Just after the official results for the “2009 Chinese Happiest Cities” were published, Chinese netizens started their own list of “2009 Top 10 Angriest Chinese Cities” on the discussion forums. And interestingly some cities that had been named as “happiest” on the official list were also ranked as the “most angry” in the list compiled by netizens; cities such as Kunming, Nanjing, Hangzhou, and Chengdu were listed as both “happiest” and “most angry”, according to two different criteria.

In the discussion thread that had listed the top 10 most angered Chinese cities, the poster had explained its motives by saying that “people have good and bad moments in their lives, it is just as natural a phenomenon as the moon appearing crescent or full at different times”; and along the same lines, those cities named as happiest in China don't always have happy-go-lucky citizens, just as the most angered Chinese cities don't always have angry citizens. “Our ranking is just a reality-check of sort; as titles of being happiest can motivate people, then so being named as “angriest” can also serve as a reminder of the flip side of the coin. Both can be good forces to motivate people to strive for better changes.”

The poster of the thread had gone on to say that the motto for the netizens' ranking of “angriest” cities is “Be Cynical, So that Our Cities May Change for the Better”; and they had tried to keep the results as objective as possible – those that replied to the thread all gave reasons for their naming of a particular city for being “most angry”. For example, Kunming was named for the incident involving a suspicious death of a suspect undergoing interrogations at the local police station; Hangzhou was named for the attempted “cover-up” in the investigations of a motor vehicle accident involving a rich college kid and his not so well-off office worker victim; Shanghai was named for several incidents involving law enforcement officials phishing for “black market” cab drivers; Chengdu was picked for the Tang Fuzhen self-immolation incident where she protested eviction of her home in the most extreme way; and Shijiazhuang for the Sanlu poisonous milk incident, etc.

Some netizens, however, feel that the list is not comprehensive enough as it did not include cities where the scandals might not be as publicized or as extreme, but still had caused great detriments to society. For example, in Lingbao city of Henan, a vocal citizen Wang Shuai had reported about the local officials illegally procuring land from farmers for government use and had been subsequently tracked down and arrested for speaking out; another example would be the Shishou city in Hubei province where the suspicious death of a chef at a local hotel had caused riots involving thousands of civilians and road blockages.

Other netizens warned that the list compiled online should be taken with a pinch of salt, as these are only reflective of the opinions of the masses, but they are not always of particular professional value. People make up these lists because they want to be able to voice their opinions about the things that affect them the most.

Ranking of Top 10 Most Angry Cities:

1) Kunming

Numerous negative news and incidents catapulted this city to the top as the most angered city: the suspicious death of a suspect while being interrogated by police (official statement was that the suspect had used paper money to open his handcuffs and proceeded to hang himself by tying a knot with his shoelaces), elementary students prostituting themselves to government officials, and other suspicious deaths in prisons.

2) Nanjing

Nanjing is a historic city that had been the capital in several dynasties in ancient China, but it is also the city that had pinned Peng Yu with a compensation lawsuit for helping an old lady after seeing her stumble and fall getting off a bus. People will remember Nanjing whenever they're about to lend a helping hand to an elder and take a step back.

3) Hangzhou

The college student from a well-to-do family had ran over and killed an office worker with a rural background on the bustling streets of Hangzhou. Police subsequently released the much contended information that he had been going at a speed of 70 km/hr; netizens saw it as a “cover-up” attempt and the incident had stirred huge debates and contentions online as people called for “those that value life” to “stay away from Hangzhou”; and since the incident the Chinese government started enforcing real name registrations for commentators online.

4) Chengdu

Tang Fuzhen had died by self-immolation as a way to protest forced eviction of her home. There was another incident involving a netizen posting a thread about using blood serum to water his plants that had stirred discussions about proper registration, processing, and disposal of blood products by the blood banks and hospitals.

5) Shanghai

There were several incidents involving law enforcement authorities using unethical means or “phishing” to try and catch what they deem as “illegal” or “black market” cab drivers.

6) Chongqing

The much publicized efforts at crushing corruption in Chongqing had been exactly that - “publicized”. As far as how much cleanup can be expected out of the crackdown on the prevalent corruption in the city, we don't yet know, but we do know that half a year before the anti-corruption campaign, Chongqing was a city that had been ruled by a tightly knit and protected network of thugs-government official cooperation.

7) Shijiazhuang

Sanlu poisonous milk had done irreparable damage to hundreds of children and their families, and yet punishment for the immoral merchants and officials responsible had been less than satisfactory, as are compensations for the afflicted families.

8) Shenzhen

A traffic policeman had died drinking and feasting at a local restaurant and had received honors for having supposedly sacrificed his life in line of duty. Frequent kidnappings of children went undetected and unreported by police until dead victims started to turn up, and by then it was too late.

9) Guangzhou

Thuggish city guards or “cheng guan” are known for their extreme violence in dealing with street vendors, but a cheng guang captain had the nerve to protest: “We city guards all have received numerous scratches during our run-in with the vendors, and the vendors that were beat up were just two or three a year, tops.”

10) Zhengzhou

The undercover bald cop had no compassion whatsoever and the defenseless prostitute was naked and had been robbed of the last bit of her human dignity.

Source: gcpnews.com

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