I was rushing back to office from a long traffic jam early afternoon when I saw this scene… I knew I would see it eventually, since I am such a rickshaw fan… But I didn’t know that the scene would turn out to be so relaxed and “peaceful”… The gathered crowed were pleasantly amused: check out that half naked man and his delightful smile! (I know, I should have taken a close-up shot, and you can’t tell much from this tiny snap..) One policeman would like to test his own skills of rickshaw riding, actually I would like to do that too.
There was not much shouting, not much struggling… Maybe that’s what you call “Absolute Power & Decision”.
One rickshaw man left free (left corner of the above pic), I don’t know why. But the rest:
I remember speaking to a rickshaw man last night. Rain was pouring like thick noodles in dark soup. One police man, on his bike with an umbrella (no, not Charlie Chaplin, A POLICE!), was shouting at the rickshaws. Competing with the sound of the pouring rain, he tried to scare away the rickshaws around the tube exit… Avoiding the wet shouting police, the rickshaws lingered at a distance like timid mosquitoes. I jumped into one, so that he could contently flew away.
“Why were you scared of him? It’s so dark, so late, so raining. He’s alone and could hardly cycle with that umbrella in his hand..” I could not comprehend.
“You don’t understand!” the rickshaw man started shouting, “we all work in this area, the rickshaw people and them (Charlie Chaplin)… Do you want him to hate you? So that next time, when the day is dry and bright, he target only at you?…” yes, that’s the theory…
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More on rickshaws in Beijing from previous posts:
4 comments
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September 20, 2007 at 7:15 am
samwild
What a sad tale. What an outrageous destruction of livelihoods, eco-friendly transport and culture. What a horrible imposition of random and arbitary power. I feel sorry for those rickshaw drivers – as if their lives were not already hard enough. Enough of this constant anti-cycling harassment! Cyclists of the world unite … we have nothing to loose but our cycle chains!
September 20, 2007 at 9:17 am
Once
Sad sad sad…. Let’s do whatever we can to practise what we believe..
September 21, 2007 at 5:09 pm
twice
You know fq? This is the first word that pop into my head after I read this article. That what you will get called if you post it in any chinese bbs.
Nowadays people are so pressured by living conditions, by house price, stock market and so on. Who still care about unfaireness as long as it happens to other people~as long as it doesn’t get in my way of making money.
we’re farmers living in the city, the easieast people to rule~
September 21, 2007 at 5:16 pm
Once
What is FQ, please?