Protestors in Hong Kong clashed with police in the early morning hours today, reportedly over the removal of illegal street food vendors in Mong Kok. The AP says the violence was the worst in the city since the pro-democracy protests of 2014.

In the nearly 10-minute video above, protesters are seen hurling bricks, glass bottles, and other objects at police. Something gets lit on fire around the 5:30 mark.

SCMP reports that running street battles lasted about six hours, and that police fired two warning shots into the air.

Even as late as 8am, an angry mob could be spotted at the intersection of Sai Yee Street and Shantung Street, continuing to hurl bricks and glass bottles into the police lines as curious residents watched from the bleachers and commuters walked to work.

And here’s AP again on the early fallout:

Acting District Commander Yau Siu-kei said 23 men and one woman were arrested on suspicion of assaulting and obstructing officers, resisting arrest and public disorder. The arrested were as young as 17 and as old as 70. Police said 48 officers were hurt by glass and flying objects and confirmed that two warnings shots were fired.

Monday was the first full day of the lunar new year. The street vendors of Hong Kong, even those operating without licenses, have traditionally been ignored during the holidays, and it’s unclear the reasons for the crackdown this year.

Hong Kong’s annual Chinese New Year Victoria Harbor fireworks show is scheduled for tonight. It’ll continue as planned, with extra security.

CNN has some photos of the Mong Kok riots:

Want a graphic summary of the past month of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong? Local graphic designer and artist Carol Hung has you covered. She posted the above (click to enlarge) last night on Facebook, a calendar showing the main events that have led us to where we are today: the pepper spray, the umbrellas, the arrests, the barricades, the Kenny G…

And where do we go from here?

Hung, 30, told CNN three weeks ago that she wanted “to make people laugh in this heavy atmosphere” with this cartoon:

Here latest work is decided less funny, but no less impressive.

(H/T Jerome Taylor)

On Monday morning, Hong Kong media reported that the barricades around Admiralty would be removed after two-plus weeks of bulwarking pro-democracy protesters in their concrete campground near government offices. The evidence was right there on the tele: moving pictures of police clearing the roads! And so, after lunch, I found myself in a friend’s dad’s car going from Wan Chai in the direction of our final destination in the western Mid-levels. We had just gotten onto Queensway and could see Pacific Place, a luxury complex of business and commerce, when we encountered… a barricade.

As we were figuring the proper detour, middle-aged and slightly older men at the scene became suddenly animated by an unexplained rage. We exited the vehicle to this ruckus amid growing layers of interested and camera-phone-toting bystanders. As the men rushed in to dismantle and drag out the barricades, which scraped loudly against the asphalt, they were met by resistance in the form of young people, first one, then others, possibly students, who stood defiantly in front of vehicles. (Yes, the obligatory reference to Tiananmen Tank Man was overheard.) They sat in the middle of the road to form a human barricade:

No one should have been surprised at the resistance. After bunkering down in their cove of dissent, dozing in tents and showering in makeshift facilities, passionately, thoughtfully, and artfully pleading their case, in multiple languages, to anyone who would listen, did authorities really think the protesters — organized and motivated as they are — would quietly step aside to watch their movement extinguished by a giant-claw douter?

Every time authorities have tried to step in, the protests have flared as a result, like an angry flame. Two and a half weeks ago, they tried pepper spray and tear gas, inadvertently giving this movement its distinctive symbol – the umbrella. But popular support for these protesters was beginning to wane last week — at least among Hong Kongers, who increasingly see the protests as a nuisance — when the government made yet another boneheaded decision. It announced, then retracted on Thursday, a meeting with student leaders. Why? In a very non-rhetorical sense, why? Why, if you decide to schedule a meeting — option A – wouldn’t you go through with said meeting, maybe try to win a bit of positive press before using that momentum to cast the Hong Kong Federation of Students and Scholarism as stubborn, callow, and unrealistic? Why, if option B is to never engage, wouldn’t you actually not engage, and let the momentum slowly fade, the protest starved out by boredom, school, and work? Indeed, the worst thing the government could have done was option C: rescind a promised talk one day before the weekend. Predictably, protest numbers skyrocketed. Here’s what it looked like from my vantage point on Friday:

