Oh, China. Foreigners and Chinese people alike fall for your many scams and get-rich-quick schemes.

One scam, identified as the “broken vase”, was recently caught on video in Shenzen. Although it can take a number of forms, all it really requires is a staged accident or collision to dupe a motorist into believing that he or she is responsible for causing injury or damage. It can be as simple as crawling under a stopped bus or as brazen as intimidating drunk drivers with a car full of surly men.

A  surveillance video caught one such incident in Shanghai’s Jiuting, Songjiang District. As explained by the Shenzhen Traffic Police, the “broken vase” scam has many participants playing different roles.

Step One: The Instigation - A driver drives very slowly to frustrate the car behind him. Notice how the silver, instigating car is travelling at the same speed as the bicycle (the “broken vase”) to its right.

Step Two: The Overtake - The frustrated motorist driving the black car decides to overtake the instigating car by passing to its right.

Step Three: The Collision - While passing, the black car’s driver is presumably focused to his left. This is when the cyclist purposely collides with the black car.

Step Four: The Fall. The cyclist falls and claims to be injured because the driver decided to overtake the slower vehicle. The driver is unable to defend himself and will (likely) be willing to pay the money asked by the “broken vase”. During the confrontation between the driver and the cyclist, witnesses (who are usually a part of the scam) often show up to help the “broken vase”.

Here’s the entire scam caught in a GIF:

Scams in China depend on simplicity to be effective, but, it should be remembered that there is usually more than one or two people involved. Hopefully, a little knowledge of the trick’s mechanics will prevent further marks from being duped.

Photos: Shenzhen Traffic Police

As noted by a reporter, the special “women’s only” parking space is also conveniently located near the entrance of the mall for added convenience.

Whether this is utterly sexist or completely sweet is a debate we’ll leave to you. But one female visitor in Dalian said, “The people of Dalian are really romantic!”

Driver Miss Liu also expressed her gratitude:

Having this kind of spot available has made it so much more convenient. Not only is it easier to park, it saves me time to when trying to find a spot.

Yang Xiangdong, manager of the shopping mall, said the spots are not discriminatory against women:

The main position of this mall is to provide service to women. As well, here we have a children’s amusement center that many of our female clients use.

Reaction on Weibo has been mixed, with comments with accusations of sexism and others that welcome concessions for the “fairer sex”.

elegantfor：
You don’t even have the skill (to drive properly), and yet you have the gall to ask others to give you priority benefits

李唔直捅蛤：
This will be the future scene of a massacre

大龄女青年不二兔子：
Is this for real? Don’t disrespect your female compatriots.

MARY爱抽风：
This is done with loving sentiment. Shenzhen, hurry up and do the same. [heart.emo]

W小强非小强Q：
There shouldn’t be any difference between a male and female driver! For our safety! The loving considerations of society should not be making concession that have anything to do with public safety.

Chesterxxxxx：
Does this concede that there is a lack of skill (for women drivers)?

Photo: Yangtse

Weibo is a place where people like to have fun. The Shenzhen Traffic Police are just like you and me: they share their love of GIFs while trying to admonish the dangerous activities they depict, and reply to funny questions with funny answers.

Weibo user MrCharlesChen is a also a guy who likes fun. And that’s what he was having when he posted a picture to Weibo at midnight on May 25 of himself driving with a beer can in his hand. He asked:

MrCharlesChen
Is drinking and driving at the same time against the law? @Shenzhen Traffic Police Have you caught any “tigers” tonight? [coylaughing.emo]

Yes. The account he was asking was the Shenzhen Traffic Police.

And while the Shenzhen Traffic Police has a history of joking around, they didn’t do so this time. Instead, they sent a short, terse message:

Shenzhen Traffic Police:
Put the beer down, and drive safely!

Such a reply didn’t deter MrCharlesChen, who posted the reply:

MrCharlesChen:
I’m going to open another one [elatedopenmouth.emo]

Netizens got in on the fun at this point. They combed through MrCharlesChen’s Weibo account, and found the following gem in his photo album from March 19, 2013:

MrCharlesChen:
These past few days, I ran through about twenty red lights before I was finally caught @粤B374CC How’s this license for you? The next time you see this license plate, you’ll know it’s me [openmouthlaughing.emo]

Another photo found in MrCharlesChen’s album showed he was unrepentant towards his lawnessness by posting a screenshot of the driving violations he had incurred:

CharlesChen:
That’s fine, I still have six points (left on my license)

Sensing a change of merriment, MrCharlesChen changed his username to the very apt “no zuo no die (classic)“, and deleted all the content in his Weibo account. Unperturbed, the Shenzhen traffic police said that they were going to find him all the same:

搞怪GIF图：
This guy changed his (username)

深圳交警:
(Despite) changing a username, we still have to investigate.

MrCharlesChen finally signaled that he had enough fun:

MrCharlesChen:
I was wrong. [tearspouringdown.emo] I am a stupid cunt. [tearspouringdown.emo]

However, the fun continued for netizens and police as they collaborated to find more information on MrCharlesChen:

Mr Chen-Jun:
Going to help out this so-called fellow classmate of Shenzhen University to remain at the back of the class…

Shenzhen Traffic Police (reply):
Thank you very much (for your contributions), we have already made screenshots.

