An Open Letter To The City Administrators Of Xi’an

Dear Xi’an,

Your roads are not safe. A month ago, we introduced a video of a woman falling through a sidewalk, and while this provided many of us endless laughter, leading me to create a GIF, we were reminded, at the same time, that falling through the street is not normal. In fact, it can have horrifying consequences.

So, three days ago, when a burst water pipe caused one of your streets to suddenly collapse, caving in like, we imagine, the planet Vulcan from Star Trek, we naturally had questions. Fellow contributor Katie asked after the last snafu, “What is it with people falling through the sidewalk in China?” Now we wonder: how many people can fall through a hole that is 15 meters long, 10 meters wide and 6 meters deep? How many cars? What if there had been a massive traffic jam? How does one repair a road with a 150-square meter gap? All things to consider, methinks.

Of course, your job is difficult enough as it is. We don’t mean to pressure you. It’s not like 300 of your residents have had no access to running water in three days or anything. Carry on.

Yours sincerely,
Alicia

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