We are civilized

This was on our door when we got home .
It says that we are a civilized household.

When we got back from visiting our friends, we noticed that almost all of the stores were closed in our neighborhood; no one was sitting at tables along the street (and there were no tables on the street); everything seemed clean and quiet. It was strange. We asked our cab driver if it was a holiday, but he said no.

Then, we learned from Asian Kate that while we were gone the Cheng Guan ("City Manage" as it is translated on the side of their cars) came through and were bribing stores with gifts to close shops for two days. They painted white stripes on the sidewalks, telling people to park their bikes only in those spots. They kicked all of the mah jong tables off of the streets. They put up rods in the sidewalk to prevent cars from driving on it. Officials from Beijing came to town for two days to see if our city is a "civilized" city, so our neighborhood was being forced to clean up.

There were police & "city manage" on every corner for two days. It was amazing. I could walk the streets without dodging boxes, people, bikes, cars, etc. It was quiet and peaceful in the neighborhood. Amazing.

Once those two days were over, it was back to business as usual.

just a bunch of bikes with culture, parking within the white lines.

all restaurants were closed.  there was nowhere to eat.  civilized people don't eat.

Where the uncivilized mah jong playing used to happen.

new civilized trash bins, already slightly cultured.

no driving on the sidewalk.  civilized people use roads.

Business is back to normal.  Four poles have been taken out.
Cars are on the sidewalk, and that guy is shooting snot rockets.