The Shenzhen Traffic Police found that long list of traffic violations MrCharlesChen had boasted about:

Shenzhen police put a stop to all the fun on May 26 by issuing a demand to MrCharlesChen to surrender himself at a traffic police station. And they did it by sending him a Weibo post:

(Car with license plate 粤B374CC has made 16 driving violations) Through an investigation, it has been determined that Weibo user @MrCharlesChen (who has changed his username many times, and deleted his entire account) is a suspect wanted in connection with driving violations related to a BMW X1 vehicle with the license plate 粤B374CC that was first registered on March 5, 2013. To date, this vehicle has accrued a total of 16 violations, ten of which occurred in Shenzhen (nine counts of illegal stopping, one time for speeding) and six other violations occurring out of province. At present, ten points have been deducted from your license, leaving only six points left. According to traffic regulations, please hand over your car for confiscation and inspection.

But netizens would do one better and perform a human flesh search that turned up MrCharlesChen’s real name, work unit, picture, and residential address.

Shenzhen Traffic police were very amenable with their ultimatum by issuing helpful reminders:

Shenzhen Traffic Police:
If you do not arrive by 2pm, we will come to your residence. If there is a need, we will ask for the help of the “Uncles” in CID (Criminal Investigation Department).

And with the clock ticking:

Shenzhen Traffic Police:
One hour left.

MrCharlesChen finally did turn himself in. And, the police celebrated it with everyone online by posting his arrest on Weibo:

And then they posted all of his personal credentials online:

Of course, they censored anything personal about him but that was irrelevant, as his identity was already made public by the human flesh search.

Later that day, MrCharlesChen was very ponderous with his first post to Weibo ever since deleting his entire Weibo account:

MrCharlesChen:
Cherish life, don’t drink and drive. Living is not easy, cherish what you have when you’ve got it.

Yes, it would be much more poetic if he didn’t plagarize most of it. Outside in the parking lot, Shehzhen Traffic Police finally saw the car that they’d only seen online:

But upon opening the trunk of the car, they found yet another familiar sight:

That’s right, MrCharlesChen had driven to the police station to surrender himself and his car with two cases of beer in the back. He does like that Harbin beer, we see.

The moral would be very clear at this part of the story, except that it isn’t over.

With all of this having happened back in the distant past, meaning Monday of this week, some netizens still had lingering doubts. So one user recently posted this question to Shenzhen Traffic Police:

chenruihang:
“Uncle” traffic police, I want to know if drinking (soda pop) in the passenger seat is against the law

Shenzhen Traffic Police:
That’s fine, enjoy your drink. (Just remember,) too much will adversely impact your health! Just remember to do better than that brother from tomorrow.

Uh, “tomorrow”? They mean “yesterday”, don’t they?

Shenzhen Traffic Police:
Sorry, we meant ‘yesterday’

So while this may have been a very simple moral of “stupid is as stupid does”, the true moral of this fable is Weibo itself: no one ever forgets anything online. Not your hideous shame, your regretful mistakes, and not any one of your speiling mistakes.

Photo: Guangzhou PSB via Weibo (2, 3, 4, 5), Shenzhen Evening Report via Weibo

We originally told you about the story on Saturday:

The Shenzhen Police are making use of their Weibo account again, this time in search of a driver who hit a 7-year old girl around 3:30 today (Saturday) in the parking lot of Wan Lu Dong Jiang Restaurant on Taoyuan Street in Nanshan District. After hitting the girl, the car sped off. The second-grader was rushed to hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Security cameras showed two cars flee the scene and tests showed that Zhang had been killed by the brand-new Toyota of a new driver Zhou Desheng.

Zhang, whose parents make a living by collecting and recycling scrap, was playing with her brother when she was hit. She died in hospital of her wounds.

Since new guidelines were introduced this year, the pass rate of driving tests in China has decreased sharply as police seek to keep dangerously inexperienced and inept drivers off the road.

Maybe the tests need to become even more difficult.

The No.16 bus belongs to the First Auto Work Bus Company, Ltd. A representative of the company expressed “deep shame” about the accident and pledged to make every effort to compensate the victims’ families. Initially, Guangzhou Transportation Committee alleged that the accident had been caused by careless or reckless driving.

Reporters visited the scene of the accident and found that the section of Guangzhou Avenue North has been causing trouble for a long time.

Residents of the surrounding area had their own suggestions about the cause of the problem. They said that the subway exit and the sidewalk are often taken up by illegal vendors, forcing pedestrians to walk on the road. This is extra dangerous at night when visibility is low.

A driver who insisted upon anonymity explained that drivers could do little about this problem. “We have to drive at very low speeds at the section, almost slowing to a crawl,” said the driver.

Police tried to stop a vehicle in Meizhou, Guangdong but the driver eluded the check.  The police officer banged on the car with his fists as the car drove off.  Unfortunately for the driver, traffic ahead was heavy, and chaos ensued as he destroyed everything in sight in an effort to escape.

(H/t to Shanghaiist)