And then, today, while barricades were going down, they were being built — and deployed – just as quickly:

#HongKong #OccupyCentral protesters’ local solution to crackdown peril – bamboo barricades http://t.co/VS3TZfGATo pic.twitter.com/MfRBMbSHXW

— Phelim Kine 林海 (@PhelimKine) October 13, 2014

Students mix up cement in #causewaybay to reinforce new barricades after police dismantled some… http://t.co/6oppFy8Eh5

— Sofia Mitra-Thakur (@_sofiamt) October 13, 2014

Recent reports are that city officials have now gone to Guangzhou for a forum. Government… leaders… what are you doing?

But here’s where it gets tricky. On the corner of Queensway and Tamar, the opposition was not reciting pro-government slogans, extolling the Communist Party, or Leung Chun-ying. They were upset*, sure, but their anger and frustration was directed at the protesters’ actions… not the values they represent, but the hard fact that they had incapacitated the day-to-day lives of many and threatened livelihoods. And all for what? The choice to elect leaders who, in the end, will still be beholden to Beijing? (This isn’t a popular reality, but Hong Kong relies on mainland China and will only rely on mainland China more in the coming years… but that’s a different story.)

*QUICK INTERLUDE: “Go fuck your mother,” an old man screamed at some Occupy protesters. Another man, also fairly senior and on the side of the anti-Occupy folks, blurted, “Don’t curse, don’t curse.”

They chanted, “Open the roads!,” “Clear the area!,” and “Rubbish!” (Thanks to Alicia for the translations.) Signs read, “Retake the road, I’ve suffered enough,” “Save my rice bowl,” and “Hong Kong is my home.” Some, I suppose it should be noted, spoke Cantonese with mainland accents; many others did not. On the other side, protesters sang “Congratulations to you” sarcastically. “Please leave peacefully,” a man in an orange shirt appealed, though it was unclear who he was addressing. “Please protest elsewhere.” He was expressing a sentiment I’ve heard often lately: fighting for what you believe in isn’t wrong, but preventing other people from making a living probably is.

How should we feel about these people? They are called the “anti-Occupy group,” but that term is problematic. It works on a literal level, describing those who oppose the folks occupying Central, but it has a ring of unpleasantness, doesn’t it? As if this nebulous group, in addition to being anti-protest, were also anti-justice, anti-democracy, and anti-Hong Kong. But let’s call them what they mostly are, shall we? Taxi drivers. Restaurant owners. Small business owners. Their spouses. People who understand the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, and who mistrust college students who lecture them about the future. This “group” is not a faceless, masked opposition against values that Westerners on Twitter hold dear. These are the people who will ultimately decide whether this movement moves forward or subsides, because they are the ones who are skeptical — never mind the spirit of the protesters, their optimism, their courage and grace – about whether they can sustain a 30 to 50 percent reduction in business.

Above on the overpasses, pedestrians peered at the action below, snapping pictures as if at a zoo. Underneath Pacific Place, in the Admiralty subway station, a poster extolled “New rail lines for a better Hong Kong” while advertisements cycled between Calvin Klein models and McDonald’s burgers. All the way home via public transport, we heard no chatter about the protests, which seemed to exist in a different realm altogether, a small but significant part of the city that created its own vortex while everyone else went about their day, now night, undisturbed by visions of democracy or the prospect of economic disenfranchisement.

And where do we go from here? Maybe hold hands and hope better decisions are made from the top to facilitate — not hinder – a resolution. No one wants to see Hong Kong fight Hong Kong.

As a postscript: a commendation for the Hong Kong police, from the low-level blue shirts to the plainclothes cops who are asked to rove the streets to find violence to defuse. They inserted themselves between pro- and anti- groups on Monday afternoon and basically kept the peace. There’s time yet for the police to bungle a future task, but so far they’ve performed admirably under difficult circumstances.

