There have been fewer reports on netizens attempting to visit Chen Guangcheng, but there are signs of the campaign taking a different direction, which we illustrate for you in a group of pictures. Starting this week, Ai Weiwei will be sending to his 30,000 “creditors” an exquisite, hand-written IOU. We also offer items about the secret of Huaxi village, the national shame of China, and how good the Beijing subway security check is. Click on date below item for link to the original.

• Is this the beginning of a guerrilla campaign?

A group of men carrying out what they call the first installation of “Veteran Military Doctor Program”(“老军医项目”):

A group of four men planted “Free Guangcheng” balloons in various sites of Linyi:

T-shirt, car stickers, and more:

• 胡锡进/Hu Xijin/(Editor-in-Chief of Global Times)/:  The editorial of tomorrow’s Global Times will talk about the “sense of pain” of the current Chinese society. It can be said that the average “sense of pain” of the Chinese people is on the rise. But it is inaccurate to say their “sense of pain” is extraordinary, on the verge of being “unbearable.” Surveys by Pew and domestic organizations show that China is among nations where people enjoy the highest optimism. China is not an “angry” country “on the eve of a revolution.”

Nov 22 09:06  From Sina Weibo  Repost(2148) Comment(966)

• Nandu Weekly (南都周刊) this week published “The Secret of Huaxi Village” (《华西村的秘密》) , generating many posts and comments:

韩志国/Han Zhiguo/(Economist)/: …..The strange structure of Huaxi village is made of the central village, and peripheral villages and the outside labors, and they are like the three worlds of Huaxi, each with its own goals and concerns. A helicopter ride [for the villagers] costs 1,000 yuan, and it is deducted from pay regardless if you ride it or not. The four sons of Wu Renbao [吴仁宝, the party secretary of Huaxi] control 90.7% of Huaxi’s disposable fund.  However, such rule of family dynasty has become a role model for rural China.

Nov. 23 19:46 From iPhone client   Repost (3901) Comment (713)

[Note: It seems that the Nandu Weekly link has been severed since I last looked at it. But repost of the article abounds, and you should be able to find it easily if you are interested.]

• 吴祚来/Wu Zuolai/(art critic)/: The idea that the Old Summer Palace (圆明园) is a great national shame is a result of years of sensationalism in school textbooks. It wasn’t a shame that the Qing rulers fleeced the people to build the palace, but it is such a shame that it was burned [by the foreigners]. ….What is China’s national shame today? It is when you can’t participate in the election of people’s representatives as an independent candidate; when you live in your own house and, all of a sudden, it is being violently demolished; when you want to find a way to lodge a complaint but end up being thrown into a secret prison; when the Constitution gives you rights but the administrative orders prohibit them. What are you going to do?

Nov. 20  17:53  From Tencent Weibo  Repost and comment (362)

• 雷颐/Lei Yi/(Historian)/:  Somebody said, “[These people] criticize the country all the time, yet they demand to be protected by the country’s law. Shameless!”  Obviously, the speaker really doesn’t know that one of the important things the law does is to protect the citizens’ rights to criticize, and even lambaste, the country. It’s a long way to go… to eliminate legal illiteracy.

Nov. 25 09:15 From Sina Weibo  Repost (75) Comment (36)

• prozaco/ (Netizen)/: Today I rode subway home with a kitchen knife with me. Not that I had to do this: the Party doesn’t allow supermarkets to sell kitchen knife so I had to buy online. Since I worked during the day, I had to have it delivered to my workplace. Then, instead of taking a taxi home just for the sake of the knife, I decided to be frugal and challenge the public security of Beijing subway. I got home without a hitch. And I cut meat with my knife. All I want to say is: security check at the subway is a pile of shit, a waste of taxpayers’ money!

• The IOU that’s causing a lot netizens regretting not having lent money to the man and others pining for a second chance:

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