The dense crowds during the New Year holiday today at the Bund, a riverfront area in Shanghai especially popular with tourists, didn't surprise me . . .
and neither did the number of people taking photos or enjoying the views.
But the crowd surrounding an area where the statue of Chen Yi, a previous Mayor of Shanghai, stands struck me as quite unusual.
Just several days ago, my friend, who was visiting Shanghai with his wife and their two young children, asked about the statue. As typical, not many others nearby appeared to pay attention to it. Yet today, the statue was a clear center of attention—confounding some visitors who made comments in Chinese such as "What's going on here?" and "Chen Yi?".
For me and many others, no explanation was necessary:
Although I certainly wasn't expecting such terrible news, I can't say something like this happening in China seemed surprising. Later, I will provide some context for why. For now, I will think of the people who met a horrible fate last night. And I will also think about how other people took turns openly placing flowers, standing in silence, and praying today in front of a statue in China.
and neither did the number of people taking photos or enjoying the views.
But the crowd surrounding an area where the statue of Chen Yi, a previous Mayor of Shanghai, stands struck me as quite unusual.
Just several days ago, my friend, who was visiting Shanghai with his wife and their two young children, asked about the statue. As typical, not many others nearby appeared to pay attention to it. Yet today, the statue was a clear center of attention—confounding some visitors who made comments in Chinese such as "What's going on here?" and "Chen Yi?".
For me and many others, no explanation was necessary:
Just before midnight, a huge crowd that had gathered for an outdoor New Year’s Eve celebration in this city’s historic riverfront district began to grow unruly. There was pushing and shoving. And then, in an instant, a stampede began that would trample at least 36 people to death and injure dozens more.I first heard about the stampede very early this morning after privately sharing my own New Year's activities with friends online. I considered that if my visiting friends had stayed just one more day in Shanghai or if I had not been invited to a home-cooked Filipino feast, there was a fair chance I would have been at the Bund just hours earlier. For the first time, part of me was glad my friends and their children had left Shanghai.
“We were just trying to walk up the steps to see the light show, and then people at the top began pushing their way down,” said a 20-year-old man who gave his name only as Xu, while waiting for a friend at the Shanghai No. 1 People’s Hospital. “Then I heard someone scream, and people began to panic. We got crushed.”
The stampede started after 11:35 p.m. on Wednesday near Chen Yi Square. Most of the victims were young revelers who had come to ring in 2015 on the Bund, Shanghai’s iconic waterside promenade.
Although I certainly wasn't expecting such terrible news, I can't say something like this happening in China seemed surprising. Later, I will provide some context for why. For now, I will think of the people who met a horrible fate last night. And I will also think about how other people took turns openly placing flowers, standing in silence, and praying today in front of a statue in China.
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