That’s a plainclothes cop in the foreground, along with his comrades forming a protective line

As another postscript, here’s how the main Occupy protest area looked during the daytime while skirmishes happened a few blocks away:

Many of the barricades near Occupy Central began coming down this morning, but not without resistance. I took the above video at 1:40 pm today on Queensway in Admiralty, just below Hong Kong’s police headquarters, a few blocks from the main protest grounds. A group of older men, apparently frustrated that the two-week Occupy Central protests have blocked their streets, rip down the barricades while others chant, “Open the roads.” Some quick-thinking Occupy protesters immediately plant themselves in the middle of the street for an impromptu sit-in.

(Note: the video has been edited for brevity; the raw footage is here.)

Within minutes, police began rushing into the area to keep the peace. They would be needed, because within an hour, hundreds would congregate at this spot, chanting “rubbish” at one another across the dividing line.

I’ll have more videos, pictures, and words in a bit. (Update: more videos, pictures, and words.) For now, here’s a closer look at the protesters who replaced the barricades with themselves:

Screenshots from the video:

A dispatch from Hong Kong, where life – parties, business — continues as usual… with one high-profile exception.

It’s Day 8 of Occupy Central, or Umbrella Revolution, if you will. A few nights ago I was enjoying a nice steak dinner at La Vache! in the heart of Soho district when the conversation steered itself to the events happening only a few blocks away. As the wine flowed, so did the opinions of the dinner guests.

In case you haven’t heard, tensions are high here in Hong Kong. You feel it on the streets, at dinner tables, and of course on Facebook. The protests kicked off Sunday, September 28, when tear gas exploded, protesters covered their faces with makeshift masks and continued to hold their ground using the only tools they had, sheer numbers, umbrellas, and dare I say maybe a bit of force?… Monday morning came and the crowds dwindled, as peaceful protesters reported to work. As the 6 o’clock bell struck, protesters flooded back to the streets and Occupy Central was yet again in full swing. Rinse and repeat on Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday saw public holidays here in Hong Kong and reportedly the largest number of protesters, who expanded their hold — Central, Admiralty, Causeway Bay, and Mong Kok had all been occupied. The city was forced to cancel its annual National Day fireworks.

Roads are emptier and the typical wait time at the cross-harbor tunnel is nonexistent, which is nice. The mass transit railway “MTR,” on the other hand, is getting a constant level of insane traffic, usually only seen on Fridays at 6 pm. Those wanting to be part of the action travel via MTR, as all major occupy zones are close to subway stations. Most of the city is still accessible, though some people are experiencing difficulty in maintaining their normal routines. Some schools have been forced to cancel activities, while many business owners are feeling the pressure to think ahead, as rent is due at the end of the month. And let’s not forget our outspoken Hong Kong taxi drivers, who now complain about a slowdown in business.

Outside of occupy zones, city life continues best that it can. The local watering holes in Lan Kwai Fong (Central) are filled with the usual rowdy expats and local ladies doing their best to navigate the steep terrain as they wobble in their four-inch red bottom heels. Shopping malls and restaurants in Tsim Sha Tsui (Kowloon) are full, and though I don’t have access to their financials, it appears it’s business as usual. On Thursday Hong Kong hosted the ever-trendy “Run For Your Lives” zombie race with thousands of people, which ended with a packed after-party including an outdoor concert and live DJs.

As the police sit back and allow the peaceful protesters to carry on, a new wave of Hong Kongers have hit the streets – the “blue ribbons,” who are protesting the protesters. Mong Kok, typically known as one of the more violent parts of the city, where in my earlier days I had been chased from a local karaoke bar in a classic case of a friend speaking to the wrong girl, has seen some of the most physical clashes of pro- and anti-government protesters recently. No surprise.

