Angry Shanghai Residents Dump Water on Noisy Foreigners
by Li on Thursday, March 21, 2013
From Yahoo:
Shanghai Residents Throw Water on Foreigners, Protesting Their Noise as Disturbing Residents
According to a March 13th report by the UK’s Daily Telegraph, recently on Yongkang Road, Shanghai, approximately 200 foreigners enjoying the nightlife on Yongkang Road had water dumped on them in protest by angry local residents for being too noisy at night and disturbing their rest.
According to reports, this well-known “bar street” used to be part of the French Concession in the past, and most of the people who visit there are usually European. Local residents living there complained that they have been putting up with the noise from the street for at least a year now.
The report says this water throwing incident occurred around 10pm on the night of March 9th when a few dozen noisy foreigners had water thrown at them by at least one household. One British person claimed that at around 9pm the night before, he witnessed a similar incident while dining at a local sushi restaurant.
28-year-old photography producer Michael Ashford described what happened on the night of March 9, “The place was absolutely crawling with people, mainly non-Chinese. It was quite crazy really, how many people were out – and it was loud. Out the corner of my eye I saw movement outside, then a loud bang and a collective gasp as people got drenched.
[I am] not sure whether it was freezing cold water or something other than water. Some people started yelling abuse up at the window and sticking middle fingers up.” A few photos of the scene were later posted online, inciting various comments and discussions from Chinese netizens. Some netizens expressed contempt and loathing toward these wild-partying peace-disturbing “laowai“.
Comments from Yahoo:
雅虎安徽省合肥市网友 [yangqinbin2008]：
If these people are disturbing the peace, just call the police, there’s no need to dump water on them!
雅虎意大利网友 [雁过留声]：
In certain civilized countries, people usually call the police to come handle situations like this, and what more, only when the noise is happening too late (like after 10 or 11pm). Also, entertainment places such as bars should avoid be located in residential areas…
