From China.com BBS:
“Along the River During the Qingming Festival” (清明上河图) is a famous Chinese painting that is originally from the 12th century and has been repainted many times throughout history. The above picture is a part of the 18th century painting that is in Taiwan:
Click to see the bigger version.
“Chengguan” (城管, city managers) are low level “government officials” who are responsible for maintaining city laws and rules, such as those that forbid people to “baitan” (摆摊, set up a place on public street to sell things illegally] because they do not have business license or permit and affect the street environment. Many Chinese people dislike city managers because they often abuse their power.
Comments From China.com BBS:
会场保持安分:
草民东:
Lou zhu, I often see this kind of phenomenon here, truly picturesque.
大河奔流猫猫:
Strongly support, send to Afghanistan.
坚决吃猪肉:
Great picture.
木铎扬声:
O(∩_∩)O Haha~
夜飞扬:
Return to the people a clean clean clean world!
中华才子:
olala121:
This is too niu, hilarious!
小爱国分子:
You are too talented!
City managers ==== Satan!
ws200:
The emergency of the city manager troops, is simply a ruthless parody of those in power.
Where did they come from? Where are they going?
sssp:
City managers and forced evictions have created the two worst aspects of this harmonious society!
胖子１３６:
Classic!!! City managers = living brigands.
Comments from Sina:
zxnvxwe:
Too talented, if the city managers came today, the feeling is very much like devils [the Japanese] entering the city, and city managers have already become like the devils. These days everyone is promoting becoming more civilized, yet when can they be civilized in enforcing the law? Or change their bad habits of violence and robbery?
天涯默客:
Is this not a kind of tragedy!
Today’s city managers…
前锋maidi:
Haha, the city managers are coming, hurry and run!!!
豆点儿妈妈:
I hope that one day the lou zhu will post this topic again! Only that the two pictures are reversed!
Am I dreaming?
raul0948:
Give me 3000 city managers and I can annihilate Taiwan!!
羸牟倦客:
City managers are only the hand that hits the people, and it is the hand that manipulates the people that is most deserving of being condemned…
千千榷歌:
City managers, fucking nine out of ten are bastards, and the remaining one is an idiot!!!
温暖秋月:
Pretty creative, and if you think about it, it is true. If there were city managers at that time, how would “Along the River During Qingming Festival” have been painted?
江山美人:
Playing a prank with a famous painting that was handed down, you should be careful.
yang1202700:
If you do not let those people “baitan” [set up on the streets to sell things illegally], how are they going to eat? Stripping others of their right to make a living for a little improvement to the city’s so-called appearance? It would be strange to not condemn the city managers. If they had money, were not worried about having enough to eat, only ghosts would go “baitan” [set up on the streets to sell things illegally]!
Do you think city managers are necessary?
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Hrm.
I’m only breaking lurker status because I think I can get first post…
I also do not understand the connection, but maybe after I look at it a little longer I’ll get it.
Oh I got it.
Man, that is funny. The comments about this kind of make me cringe when thinking about those times I complained about so many street vendors. Of course, I was only really complaining that they were all selling the same useless bullshit but that is not really here or there.
After reading the post about Chinese liveried employees,black Obama falls into pondering：China today is no longer what it was in the past，this pictures shows it’s unconquerable.
**tips cap**
Very smart & creative use by original poster of an iconic chinese painting to highlight a contemporary phenomenon ..love the debris and shit floating down the river..looks like what happens around here when city management comes-local hawkers, noodle peddlers, grandmas, dogs etc RUN LIKE THEIR ASS IS ON FIRE
F*ckn funny photo of what looks like a pot-bellied Xinjiang mobster (and/or local party member) with a gestapo bao-an bodyguard detachment. Caption is hilarious (城管出马,无人能敌 When Urban Management come out,No one ‘fucks with them’)
The pot-bellied mobster pic is even funnier if you play the music from “Reservoir Dogs” in your head as you look at it.
Yes, the debris is a particularly nice touch.
…and one dead Ox left on the road
Oh god I can’t stop laughing……that was fcuking hilarious
hahahahahahahaahaha
oh man my stomach hurts…lmao
Though I totally support clean, orderly streets, who can support the way those bastards do it? I always gave the lady selling the yummy fried egg rolls a heads-up when the chengguan were coming… although she probably could have smelled them anyways!
that’s funny! ChengQuan-palypse FTW! Turn city into chaos! Let it burn let it burn let it burn baby!