A group of masked men, who looked eerily similar to the yellow ribbons (the Occupy protesters) fighting on the front lines of Admiralty, also approached the Causeway Bay area and started ripping down barricades in an attempt to take back the streets. “Shame on those cowards for covering their face,” “it was a peaceful protest until they came,” and “where are the police now to stop the violence” are common Facebook status updates by my proud yellow-ribbon-supporting friends. If the police haven’t been overworked enough, they now have a new duty they’re destined to fail at – protecting anti-government protesters. Rumors are swirling that these blue ribbons are merely paid thugs, possibly from the Triad, ordered to create chaos so the police can come in and shut the whole thing down. To top it off, women are reportedly being sexually harassed in the confrontations. Sickening.

At this point, who knows what to believe. I’m no different from most people who’ve settled here and call Hong Kong a second home: I believe in equality and I want to live in a world where we all have a say in choosing the leaders who represent us. But I also understand the perspective of those who have built Hong Kong to where it is today, in spite of a previous generation of colonialists, and shudder at the thought of all that work being undone. So, is the student-led protest the right move for Hong Kong at this time? What about sitting back and doing nothing?

One dinner guest felt strongly that by not participating in the protests, you must be a blue ribbon supporter… maybe a bit strong, but it made me think, what is the other option? If not now, when?

Another friend recommended that the yellow ribbons consolidate to one occupy zone — this would help bring order back to the city and ideally end the violence.

A local friend stuck to his guns and commented that everyone just needs to go home. “You can’t win against Beijing, you’ve made your point, now go home.”

The unfortunate reality is, Hong Kong people are fighting Hong Kong people, and it’s hurting the city. Violence is not the answer, but is blocking the streets and shutting down our city? To end our dinner, we held a final glass of red in the air and yelled “yám bùi” (飲杯, cheers) and toasted to friendship, however divided we were.

At the end of the day, I’m really thankful to live in Hong Kong. I don’t want to see the city take the biggest loss, which I fear is the only outcome — everyone in Hong Kong will lose.

Neil is a Cantonese-speaking Canadian Expat who’s lived in Hong Kong for seven years.

As a twentysomething American, I take my Facebook newsfeed for granted.

The fact that one friend can link to an article criticizing US drone use in the Middle East below another friend’s posting of cats in costume below another’s picture of Hong Kong blanketed by protesters seems completely unremarkable.

But living in China can give you a new perspective on the things you take for granted.

~

I work for a sub-branch of CCTV geared toward international video news, and we have several TV screens in the office that run 24-hour feeds of CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, Al Jazeera and others – ostensibly to keep up with the competition. But I returned from our canteen this past Sunday evening to find six or seven of my Chinese colleagues glued to a screen showing a live-feed from CNN.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Something is happening in Hong Kong,” said one of my colleagues, a 25-year-old Chinese woman who studied English at a university in Wuhan.

Normally, my office mates, to put it politely, less than enthusiastic about keeping up with international news. Few scour the Internet during work hours to cross-check stories against international outlets, and even fewer read the news in their free time. So to see my friends avidly watching CNN while on the clock was decidedly out of the ordinary.

“You mean about the protests?” I replied.

“What protests?” called another Chinese colleague who wasn’t watching.

“Yeah, come see,” said the first girl.

A CNN reporter stood live from Central Square in Hong Kong amid a sea of students wearing plastic coverings over their eyes and mouths. I had kept up with the story, having seen pictures like this on my Facebook newsfeed for the past several days, mostly from Hong Kong friends who were proud of the protesters and shocked at the sudden intensity of the police response. But I realized this must have been the first time many of my colleagues had seen these images.

The CNN reporter then said, “Now we’ll turn to an elderly resident of Hong Kong who says that the movement reminds him of the deadly 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing…”

Suddenly, the screen went blank.

My colleagues and I blinked at one another. We all instinctively looked over our shoulders, toward the doorway, into the corners of the newsroom. Was somebody from the inner government here – inside the offices of our state-run enterprise – cutting off the feed?

Moments later, the picture returned. It was that same CNN reporter in Central, but clearly waiting in the silence that comes after a live interview has finished.

