Two Chinese cities and legions of police disguised as ‘dancing aunties’ and students on alert for presidential visit
- All is not what is seems in Shenzhen and Guangzhou on the third day of Xi Jinping’s trip to Guangdong province
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.
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.
