Chengdu's latest Internet phenomenon: images of "Soft Knife" (温柔一刀), the policewoman with a pretty smile who uses her charm as a potent weapon to enforce the law.

From Sichuan Online:

A video called "Chengdu female police officer spends half an hour to gently insist on a male driver's penalty" 《成都女交警温柔执法违规男司机纠缠半小时认罚》 was posted online. In the video, the police officer is seen talking with the driver of a vehicle. Maintaining a friendly smile on her face at all times, she says a few words, and then salutes. The driver responds; she answers and salutes again. This goes on for nearly 20 minutes, during which she salutes 13 times. But still the driver does not get out of the car.

According to one of the forum posters, the police officer had requested that the driver procure his driver's license. The driver responded by saying that since he knew a certain party secretary, would the police officer kindly let him off this time? In this way the pair carried on for 20 minutes. In the end the driver finally got out of the car and reluctantly accepted his punishment.

Within just a few hours of the video being posted online, thousands of forum users had viewed it, and 260 comments had been made praising the policewoman's patience and deriding the driver's stubborness.

Some of the forum commentators recognized the traffic officer as one frequently on duty at Kuanzhai Xiangzi who had been nicknamed by drivers "Soft Knife."

The rookie officer is well-known at her branch. She issues the most penalties per day of any of the new officers. As long as there is a "knife" at the intersection, the traffic is noticeably better.

From time to time people ask for directions, but the officer's eyes never stray from an area 10 meters away where U turns are prohibited. And sure enough, it's not long before several cars attempting to make U turns there are taken down.

Just like in the online video, the officer smiles at each driver, salutes, and then writes the ticket. The penalized drivers accept the ticket and some even smile back.

But when asked about the videos of her online, the officer's face turns red, and she laughs in embarrassment.

Who is this officer? She is 24-year-old Hu Ling (胡玲), a graduate of Sichuan University's International Trade Department. She was admitted to the traffic-police force last year and took up her current post at the Aolin Stadium intersection in June of this year.

Although for the first few days standing in the sea of cars was daunting, Hu says that she quickly came to love with the feeling of being able to make the traffic get in order at her command. "There are so many cars and in such a short time I can get them all in order, what a feeling of accomplishment!" she said.

With her natural skill for the work, she was quickly promoted to issue fines to offending drivers. In one day she issued nearly 30 tickets and, to the surprise of her colleagues and superiors, collected over 1,000 RMB in fines.

After two months she was transferred to the Kuanzhai Xiangzi intersection. Drivers who passed her every day reported that throughout the summer, in nearly 40-degree heat, completely soaked in sweat, she directed traffic gracefully. It seemed she never took a break. And when they approached that intersection, there seemed to be an invisible force straightening out the cars, urging the drivers to correct their sloppy driving, buckle up, stop chatting on their cell phones while driving.

But just why does this video strike a chord with the Chinese public? A letter to the China Daily published last week sums it up:


Since the video posting, Soft Knife has become something of a do-good icon. Another Sichuanese Hu Ling, a 27-year-old middle-school English teacher from Dazhu who's suffering from Leukemia, heard the story and contacted the Chengdu Commercial Daily. The paper arranged to have Officer Hu Ling visit Teacher Hu Ling. Having heard that Teacher Hu Ling had always wanted to be a police officer, Officer Hu Ling brought along her uniform and has vowed to use her newfound fame to help the teacher raise funds to pay for her treatment, which has already cost her family over 20,000 RMB.

This video of one dog's supposed sentimentality over his "lover's" dead body has had countless Chinese and foreign netizens in tears over the past week or so.


The video, which was shot on the extension of Chengdu's Second Ring Road, shows a dog discovering the dead body of another dog, his "wife," pawing at the body, attempting to move it, and finally resigning to laying down at its side. Nearly 60,000 QQ users deemed it to be a "moving" story.

Translation site China Hush, which writes that the video appeared on "every Chinese video-sharing site, forums, and blogs," posted a translation of the text in the video, as shown below:


But today, Red Net (红网) writer Tian Dezheng (田德政) blasts the weepy reactions as "false sentimentality" (矫情）.


The author goes on to explain that he grew up in the countryside, with his family and all his neighbors owning dogs, and that the so-called "human nature" the dog displays is merely due to its lack of intellect and inability to recognize that the other dog is dead. It is actually, says the writer, the dog's display of "male instinct"--or, put more crassly by a China Hush commentator, "he was trying to hump it."

Finally, the Red Net writer acknowledges bursting everyone's bubble about the "lover dogs" and adds, "But it only takes a few days of raising a dog or carefully watching the video to be able to understand the obvious."

So, GoChengdoo readers, what do you think? Is it emotion or just raw animal instinct?

Amid bus fires, spontaneously combusting buses, and bus collisions, Chengdu residents are voicing growing concerns over bus safety. The latest bus-buster is a netizen who posted photos of a public-bus driver who drives with his seat tilted way back. Apparently this netizen missed the whole lowrider trend.

