Take that heiche!
The government office in charge of monitoring illegal taxis (or heiche) yesterday destroyed 313 vehicles as part of a major campaign to crack down on illegal taxi drivers. The campaign has seen more than 1,000 vehicles destroyed in recent weeks. Authorities have also announced that if heiche drivers are caught a second time (the first time they simply get off with a warning), they risk serious consequences including fines and being detained by the police.
But it's not just the city's heiche drivers who are being subject to closer scrutiny, in an effort to clean up the city before August's Olympic Games, city authorities have also announced measures to clear the city of those small ads (xiao guanggao) that advertise everything from fake documents to various sex products and are pasted on every surface throughout the city, from bus stops to footbridges. Authorities are offering a reward of 1 mao for every xiao guanggao that people scrape off and also rewards of up to 2,000 kuai for informing on people engaged in distributing the ads.
Police have also been cracking down on scalpers, with plain clothes cops being deployed in force, not only at recent Good Luck Beijing sporting events, but also at the Jay Chou concert that took place at Gongti on May 1. According to Xinhua, 130 police officers detained 30 scalpers at the concert.
Authorities from the Beijing Health Bureau have also been out enforcing the newly enacted no smoking regulations. A baodu restaurant in Heping Li was threatened with a fine on May 6 because they hadn't attached a non-smoking sign to their wall. The restaurant was given a warning and asked to put up a sign in three days or else be fined.
Links and Sources
Beijing Times: 北京销毁313黑车 黑夏利10米高空摔落
CRI: 北京公开销毁千余辆被罚没黑车 (image)
The Beijing News: Scrape off a small ad and collect 1 mao
Xinhua: Beijing police launch campaign against scalpers in run-up to Olympics
Beijing Times: 众民警集中打击周董工体演唱会票贩30余名 (image)
China Sports Today: Serious about scalping
Beijing Times: 禁烟开首张整改通知单 西德顺爆肚王被罚款