One of my other colleagues, a 70-year-old veteran journalist who was among the first Chinese to be sent abroad to study, a man who cut his journo teeth on assignments across Africa in the ’60s, said, “Headquarters! CCTV headquarters must be watching the channel, and they cut the feed as soon as Tiananmen was mentioned…”

After that, everyone became noticeably less engaged in the story. We had all been reminded that, despite the routine and normalcy of our daily work, the unspoken but widely understood guidelines as to what to write and what not to, we were still newswriting in a society where information can be dangerous, and something as innocuous as a TV interview can carry far-reaching consequences.

I went home decidedly fazed. Pulling up my Facebook feed and looking at pictures of the latest round of umbrella-carrying students ducking through tear gas, I felt slightly sickened — not just by what was going on, but by the very fact that I could see it, follow it, and form opinions about it. Every day, I consume vast amounts of information and knowledge with little thought that, in some parts of the world, information is as rare and precious a commodity as water in the Sahara.

J. Stevens is a philosophically-minded journalist in Beijing searching for glimpses of Daoism in the cracks of modern Chinese society. He lives in Beijing.

Here’s Hong Kong chief executive CY Leung toasting with champagne to celebrate the People’s Republic of China’s National Day. Meanwhile, outside…

A different kind of commemoration…

Anger and tear gas. Ganbei!

[SCMP]

A recently produced short film from GVAcreative has gone viral, built on the idea that Hong Kong, since being “passed over” to China in 1997, is becoming less like what it was and that its past will eventually be gone. “The city is dying, just like a man who has lost a lot of blood,” says one of the characters in voice-over.

In the seven-minute, 28-second film, Hong Kong is threatened by a meteor predicted to hit in 33 years, 2047, exactly when the constitutional principle “one country, two systems” is scheduled to end. With this threat, 70 percent of the population flees and multinational companies retract their businesses. The film directly cites black traders from the mainland as a source of evil.

Eventually, Hong Kongers save themselves by inventing a laser to destroy the meteor.

At this point, the film is nearing 650,000 views on YouTube, with more than 1,400 comments — though many of them appear to be completely oblivious to the political message, per YouTube commenters.

The meteor as metaphor for China wasn’t lost on mainland censors, however. As the Diplomat reports:

After telling the relevant media organizations to delete “information related to supporting and rescuing Tang Jitian and other missing lawyers,” the message from the propaganda authorities ordered the deletion of “video, text, etc. that advocates the short sci-fi film about Hong Kongers ‘saving themselves’ titled Hong Kong Will Be Destroyed in 33 Years.”

Yik Kan Cheung, a VFX artist and post-production supervisor with GVAcreative told The Diplomat, “The reason the video is being censored by authorities is, we believe, that they think what they’re doing is keeping the society peaceful. But, what we think they are doing is keeping people away from knowing the truth, that China is trying to suffocate Hong Kong to death by importing Mainland Chinese into Hong Kong until there’s enough people for them to control the elections. After that, there will be no open elections in Hong Kong.”

Indeed, the movie is inaccessible on Chinese websites. (Searches for the Chinese name, 香港将于33年后毁灭, do return results on Baidu and Sina Weibo though.) Still, just because this satirical sci-fi short can’t be watched within the mainland doesn’t mean the question shouldn’t be asked: what will become of Hong Kong’s future? And on that note — what was the deus ex machina in the form of a laser supposed to represent?

(H/T Global Voices)

Follow Margaux @schreursmargaux

Check out these diners at a McDonald’s in Kowloon City — photo via Apple Daily — “wailing,” according to Coconuts Hong Kong, at the sight of a seven-inch rat scavenging for food.

A McDonald’s staff responded quickly by hitting the rat with a Bruce Lee move with a stick using so much force that the stick broke into two and got the rat right on target.

Seven inches is impressive, but here’s a 45-inch rat caught and killed in Hunan province. Then eaten, by the way. There’s a socioeconomics lesson here: developed vs. developing.

Sharon Kui Yee-Tak, a 25-year-old former teacher’s aide at Frost School, a Maryland-based private school for students with emotional and behavioral disabilities, is believed to have fled to Hong Kong, where her brother resides.

