimate visitors are turned away. For business visas, the sponsoring company must guarantee that the visitors will abide all laws and stay out of trouble. The consequences can be quite undesirable, particularly to the head of the company that made such promises.
The number of visitors is so low that hotels and landlords are busy adjusting the income expectation downward. Renters who were evicted now find themselves in buyer’s market and quite an enjoyable bargaining position.

All subway stations have erected airport-like security check-points. Passengers carrying liquids must take a sip to board. I don’t know what will happen to grocery shoppers.

No large trucks may enter the city, except for those carrying perishable vegetables, meats, and other groceries. Small trucks may enter or leave the city only from mid-night to 5am.

Postal or delivery services cannot accept anything liquid, powder, with compressed air, with battery, or electronic. The online auctioning sites are suffering major sales reduction. Companies rely heavily on couriers.

No major network changes. If a company wishes to move from one location to another, it cannot change the routing configuration by the telecom operator or ISP.

Knock-off hand-bags or pirated DVD? Forget it! The popular shopping places are all hush-hush when customers approach. Many DVD/CD shops simply shut the doors, “We are temporarily close and will be open soon.” “You know, it is Olympics,” said the shop keeper. “Come back in September and we will have more to show you.”

Foreign workers changing job must de-register immediately. This means the company must cancel their working permits within a day or two. Further, the visa must be changed to a non-working visa (L-visa) or switch to the new company immediately. This is a bit twisted since the visa-changing process takes 7 working days. To do this properly, a foreign worker must submit the passport and working permit to the government at least 7 days prior to the last working days. L-visa (tourist) holders now cannot ship large amount of things out of the country. To move out of China, a Z-visa holder must arrange the shipment prior to the changing of the visa then. The proper process is then: find a new job, arrange shipment, move to a temporary place, resign from old job, wait at least 7 working days, and leave the country for the new job.

All factories near Beijing have stopped or significantly reduced their industrial pollutant output since this spring. Beijing is frantically trying to improve its air quality, to no avail. Rumors said they are seeding rain clouds to “wash out” the air. (It is usually a bright blue day after the rain.)

No eating dogs anymore. Historically, Chinese and Koreans enjoy eating dogs. They are known to restore the warmth in body in winter days. “Out of respect to the culture of our visitors,” said government officials. “Dog meats are not served during Olympic time.” Trucks transporting meat will be inspected and fined for violation.

Last night, we saw 3 armed military personnel at the street corner. There was no obvious reasons for such sentry. Each of them held a big gun, wore helmet, bullet-proof vest, and combat boots. They wore black uniform instead of normal Liberation Army color. The intimidation effect is quite impressive.

Mr. XI JingPing (ç¿’è¿‘å¹³, Vice Chairman of the Party, widely believe to the successor to Mr. HU in 4 years) said, “All we want is have a safe Olympics.”

Well, he has spoken, it shall be done. Beijingers will live in the new forbidden city until September 20th (after the special Olympics). Many of them couldn’t wait for this to be over.