From the Tianfu Morning News via SC TV (our translation):

Passenger exposes bus driver's irresponsible reclining driving style

A passenger took this image of a bus driver operating a public bus with eyes upward and body lying down. The passenger believes this is an irresponsible way to drive a bus; the bus operators have said they will call for an investigation.

Imagine for a moment, you're in a reclining position, face up, your upper body forming a 125 degree angle with your thighs. Would you dare to drive like this? On September 4, Chengdu resident Mr. Liu was on a public bus when he saw such a driver. "This is irresponsible and is an enormous threat to the safety of passengers." The startled Mr. Liu used his cell phone to record a video of the scene before his eyes. Yesterday (the 6th), a spokesperson for the bus company involved in the case said that this type of conduct on the part of the driver is in violation of company policies. If it is found after investigation that the driver is indeed an employee of the company, procedures will be carried out.

City resident Mr. Liu explained that at around 10 a.m. on September 4, he got on the bus at the Qingyang Boulevard Intersection stop. Just after he had sat down on the first row of seats on the right-hand side, Mr. Liu stared at what was going on just in front of him: The driver was in a reclined position, his upper body forming a 125-degree angle with his thighs. Five minutes later, the bus pulled up to the next stop, and the driver finally sat up straight to step on the brakes. Just as Mr. Liu let out a sigh of relief, the driver again started to move, little by little resuming his reclining position. "The passengers behind me were also paying attention to the driver's movements, a few women were whispering to each other that they should just get off at the next stop, before the stop they originally planned to get off." Mr. Liu indignantly said that driving in a reclining position would greatly reduce the driver's range of vision, and that this is irresponsible and an enormous threat to the safety of passengers.

The reporter watched the 56-second video Mr. Liu recorded. On the screen, the driver's seat back is tilted back very low, and he uses a large cushion to elevate himself. The driver is wearing glasses and a light-blue shirt, and his body is firmly pressed against the seat back and two hands straight on the wheel. Ten seconds into the video, the driver leans forward and extends his right hand, then falls back into the reclining position. When the bus arrives at the stop, the driver again straightens up, steps on the brakes, and opens the door. After all the passengers have gotten on the bus, he immediately bonds again with the seat back as if it's family. By the end of the video, the driver still has not changed his position.

In light of Mr. Liu's actions, the reporter contacted the bus-operating company in question. "Impossible, we would be very surprised to find a driver operating a bus in such a manner!" The company's spokesperson said he had watched the video twice: "I was completely shocked. For a driver to operate a vehicle in this way is clearly against our regulations." He told the reporter that when a driver is seated upright, he can see the entire area in front of and surrounding the bus. If the driver is not sitting upright, the range of his vision will be altered, obstructing his field of vision. "Right now, if there were a child, pet, or any other relatively small object in front of the bus, the driver probably wouldn't be able to see it. Regardless of whether we're talking about pedestrians outside the bus or passengers on the bus, there's a big safety concern."

The spokesperson said that from the video it's impossible to view the driver's face clearly. The video also does not provide indefinite proof of the bus's line number. Additionally, all drivers wear the same color shirts, nor can the model of the vehicle be deduced from the engine cover since none are unique to any of Chengdu's public-transportation companies. The spokesperson said that although the bits of information in the video offer no way to verify the driver's identity, the company will nonetheless notify all drivers of this matter and carry out an investigation. "If it's found that there has been a violation of the regulations, necessary procedures will follow."

As of this posting, 3774 QQ readers said that after reading this story they felt angry. Another 213 said they felt bored, and 199 thought it was funny.

QQ has also posted a collection of bus drivers engaging in other bad behavior, including reading while driving, more reclining, and flirting with passengers as well as one badly behaved passenger who got on the bus but forgot his shirt.

Images: reclining chair and screen capture

With "Chinese Valentine's Day" in the air, here comes the story of "The Most Handsome Trash-digger." The story, widely reproduced on Chinese websites, seems to have been first published in the Chengdu Shangbao. Our rough translation is below:

"The most handsome trash-digger seems as cool as a movie star; by scavenging, he's been able to travel to over 10 cities"

With an elegant way of speaking, standing around 1.8 meters tall, a figure resembling that of movie star Tong Chun-Chung (汤镇宗) ...

Recently, the area around Moziqiao at Shenxianshu has been haunted by a young trash-picker, attracting a lot of double-takes from passersby. After his photo appeared on online discussion forums, netizens bestowed upon him an unparalleled nickname: "The Most Handsome Scavenger of All Time."

After some minor setbacks, this reporter finally tracked down this handsome "post-80s" master of the bin. By this time, he had already traveled to more than 10 cities all over the country, just by scavenging recyclables out of the trash. He deftly collects bottles and scraps and when he amasses some money he'll go off to another city for more travels.