BTW, I love the perspective in Chinese paintings. I also love the painting styles. Sometime one just got to chuck realism out of the window 4 coolness.
I remember seeing a street full of fruit vendors turn and flee one evening as they caught the scent of the 城管. It was interesting.
Its not the problem of “city managers”. Its a more general, prevalent, cultural problem in China – lets call it “confucianism” for the sake of simplicity (its only a litle bit more complicated than that) – that leads to extreme levels of corruption at the grassroots level. That includes the so-called city managers, but also court officials, doctors, teachers, street commitee people, managers at private companies etc… and yes most of the cyber-protesters who post in those forums… All these people care only about one thing: personal enrichment, preferably at the expense of others (non-related) people. Mao and the communists tried to change that. They failed. Thats why communism, which was based on Christian values, failed so miserably in China.
MAO was an atheist I say proudly.
We started a jihad on jihad.
“The holy wars are the revolutionary wars.” Mao Zedong.
so funny! 太搞笑了
It’s a shame we cant hear from the people who have to suffer this oppression. I wonder if they think this is funny?
China recently signed into action a human rights bill…
This is what we need! A regiment of Chinese Chengguan to drive those bastard red-shirts into buildings and another regiment of NYPD raid on their ‘reoccupation’. Problem solved!
“City managers” are something like “Communal police” on west. The difference is in attitude toward service. City managers abuse their rights just to feel that false sense of power. Their superiors covers them as they don’t know better ways to maintain order, and gives them sense of power.
Central gov is responsible, but they don’t want to do anything as “city mangers” helps them to control situation on root level. It is all about thirst for power and wish to control. As someone said: “There’s no little Gods”
Like a bucket of crabs stepping on each other to get out?
“Central gov is responsible”
Yes yes we know the story, the communists are to blame, the dictatorial “regime”, the red tyrants etc.
Except this – and almost everything you can observe daily when you live in China – proves just the opposite.
The central government, unfortunately, controls very little. Local authorities have almost all the power.
And as I explained above, due to a local culture that promotes corruption and selfishness in general, this lack of central control and the failure of the regime to implement even the basics of communism in this country has let to those problems.
I blame central gov. for controlling very little. If this is problem, they shall solve it. If they doesn’t bear responsibility, who shall? And, what is solution for situation? Only control over lower officials.
Ok, in this case I agree. We need a little bit of real dictatorship in this country. You have to understand it is however not easy, the CPC already facing a lot of international pressure over the so-called “human rights”, foreign meddling and funding of local troublemakers from various sects like the F*l(ng&ng or Evangelical Christians, pyramidal and other mass brainwashing schemes, etc.
Yes. Few days ago, they introduced “Human Rights Action Plan”. I hope that this plan will bring changes.
City managers are municipal law enforcement officers which enforce local bylaws and regulations.
Thing is, in many cities they have so much power that they are more powerful than the public security police.
City law enforcement officers should stick to collecting parking tickets and local bylaws. Leave everything else to the public security police.
“Thats why communism, which was based on Christian values, failed so miserably in China.”
Haha… now that’s funny! I guess it explains why all the communist dictatorships are Christian and why Hu Jingtao, Kim Jong-il, and Fidel Castro are at church every Sunday. Oh, and if I ever want to see “love thy neighbor” in action, I just need to look back at the Cultural Revolution.
Communism is a failure because it only looks good on paper. In reality, it’s a shitty political system kept in place by fear and intimidation by the ruling party.
“I guess it explains why all the communist dictatorships are Christian and why Hu Jingtao, Kim Jong-il, and Fidel Castro are at church every Sunday. ”
- Totochi
DUDE, this made me PISS MYSELF with LAUGHTER!!!
China is holding themselves ups to the standard these days.
They implemented a human rights policy recently.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2009-04-13-chinarights_N.htm
That is fantastic.
I hope China can find a workable way to regulate the good things without “harmonizing” them.
Unfortunately in the same week that we have been given the human rights plan, this story has emerged about the Chengguan:
http://www.danwei.org/law/a_practical_handbook_for_beati.php
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8015221.stm