We walked smack-dab into a peaceful protest outside our front door. The govt. apparently offered an "investment opportunity" for individuals across the nation about a decade ago, promising fast and high returns within a couple years. A few years later, there was no mention of the "project" any more and many people are still out of their money.
These Hebei province residents (mostly represented by Beijing residents) meet three times a week, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, to speak up for themselves.
They have been doing so for the past eight years.
The lady on the left is telling me, "The government has deceived us. We just want our money back. We are meeting here because this is an administrative office; we're not trying to cause trouble for the officials. We just want to peaceably speak up. Many of us are retired government workers, and all of us could use the money. We deserve to have our rights. Some of us have invested a few thousand yuan - some have invested up to eighty thousand yuan. The total amount the government owes is in excess of three hundred million yuan."
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