Posted online, his photo calls for close scrutiny

"This person is often around Shenxiansu, with an air of refinement, big eyes, hair in tight curls, quite handsome...," "From the back he looks like Tony Leung, from the side he looks like Hu Jun, from the front he looks like Tong Chun-Chung." On August 20, a post titled "The Most Handsome Trash-Picker of All Time" appeared on the Tianya Chengdu forums. The poster, "Qing Qian," related that on the street he had seen a handsome trash digger and used his mobile phone to take two photos of the scavenger. The post immediately caused a stir among netizens: "He's even wearing gloves, how professional!" "Hello! Handsome!" and even that classic line from Stephen Chow's movie was used by netizens to describe his appearance: "A man man like you, just like fireflies in the dark, as bright as that, as numerous as that, you with your eyes so sullen, with the air of one breath you betray yourself."

One moment, the netizens were discussing the authenticity of the post; the next, they were commenting on the identity of the trash-digger. Some believed this "handsome brother" is really living life, others believe it's completely disgusting, but most said that if this person is really a scavenger depending on his own two hands to make money, he can't be faulted. "Labor is honorable, just because one is handsome he cannot scavenge?!"

His life: walking and scavenging is OK"

Right around the same time the "Most Handsome Trash-Picker of All Time" post exploded, coincidentally a woman in the city had announced to this reporter that she too had spotted a "handsome and elegant trash digger" on the street. The morning before yesterday, with the woman leading the way to Mozi Qiao, this reporter finally spotted this handsome trash picker. Height, about 1.8 meters, wearing a khaki fisherman's hat, grey short-sleeved shirt, and a pair of ankle-length trousers he cut himself. At this moment, his hands covered in white gloves, he was picking empty bottles out of a trash bin. Occasionally, when a piece of trash would fall outside the bin, he would bend over and return it to the bin. The brim of his hat was angled low, at the moment he straightened back up his face was revealed and the reporter couldn't help but exclaim, "He really looks like Tong Chun-Chung!"

As far as the reporter's visit, the young man seemed completely caught off guard, his clean face instantly turning red. He said, my family name is Liu, I'm from Ningxia, and I was born in 1984. When he heard that netizens had dubbed him "The Most Handsome Trash Digger of All Time," he said with a smile, "People have told me I'm good-looking, but I'm just a trash digger, how embarrassing!" Liu said he depends on his own two hands to make a living, he does what he wants to do, it's a lot better than depending on his family.

Li said his mother has passed away and his father and younger brother tend to the family farm. After finishing middle school, he started venturing from home. At that time his dream was "to see and walk in every place in the country." Two years before, he arrived in the famous "land of abundance" Chengdu, sat in teahouses, strolled on Chunxi Lu, and fully enjoyed the slow-paced lifestyle. But he's still never told his relatives that he's digging through rubbish bins. "Actually, I could look for work, but I quite like this kind of wandering lifestyle, I don't think it's so difficult!"

Every day, Liu spends most of his time walking the streets, from 8 in the morning until 10 at night, from Yihuan Lu to the south of the city, learning which bottles and recyclable scraps to pick out of the trash bins along the side of the road, eating the cheapest food he can find for his three meals. Picking up bottles, Liu wears headphones so he can listen to news and music on the radio, and sometimes he goes to watch the Xinhua broadcasts on the big screen on Zongfu Lu's Shudu Tower.

His path, traveling by scavenging

The market price of an old crumpled bottle is about the same everywhere, usually not more than 2 kuai. Yet by picking up these crumpled bottles one by one, Liu has already been to more than 10 of the country's cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. Accompanying him on his travels are some of his most treasured possessions: a train or bus ticket from each city he's been to. The next destination Liu has set his eye on is the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau; to get there, he plans to save up 10,000 kuai in Chengdu, bottle by bottle. When he's saved enough to buy some simple equipment to prepare for his trip, he'll set off, "I'm not far from my goal."

Liu's biggest dream is to go to Hong Kong to see the nightlife. "A few years ago, when I was picking up bottles in Shenzhen, I went to the port of Luohu just to gaze across the bay at Hong Kong. Looking at it only made me yearn for it; I hope to get there one day when I've saved enough money." Liu said if he starts to dread this kind of lifestyle, he'll stop, and try out the lifestyle of the rest of the post-80s generation.

Those who know him said with some envy that the fact that he's so good-looking might have to do with the fact that people sometimes stop Liu on the street to offer him some money, but this upright young man always declines. In the eyes of the other scavengers, Liu is not the same, he just likes this kind of lifestyle. They said, Liu is very concerned with his personal hygiene and spends some time every day to wash his hair and clean his fingernails. "Although his face he's a rubbish picker, he doesn't litter."

Results of Chengdu QQ's online poll (as of August 26, 2009)

Do you approve of this kind of traveling and scavenging lifestyle?
I approve. Unrestrained freedom (24.55%)
I disagree. What a waste of ability and social resources (2.53%)
I understand, after all, everyone has his/her own way of living (66.79%)
What a lot of fuss about nothing (6.14%)

The story is attributed to reporter Li Tianxiao and trainee Wei Hui.
Image: Chengdu QQ