Magnificent With Me: Chaoyang's Getting Civilized, Like It Or Not

Jonathan White | Sep 9, 2011 6:00 pm | 12 comments | 3934 reads

Have you been trapped on any street corners recently? Have you pedestrians been penned in by the sheepdogs of the municipal government? Have you struggled to buy any audio-visual entertainment? Have you gone to eat and found nothing to satisfy your hunger but steel shutters and abandoned spots? Have you gone to your favourite restaurants to enjoy the last of the summer with a spot of al fresco dining and only had the option of a table inside? Have you found nowhere to fix that punctured tyre on your Flying Pigeon?

Have you wondered what’s going on?

Well, we’ve found out why Chaoyang has gone crazy. Apparently, we’re getting civilized whether we like it or not. Chaoyang is competing to become one of China’s civilized cities. (Yes, we know that Chaoyang is only a district, but because Beijing is a municipality, each of its districts can be nominated as if it were a city in a province.)

While the district waits for the inspector’s call, we don’t get to eat outside, enjoy barbecue at Home Plate or buy new DVDs. That’s the deal, kids.

Chaoyang has been planning for this since 2001; since applying last year, it has made the Central Civilization Bureau’s shortlist for the second batch vying to enter the pantheon of civility. This shortlist is actually 80 candidates long, with Chaoyang going head-to-head with cities such as Harbin, Jilin City, Hangzhou, Changchun, Taiyuan, Qinhuangdao, Guangzhou, Guilin, Lhasa and Sanya. Tough competition.

Dongcheng residents will be happy to know that they – and 13 other cities – became civilized the first time around.

The bad news is that we’ve been unable to find an exact date for the inspection so we’ll have to put up with this new breed of civility for a little while longer. But you can always order a Civilized Chaoyang With Me cartoon DVD on Taobao to pass the time.

Images: DYTM, BJCYWM, China News and Weibo users Diaoxiaoyu, Zhaobianjiang, VivianLu & Blackbread

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chefjeff9's picture chefjeff9 Submitted by Guest on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 19:21

in the meantime, while waiting for the inspections to happen the hardworking residents who just happen to own (with exceptions to the illegal DVD shops) businesses in the district are made to suffer by being forced to close their doors thus hurting the local economy in spades.... meanwhile in other areas slowing down the housing market has caused the rents to skyrocket over the last year. landlords seeing the chance to make a buck raised the rents 30-50% making finding even reasonably affordable housing more and more difficult! I love China and Beijing but this is getting ridiculous! there I've vented now I'm done.... Smile

polansky's picture polansky Submitted by Guest on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 16:40

I just wrote a letter to the chaoyang government about that photo, which I also had taken a photo of. I had sent it to an African American friend of mine and he was unhappy of the depiction.

你好，

我是一位外国人住在朝阳区。 看到你们宣传广告。 我有个很大意见。这个照片你可以看很清楚， 黑人的表情里有暗含着种族歧视的意味。 我在美国的黑人朋友看了，非常生气。
这是美国30年代的造型. 这是我真诚地希望，你严厉处理与艺术家. 下一步图片立即删除所有公共举牌. 朝阳区政府等图像应感到尴尬. 北京市朝阳区是许多外国人，包括来自非洲国家的使馆官员。

Thanks

As falls Witchita so falls Witchita Falls.

Aier2's picture Aier2 Submitted by Guest on Mon, 09/12/2011 - 23:25

thebeijinger wrote:
Chaoyang has been planning for this since 2001; since applying last year, it has made the Central Civilization Bureau’s shortlist for the second batch vying to enter the pantheon of civility. This shortlist is actually 80 candidates long, with Chaoyang going head-to-head with cities such as Harbin, Jilin City, Hangzhou, Changchun, Taiyuan, Qinhuangdao, Guangzhou, Guilin, Lhasa and Sanya. Tough competition.

Oh wow.....just ....wow.
There are no words.

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