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[dongbei united]

It's no surprise you need a passport when taking the train, but this weekend I went into Beijing to get some visa stuff sorted with my new school. On my trip to Beijing there were 3 checkpoint stops with an interesting 4th rest stop in between.

The first was short, a guy just came on the bus, gave us all a dirty snarly look and then got off the bus. I am not sure if the bus driver got off the bus.

Then, the bus driver stopped at some rest stop with "Tianfu" in it. Probably a normal pit stop but then he came on the bus and checked more carefully than past drivers that we were all on the bus. Was this a scare tactic before to warn possible "terrorists" to get off the bus at the rest stop?

Anyway, we go further and have to stop at the side of the road. This time, a guy in more protective gear comes on and orders everyone to hand over their ID. The bus driver gets out and paces to the side. A few other policemen are pacing around like tigers in a cage ready to be let out.

Finally, after 15 minutes, I see them hand a wad of IDs to a passenger on the bus with my bigger blue passport. They made sure to hand them out carefully before proceeding.

The fourth stop was near Dawanglu bridge. For those who are not familiar with Beijing, usually the buses take you closer to the center near the center loop, number 2. I went there last month to sell some stuff, and there were no passport/ID checks.

Before being allowed to get on the streets to get to a subway station our luggage and bags were checked again.

On the way back today, a different demeanor surfaced. It was more like the driver's responsibility to get the IDs and hand them over, then give them back. This time, there was no waiting, as soon as the driver had the IDs he started up the bus. He was a rather nice guy. After the trip back we had to get through the toll and the guy in front couldn't move his car. What happened after really showed "Chinese" thinking. After pushing through the toll gate and arriving into the city, one smart passenger realized that the closer we got to the train station the more crowded it would be. Like a mutiny, passengers lined up one by one to be let out while the driver must have been thinking "My god, do I let these people out, risk injuring them (in a middle lane) and losing my job or do I keep the door closed?" It took about 3 stops before he finally let us out.

Anyone else have any experiences with the bus police checks? How about taking trains? Anything different happening?

[maxand]

Can you post your itinerary? Did this happen only in the beijing area?

While living in tianjin/travelling around Hebei, I rode in almost a million buses...Never had an ID check..not once....most people did not give a damn..

Maybe, they are checking IDs because of the uyghur terrorist attacks.

[dongbei united]

[maxand]

[mw182006]

I took an hour long bus trip yesterday and security did not bat an eye at the hand grenade-shaped bottle of baijiu in my backpack. That may have been because they were staring at me instead of the screen, so ymmv.

[Banner41]

This happened to me on my way back into Shanghai a couple weeks ago. Stopped at a police checkpoint and all id/passports taken. Took a couple of minutes to get them back. I have noticed considerably more security in the subways lately with random id checks the norm. Usually just Chinese though.

[wangdaning]

They are just trying to make you feel at home.

Jokes aside, it is weird. When I spent my first few months doing an HK border run I saw IDs checked only once on the bus going through Shenzhen (Shengzeng, Senzhen, Shenzheng, Shengzhen...).

I don't blame them for being cautious. It might be that one head guy, when on duty, is following the orders. Others are being lazy and gambling that nothing will happen.

[theoriginalprankster]

Police state yo.

[snarf]

It happens from time to time, although it's usually around the holiday period. I travel between Shenyang and Panjin about eight times a year and we get an ID check about 50% of the time, Sometimes they take my passport, other times they look at me and don't bother!