The frequent clashes between urban management inspectors and migrant worker hawkers have a habit of not ending well, but this one is especially shocking and it happened here in Shanghai: 28-year-old Peng Lin, who makes a living selling fruit and vegetables in Minhang, has spent the last two weeks in an intensive care unit after five inspectors pulled him into a van and beat him senseless. Peng had been moving stacks of watermelons to his shop on July 11 when a van full of 10 inspectors pulled up to take his produce. When Peng and his wife tried to fight back, she was shoved off but he was pulled into the van. When she found him at the police station, he was badly beaten and could barely hold a pen. Doctors say he has a 70% chance of being permanently paralyzed. The five inspectors accused of beating him have now been detained. Source: South China Morning Post (paywalled) more ›

Foreign friends, ever thought about working in the Chinese municipal administration? Apparently it's possible - a 28-year-old French man named Diaz Yannick worked as a "temporary city guard (城管)" this Tuesday in Wuhan. more ›