China Vice

Foreign spiderman avoids arrest

(Reported by Beijing News)

In an attempt to avoid arrest, a foreign man jumped from the top floor of a 17-storey building to the 14^th floor in Beijing’s Xuante Gardens on June 6. He was wanted for unlawful entry into China.  A resident reported the man to police after seeing him in the corridor of the 17^th floor. Following the arrival of the police at about 4pm, the man climbed outside and jumped to the 14^th floor.   By 11pm, the man had yet to give himself in.    

A dirty business

In recent weeks, Chinese television has reported on a young woman from Inner Mongolia who is addicted to eating dirt.  In reports about the case, there has been ample footage of the rosy faced woman shovelling clumps of dark dirt into her mouth.  Although said to be alarmed, Chinese doctors believe there is nothing intrinsically unhealthy about eating dirt.  They are, however, conducting a series of tests on the woman in Beijing. 

Does anybody else think this dirt eating story is a load of codswallop?  Besides eating dirt, the woman has a perfectly healthy diet – she even looks quite plump.  There has been a lot of footage showing the woman eating the dirt, but the journos have hardly talked to the woman on camera.  I reckon it is a hoax.  The woman probably wanted to escape the poverty of her hometown, so she ate some dirt in front of the cameras.  It’s definitely working because she is now living in Beijing while being examined by a bunch of Qinghua nerds.  The media is desperate to take some interesting footage, so they go along with the story.  Probably the woman receives money from the TV shows for each appearance.

A quick search on Baidu has shown that the print media has also reported on dirt-eating woman.  Here’s a translation of a story that was published on Sina: 

Dirt-eating woman gets the all-clear

Source: Sina (The First), 1 May 2006

Baobao (not her real name), a 19-year-old woman from Inner Mongolia is addicted to eating dirt.  She can’t get enough of eating loess, in fact she has eaten more than three tons over the last 12 years.  Yesterday, this native of the Mongolian grasslands received a check-up at the hospital attached to Qinghua University.  Currently, doctors are yet to find any abnormalities in the woman, but the hospital will be conducting further tests. 

I started eating dirt at the age of seven

Yesterday, Baobao told this reporter that she became interested in loess at the age of seven.  “Once, I rode a horse to the riverside and suddenly smelt the fragrant smell of dirt.  I couldn’t help eating some – it tasted so sweet.  After that, my every meal included a helping of dirt,” said Baobao.  After she finished talking, Baobao picked up a clump of Mongolian dirt and munched it down.  Her cousin quickly reminded her: “Baobao, don’t eat too much, otherwise there won’t be enough for tomorrow.”

Link to Sina Report

Shoot 'em up in Guangzhou

It seems that southern China has gone gun happy.  Read the following report for more information on a recent gun battle in suburban Guangzhou. 

Source: Xinhuanet (Guangzhou Daily), 5 June 2006

Translated by Xiao Zhu

A gun battle took place in an alley behind Summer Gardens in Guangzhou's Huangpu District on June 4.  According to witnesses, two sides consisting of over ten men fired more than 10 shots, with one gunman being injured.  By the time police arrived at the scene, the two sides had both taken off. 

White Toyota left behind at the scene

When the reporter arrived at the scene,  a small and white Toyota sedan with the number plate "Yue ABXX5" was parked in front of the 19^th Gate in Summer Gardens.   Fresh blood was on the doorhandle of the driver's door.  According to witnesses, the car was left behind by the gunman.  Before the rain, there was even more blood stains with the ground also bearing traces of blood.  It is believed that the gunman was injured. 

Using the sedan as the centre, the police have roped off more than 20 metres to prevent people from entering the scene.   The alley where the gun battle took place is seven to eight metres wide, with walls on one side and several residences on the other.  This includes the first floor of one building that houses more than three families.  Outside one home, several metres away from the Toyota, there is an electricity pole surrounded by the shattered glass from the car's brake lights and windows.  It is believed that the gunman reversed into the pole while trying to escape. 

Gunman fired ten shots

"They fought for around ten minutes and fired more than ten shots - it was really noisy," said a nearby business owner.  According to her, the gun battle was extremely sudden.  After hearing gunfire, their first reaction was to close the door to avoid being hit by a stray bullet. 

One young man told the reporter that the gunfire was concentrated, causing him to hide in his home.  However, his brave friend saw the gunman shooting from the passenger seat of the Toyota.  Due to the violent nature of the fight, the gunman hid his face while pointing the gun out the window. According to the brave friend, the Toyota reversed into a parking space while the gunman escaped. 

"In total, there were more than ten men, including two who concealed their faces. I don't know why they started to fight," said Mr Shi, a resident of a nearby street who saw the entire gun battle.  From the vantage point of his building, Mr Shi roughly calculated that both sides had seven to eight guns, with one gun more than 30cm in length.  After the gangsters left, there were more than ten leftover shells on the ground. 

According to Mr Shi, the gangsters used a total of four to five small sedans, including a Mitsubishi with the number plate "Yue G01XX7" and a white sedan with the number plate "Yue GV4XX7".  Before the arrival of the police, both sides had hastily driven off.  The reason behind the fight is still not clear.  (Journalist: Ren Shanshan)

Link to Xinhuanet Report

Inaugural Blog

Welcome to the inaugural post of the new blog China Crime Watch.  This blog will be looking to give an insight into a China not often seen in the mainstream Western media; namely the multitude of strange and brutal crimes which take place every day.    So often, foreigners living in China remark at the relative safety of the country – they feel at ease walking down a deserted street late at night, unafraid of being robbed or assaulted.  This website is not intending to pull down any positive perception of China and replace them with trumped up images of fear, it will merely be trying to inform readers of what reports are being circulated in the Chinese media, reports that are rarely reported in China’s English-language media.  Many reports in the Chinese media, just like their Western counterparts, are exaggerated – overly dramatic stories that herald the brilliance of the police force.  Hopefully this blog will effectively monitor crime stories within China, while eventually presenting trends that may be helpful in ascertaining an overall picture.