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Phoebe Zhang

He Huifeng

Choi Chi-yuk

Mimi Lau

It was not even 8am but the southern Chinese boom town of Shenzhen was already on alert for President Xi Jinping’s expected visit to the city on the third day of his trip to Guangdong province.
Amid the morning quiet, there were clear signs that someone important was about to arrive. In Futian, the city’s central business district, roads around the Museum of Contemporary Art and Planning Exhibition were blocked and residents wondered aloud about why they had to suddenly shut their windows.
All businesses within two blocks of the museum – hosting an exhibition of the province’s role in country’s reform and opening up 40 years ago – were closed and the museum itself had been shut for a month in preparation for Xi’s visit.
Pedestrians trying to go in for a closer look were shooed away by people who at first glance looked like students, grandpas and square dancing aunties but were all carrying the same kind of water bottles and mumbling, hooked up to earpieces.
Xi Jinping tours Guangzhou after highlighting wealth gap on visit to poorer areas
The presence of these undercover personnel appeared to double two hours later when Xi’s motorcade approached the museum. Security was just as tight across town in Qianhai where the streets were largely deserted.
A traffic police officer stationed on the area’s main road said he had been on duty since 5am while another appeared relieved after Xi’s motorcade left at around 11.30am.
“We have all worked hard on this one,” the second officer said.
A cyclist in Qianhai said there were fewer roadblocks this time compared with those put up for previous visits by state leaders.

State broadcaster CCTV reported that Xi had also visited Liwan district in the provincial capital of Guangzhou and asked about work on protecting cultural heritage.
The president’s motorcade was later spotted in Guangzhou’s Tianhe district outside Jinan University, the first of its kind to take in overseas students of Chinese descent after the country opened up to the West four decades ago.
Access to the campus had been limited in the lead-up to the trip, with students told to take Tuesday and Wednesday off class.
China at a crossroads: can Xi Jinping’s trip south get the economy moving?
But there were still people around the grounds.
An older woman apparently doing her morning exercises gave herself away when she suddenly pulled out a walkie-talkie from a pocket.
Plain-clothes officers posing as students were also stationed every five metres and security checks were ramped up after 2pm ahead of Xi’s arrival. At one point an officer pounced on a water bottle discarded by a reporter.
At around 5.30pm, Xi finally ended his trip to the university and the security around the campus dissolved.
One professor later said how excited he was to get to shake hands with the president, while student representatives who also shook hands with Xi vowed to “never wash their hands again”.


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Xi Jinping

Two Chinese cities and legions of police disguised as ‘dancing aunties’ and students on alert for presidential visit

Jinan University students in Guangzhou were told to take Tuesday and Wednesday off in anticipation of President Xi Jinping’s visit to the campus. Photo: He Huifeng

Students of Jinan University who met and shook hands with President Xi Jinping during his visit in the afternoon. 24OCT18. SCMP / He Huifeng

Xi Jinping tours Guangzhou after highlighting wealth gap on visit to poorer areas

Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) visits an exhibition in Shenzhen on Guangdong’s leading role in reform and opening up 40 years ago. Source: People’s Daily

A motorcade believed to be carrying President Xi Jinping entered the campus of Jinan University in Guangzhou after 4pm. 24OCT18. SCMP / He Huifeng

Suspected motorcade of President Xi Jinping visiting Qianhai zone in Shenzhen Wednesday morning October 24, 2018. Photo: Choi Chi-yuk

Where is Xi Jinping? Officials keep a tight lid on Guangdong tour

Xi Jinping was seen on a bus visiting the newly opened Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge on Tuesday in a report on state television. Photo: CCTV

J040H9 Jinan University in Guangzhou China. Jinan University is one of the oldest universities established on mainland China tracing back to the Qing dynasty

Journalists stand in front of a barrier placed in front of the boundary crossing at the Hong Kong side of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HKZM) on October 19, 2018, five days ahead of its opening ceremony. - The world's longest sea bridge, connecting Hong Kong, Macau and the Chinese mainland will open to traffic on October 24, 2018 officials said, after complaints about the secrecy surrounding the project. (Photo by Anthony WALLACE / AFP)

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All is not what is seems in Shenzhen and Guangzhou on the third day of Xi Jinping’s trip to Guangdong province



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Qianhai