According to a Xinmin Community report, 10 unidentified people from Guangdong, Nanning and Guangxi clashed with local residents in Yulin over the treatment and capture of dogs used for their meat on June 10 at around 8am.

The activists first got into an altercation with a merchant, and tried to throw food at the trapped dogs. When that didn’t work, the activists alerted police.

However, the activists weren’t happy with police and municipal food inspection workers so they kicked down the merchant’s door despite him showing his certificate of quarantine. 

The animal activists have all been detained by authorities.

Yulin has been trying to prevent these kinds of disputes.

To keep from drawing attention from activists, restauranteurs were told to remove the word “dog” from signs and menus, refrain from slaughtering dogs in a public place (such as in the middle of the street), and not to hang cooked dog meat in front of the store.

Here are some censored signs that don’t have the character “dog” in them:

Right above the woman are the words “Live roasted x“.

The censored words are in the middle of this sign: “House specialties: x, mutton”

The sign reads in part: “… crispy skin x meat“.

Most city restaurants have complied with the guidelines, but some residents who are proud of their dog-eating ways are upset.

Yulin resident Mr Liu said the “dog” character in signs should not be hidden:

We haven’t done anything illegal, why must we eat dog meat on the sly?

Soon no Yulin resident will have to be shy about their taste for canines. On June 21, the Summer Soltice Lichee Dog Meat Festival will take place in Yulin. Last year, it was estimated nearly 10,000 dogs were consumed during the festival.

Animal activists have proven to be influential in shutting down similar events. In 2011, the City of Jinhua in Zhejiang Province cancelled its dog eating festival due to public pressure.

Photos Yangcheng Evening Report, Caijing, Shenzhen Evening Report

The Futian District Urban Management Bureau wants to hear your suggestions. A plan to turn vacant lots into usable community park spaces is now open to proposals from Shenzhen residents to suggest which places will make suitable local greenery.

Suggested park spaces must meet certain conditions: they must be in close proximity to residential and commercial areas, and they must be of a size more than 1,000 square meters in space.

This proposal comes as Guangdong looks to increase its park space around the entire province. Guangdong provincial forestry officials stated that an additional 1037 forest parks and 168 wetlands will be made by 2017. Yes, you read that correctly: 1037 parks: 518 parks to be built by 2015, and another 519 to be finished by 2017.

To focus on the city of Guangzhou as an example, local residents will expect 20 new parks to be built by 2015 and another 19 built by 2017 to complement the 15 forestry parks already “under construction“.

Officials are said to be sizing up potential park sites in Panyu, Baiyun, Huadu, Conghua, Luogang, Nansha and Zengcheng, but don’t let that deter you, Shenzhen residents! Call or e-mail your local Futian District Urban Management Bureau to let them know where you want them to “park” it!

Futian District Urban Management Bureau
(0755) 8297 8013

Photo: Juneau Park Friends

Photo from @你型我造少斌, a weibo user based in Maoming, Guangdong

Updated at 2:19 pm

Four teenagers, two males and two females, were allegedly killed during clashes between protesters and police on Sunday as hundreds of residents in Maoming, Guangdong rallied to protest a PX (paraxylene) project, according to a post uploaded by a Sina Weibo user based in Maoming.

During the night, the protest seemed to have escalated into clashes between protesters and the local police force. Several residents were hurt and the police and paramilitary forces seem to have sealed the city, according to one Weibo user who is on the scene.

Photos uploaded to Weibo by several netizens show several cars overturned and set on fire. Protesters say the PX project site should be moved out of the city’s downtown core and located beyond the city center’s 100 kilometre radius.

Here are some images: 

Here is the weibo post from 强拆 on 01:40 am March 31:

The latest update from Maoming protest: the paramilitary police have sealed highways. All the media vans were blocked from entering the city. The city is tightly sealed. We Maoming people now have no one to reply upon but ourselves. All thats left now is a road to death. For our offspring, it is all worth it. The people of Maoming will outnumber the police. We have to save ourselves and kick the PX project out of Maoming.

The government has issued a statement and declared the protest to be illegal. Here is a partial translation of the statement (the full statement can be read here):

….the protest did not file any permission from relevant departments. The protest against the PX project is a serious violation against the law and have severally impacted social orders. The municipal government strongly opposes such illegal act…