Maglev protest videos

Translation of captions:

OPPOSING THE SHANGHAI MAGLEV ONSTRUCTION PLAN: 10,000 RESIDENTS TAKE PART IN THE 'HARMONIOUS WALK' NEAR PEOPLE'S SQUARE
On 12 Jan, Saturday, as agreed through signs that had been placed through the various affcted neighbourhoods, people gathered at 2pm at People's Square for the "harmonious walk". At 2pm, over 100 people had gathered by the Urban Planning Museum. There were about 30 policemen and 10 police cars. These were all normal policemen, there were no military police, no riot police. A public bus 205 was also there, and some from the crowd had already been arrested and put in it. From there to the fountain on the square, about 1,000 people were gathered around, and suddenly they began chanting slogans (nobody was leading them). They gathered in front of the fountain, in front of the municipal government building and began chanting, "Oppose the Maglev!" 30 minutes later, there was a loud-hailer that screamed, "Please leave immediately". The shocked crowd began to disperse quickly, but later they found out that it was just the fountain that was going to be turned on. Laughter broke out and they continued chanting. 10 minutes later, the police started rounding people up and people began dispersing. The police were generally quite ok, but there were one or two policemen who would be pushing people around, including the elderly, the women and the tourists. The police began dispersing people to outside the square. The bus (with the arrested guys) attempted to drive off but were stopped by the crowd. Eventually it still broke through the crowd and drove off anyway. 5 minutes later, the crowd suddenly broke through the police security lines and began running towards Xizang Lu. Most of the policemen were still near the fountain so they were unable to stop the crowd. After gathering on Xizang Lu, they began to walk south and then turned right on Yan'an Lu. Suddenly they seemed to change directions and went up the bridge, as if bypassing Yan'an Lu to walk towards Luwan District. After the bridge, they began going back towards Xizang Lu and then eastwards towards Nanjing Lu. By this time, the police cars had already been stuck on the corner of Xizang Lu and Yan'an Lu. As this was the peak period, there was no way they could make a U-turn. After breaking through the final police security barrier on Fuzhou Lu, they walked to Nanjing Lu pedestrian shopping street. There, the crowd was warmly received by other members of the public. As the crowd continued on their 'walk', they disseminated information on the maglev plan to passersby. The 'walk' ended on the junction of Nanjing Lu and Henan Lu at around 18:00. RISE UP, ENCOURAGE THE RESIDENTS OF SHANGHAI WITH REAL ACTION, SUPPORT THE CHINESE IN THEIR 'HARMONIOUS WALK' TO PROTECT THEIR RIGHTS!

Translation of captions:

SHANGHAI DEMONSTRATION AGAINST THE NEW MAGNETICALY LEVITATED TRAIN.
"Everyone, unite! Oppose the maglev! Join in everyone! Oppose the maglev! Save the Children! Save the elderly! Oppose the maglev! " Unhappy with the maglev construction plan, residents along the proposed Shanghai-Hangzhou maglev line took part in the 'walk' to show their displeasure. The low-key announcement of the maglev plan was met by strong opposition from the public. Residents voiced their opinions through emails and letters. They also learnt from the PX incident in Xiamen, and took more active measures such as 'walking' to raise their concerns to the local government and to propose that the line be changed and the safety boundaries to be expanded. From 6 Jan onwards, over 1,000 residents gathered nightly at the Bailian Southern Shopping Mall, holding up signs that said "WALK". Because this gathering had not received the approval of the authorities, there were numerous brushes between the crowd and the police. Quite a few residents were arrested, and some of these were even beaten under detention and sustained injuries. Some netizens have said, because the possibility that the construction of the maglev project would be halted was miniscule, some residents had already amde plans to leave their neighbourhoods, including some civil servants. Some celebrities have also already moved out of the Jinhong Condominium (sort of a celebrity compound). Whenever the crowd walked into a new area, they would clap and welcome more people to come down and join them. From start to end, they were chanting slogans: "500 metres! danger zone!" Among the 'walking' crowd were many elderly people. One 'ayi' said, "Each of us is a drop of water, and we have come together to form a river, and this river is able to knock over the boat." It is understood that residents will gather this Saturday, 2pm at People's Square, for a continuation of the 'walk'. They plan to chant the slogan, "The people will leave from People's Avenue [along the affected route] and sit on People's Square". PLEASE SUPPORT THE RESIDENTS OF SHANGHAI AND SUPPORT THEIR VOICES, PLEASE STOP THIS TRAIN OF DEATH!