At the bus stop just outside our apartment complex there are three elderly people clad in matching orange wind breakers and baseball caps emblazoned with Shanghai Ping’an Volunteer (and a lot more in Chinese). They have government-issued red armbands pinned to their sleeves. They can also be found further up Shanxi Nan Lu, near the metro station. They mostly just sit on the bus benches and talk to each other for hours.
[Note: sorry for the crappy phone photos. I was trying to be inconspicuous]
Shanxi Nan Lu red guard imposter
I haven’t quite figured out if they are the descendants of the old skool neighbourhood watch grannies or if they are a new Expo gimmick.
In addition to the Elderly Windbreaker Watch, there are a lot more new security personnel roaming the city. This is not like Turkey where you have young men adorned with semi automatic weapons. At the entrance to metro stations, the new red guard stand watch. They smile though, and take smoke breaks with passers by. They speak softly and carry small sticks.
In addition to these kind fellows, we also have another guard supervising the outer entrance to the metro station. He mostly just plays games on his phone and smokes.
Ever so casual
Inside the metro stations they have set up very elaborate airport-style bag xray scanners, with posters advising passengers to obey the new security measures for the good of society. However, the guards supervising the scanners will readily let you bypass the conveyor belt if you indicate that you are in a hurry and quickly flash your bag flap open. Conveniently, I am in a rush every day.
I can’t say I miss stern boys with big guns.
4 Responses
I’ve read that as long as you do not play against China rules, these guys are friendly (a Chinese girl I met at QQ told me – “The Chinese ‘gestapo’ ” she called them-). Those guys in the last photo (with the pretty girl in the middle) look like rappers. What is that 5F? I super zoomed but I still can not read the name above… Is that a perfume? I like that announce!
I’m a I-D-I-O-T:
I forgot to click the image to enlarge! 🙂 It says “Safelin 5F”, right? I can’t find it in google… (well, I do, but there are only that Hanzi tiny pictures that I don’t understand…)
No need for reply…
5F is probably a perfume- the guy was standing against the window of the big Springtime posh department store (the ladies’ shoe dept. is right behind him).
Or, it could be that whatever that product is, it could be found on the 5th floor– it is a department store, after all.