According to wusa9.com, the victim’s father, Minister Ronald Harding, revealed his son’s torment and abuse by the hands of a trusted adult and teacher by “literally ripping pieces of the door panel off the inside of our car.”

Timeline:

Nov 3: Kui visits the boy’s home
Nov 10: Kui visits the victim and asked if he would have sex with her. Victim tells parent.
Nov 11: Sharon is fired from school and police start investigation.
Nov 13: a day after an arrest warrant was obtained, Sharon flees

Maryland police allege that Kui had entered the student’s home on Sunday morning and sexually abused the 15-year-old autistic teen in two incidents that took place while the student’s family was attending church.

Communication between the defendant and her pupil is believed to have originated through the exchanging of sexually suggestive text messages, a clear violation of boundaries between teacher and student that resulted in Kui being suspended.

Kui is charged with sexual solicitation of a minor, sex abuse of a minor and two counts of third-degree sex offense. She may be traveling with her boyfriend. WUSA reports:

“I think the Chinese government will have sufficient investigative leads to try and locate her. I don’t think it’s a matter of if, it’s a matter of when,” Police said.

SMCP adds:

Kui graduated from the University of Maryland in 2011. One of her friends told the Washington Post in an interview that she was stunned by the allegations and did not believe Kui was capable of them. The newspaper also cited a statement of charges saying Kui phoned the victim on the night his family contacted police and told him she would “flee the country rather than go to jail”.

Montgomery police are reportedly working with Hong Kong officials to try to extradite Kui. A Hong Kong police spokesman said the force would not comment on individual cases.

This is not the first time that a pedagogue wanted for sexual assault has fled to China.

Wu’er Kaixi, who fled China following the 1989 student-led protests at Tiananmen, reportedly flew into Hong Kong this morning via Taiwan and is pleading with authorities to extradite him to face trial on the mainland.

As the 45-year-old posted to his website today:

I hereby make an appeal to the Hong Kong SAR and to the world.

I am willing to turn myself in to the Chinese authorities. I urge the SAR government, based on Chinese law, and by my own agreement, to exercise its judicial power and extradite me to the Chinese authorities.

This is not the first time Wu’er Kaixi — a Taiwanese citizen — has tried to enter the PRC. In 2004 he was permitted to enter Hong Kong, where he said, “I have to have that hope — that one day we will come home (that I’ll be allowed to enter China).”

As pointed out on the Facebook page of journalist Paul Mooney (who’s had some difficulty of his own getting into the PRC):

In June 2009, he attempted to surrender himself via Macau; in June 2010, he attempted to break into the Chinese embassy in Tokyo; and in May 2012, he attempted to do the same in Washington.

In Wu’er Kaixi’s post, he noted that he has been unable to see his parents or other family for the 24 years since his exile.

My parents are old and in ill health. The Chinese government refuses to issue passports for them to travel aboard and visit me. My parents have been told clearly that the reason they will not be issued passports is that their son is a dissident. I would like to ask the Chinese government, is this behavior in keeping with the international treaties it has signed; is it true to the spirit of Chinese traditional values; is it in accordance with PRC law?

I believe the answer to those questions is, no, and that is why I feel I have no alternative but to turn myself in. I miss my parents and my family, and I hope to be able to be reunited with them while they are still alive, even if the reunion would have to take place behind a glass wall.

The open letter is addressed to Hong Kong citizens, and concludes, “I hope my efforts to return home are finally a success on this occasion. If so, let me take this last opportunity to take a deep bow to Hong Kong, and express my deepest gratitude and admiration.”

Updates as they become available.

UPDATE, 1:42 pm: Wu’er Kaixi is traveling with Albert Ho, “chairman of the Hong Kong Democratic Party from 2006 to 2012, and is currently a solicitor, member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, and secretary general of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China.” That quote and the below picture is from this Wu’er Kaixi Tumblr (h/t Paul Mooney).

