China Drenches Drunk Ex-Pats

Enraged citizens of Shanghai cracked down on 200 drunken ex-pats last weekend by dumping water on them. There are nearly 150,000 foreign residents living in China's largest city, and some have been causing a scene with their loud, late-night boozing. The recent water attack came from the windows of at least one residence on Yongkang Road, one of the most popular and rowdy bar streets in Shanghai, where locals have been complaining about noise pollution for over a year. In response, local government is now forcing local bars, whose clientele are largely European, to close by 10 pm. A similar attack was also reported last Friday. "The place was absolutely crawling with people, mainly non-Chinese. It was quite crazy really, how many people were out—and it was loud," said Michael Ashford, a Shanghai-based photography producer. "[I am] not sure whether it was freezing cold water or something other than water. Some people started yelling abuse up at the window and sticking middle fingers up." Bloggers have also complained about the noise, with one claiming that the street is now "out of control" and another attacking the government by saying "the relevant (organizations) have done nothing [and] the conflict has worsened." Local resident Xu Yinhao, who filmed the incident, is hopeful that a compromise can be reached. "We don't want all of the bars to move away," he said, "We just hope that the bar owners can keep their foreign customers inside."