UPDATE, 11/26, 2:51 pm: Wu’er Kaixi did not succeed. Via AP:

The second most-wanted student leader from the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests was turned back from Hong Kong on Monday in his latest attempt to surrender to Chinese authorities and return home.

It was the fourth such attempt by Wu’er Kaixi, who said his lack of success so far was the result of “absurd” actions by the Chinese government. Wu’er, who has lived in exile for more than two decades, is stuck in a situation in which he’s both wanted for arrest and, like many other dissidents who have fled, prevented from returning to China.

A “zombie” attacked Michael Bay on the set of Transformers 4 in Hong Kong on Thursday. There were no injuries, not even — it seems — to Bay’s indefatigable confidence to continue making awful movies.

Apparently an air-conditioner was involved, too, as it was wielded at the head of the director of such films as Pearl Harbor, The Island, and Pain & Gain.

It was the first day or shooting in Hong Kong (HK Island, specifically). The attackers were identified as brothers surnamed Mak, ages 27 and 28. A Hong Kong police spokesperson says they were trying to blackmail the crew for more money, for whatever reason.

Bay posted about the incident on his website, calling his assailants “drugged up guys.”

One guy rolled metal carts into some of my actors trying to shake us down for thousands of dollars to not play his loud music or hit us with bricks.

Every vendor where we shot got paid a fair price for our inconvenience, but he wanted four times that amount. I personally told this man and his friends to forget it we were not going to let him extort us. He didn’t like that answer. So an hour later he came by my crew as we were shooting, carrying a long air conditioner unit. He walked right up to me and tried to smack my face, but I ducked threw the air unit on the floor and pushed him away. That’s when the security jumped on him. But it took seven big guys to subdue him. It was like a Zombie in Brad Pitt’s movie World War Z—he lifted seven guys up and tried to bite them. He actually bit into one of the guards Nike shoe, insane. Thank god it was an Air Max, the bubble popped, but the toe was saved.

A third man was also arrested. You can now resume despising Michael Bay.

This is a refreshingly different sort of mainland-Chinese-tourist story.

Yesterday around 9 am, accoring to Apple Daily via Coconuts Hong Kong, a 47-year-old man called Shi Jian was fishing near  when he suffered a seizure and fell in the water.

A female tourist from the mainland happened to see this as she was passing by, and she quickly went over to help.

“I heard him shout ‘Help,’ so I walked over there and found he was already in the water,” said Long Xianming, 49.

Along with another fisherman, they formed a “human chain” to pull the man out of the water.

The woman suffered a few foot abrasions and was sent, along with the rescued man, to Princess Margaret Hospital, where they’ll both be okay.

(Image via Apple Daily screen capture)

So much for that newly issued Chinese tourism etiquette guidebook.

Remember? That 64-page thing released by the National Tourism Administration in China, supposed to go into effect on October 1?

This parent and child — which the website Coconuts Hong Kong says are from the mainland – must have missed the memo, because the child sure appears to be urinating in public. Give him some credit though: at least it’s into a trash bin.

This was taken inside a subway station in Hong Kong right in front of a sign that appears to say “No Peeing.” (I can’t tell for certain, but wouldn’t it be great if really was a “No Peeing” sign?)

Is this better or worse than the iPee boy in the Hong Kong Apple store?

The tourism guidebook may need updating already.

Piss and Tell: Golden Week tourists in all their glory (Coconuts Hong Kong)

A picture of a small child peeing into a bucket inside an Apple Store in Hong Kong has gone viral, hashtagged — what else? — iPee5.

This being the Internet, people are angry, and wildly speculating that the mother probably didn’t wash her hands before, you know, swiping the screens on a bunch of Apple products.

Of course, it’s not just in Hong Kong where this kind of thing happens. It happens in Beijing — and everywhere. In March, a Redditor exposed urine stains on the seats next to the kids table in American Apple outlets. “Pee balls,” they were called.

Anyway, but that’s over there. Here’s a larger picture of the Hong Kong iPeer, via @BadCanto:

And one more… the start of a photoshopping contest?

iPee: