AndrewJin
ELITE MEMBER
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2015
- Messages
- 14,904
- Reaction score
- 23
- Country
- Location
Preface
He is a highly controversial mayor in China.
He is hated by many people, especially those outside the city he served.
He is loved by more people, especially those from the city he served.
The story was about the years when he served as the mayor of the city of Datong, one of China's most polluted cities, the capital of coal mines, the ancient capital of Wei Dynasty, a city on the verge of collapse because of poverty, pollution and unemployment.
Mayor of Datong, Shanxi Province
2008-2013
Before I get to the main topic, let us first watch the video of Datong in 2012.
This is the video about the day when local citizens demonstrated upon hearing the news he would be soon promoted to be the mayor of the capital city of the province (Taiyuan City).
They shouted, "Mayor Geng, stay! People of Datong need you!".
"Geng Yanbo, come back!"
A controversial documentary about a controversial politician
This documentary is very rare, I think it is the first of such kinds of depicting what a mayor's real life and work is in China.
I can only find some links of English trailers.
There are a lot of reports and articles about this documentary.
Here are some links,
VIFF: Fascinating documentary explores challenges of local Chinese government officialTrue/False Film Festival 2015: The Chinese Mayor, Finders Keepers, & Rules of the Game
Manufacturing China’s Future
I am not here to judge whether his opposition is legit or not.
I have never been to Datong or any city of Shanxi Province.
To me, it is a place of pollution, coal mines, ancient glory, and uncharacteristic cities.
I'd like to hear from you, especially members from China, what is your anticipation of Chinese mayors of your hometown?
Datong's old town Today
From my respective as a citizen of the city of Wuhan
Similarly, we have a very "bold" mayor (or CPC secretary of Wuhan) here.
Mr. Ruan Chengfa.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruan_Chengfa
He is dubbed as “满城挖”, or "digs all over town."
Quote from wiki
To this, Ruan responded, "I'm not scared of people calling me 'Manchengwa'. If we're not doing construction, we are doing a disservice to the city."
Likewise, the majority of citizens of Wuhan highly praise him and his team. Unlike his predecessor who was afraid to "do things", he is someone to get things done regardless of the opposition from the vested class, interest groups, lobbyists, and those who have illegal housing and add more floors for excessive financial compensation during the acquisition of land.
The process is indeed painful, frankly speaking.
Hundreds of civil projects are ongoing at the same time, schools, hospitals, subways (10+), intercity HSRs, elevated roads and flyovers, redevelopment of slums, high-tech zones, etc.
It is understandable people can feel angry sometimes.
But he is still, the only mayor citizens of Wuhan have ever highly praised and endorsed.
He is ambitious to transform from "the big county", a name former PM gave Wuhan (thanks to his predecessors), to an international high-tech hub on par with Shenzhen.
Wuhan today
They still want him back
Datong citizens: come back!
Taiyuang citizens: stay!
Back to Datong, Mayor Gengs' legacy is well preserved.
The city has totally transformed to a different ecological city regardless what critics are mumbling. GDP growth of 2015 was 9%, pipeline gas reached 98.6% families, unemployment rate decreased to 3%, income growth reached 8%, number of vehicles increased by 11.3%.
http://www.shanxigov.cn/gzsj/tjgb/201605/t20160511_122306.shtml
I visited the Baidu topic bar of Mayor Geng (Baidu topic bar is similar to a small online forum, everyone can create a bar on a certain topic. For example, we have a Baidu topic bar exclusively on Pakistan, on the family name of "Jin", on the city of Shanghai, etc), I found there were 202704 comments by 6pm 22rd Sep. 2016. You can read threads in which they post new images of Datong or Taiyuang, netizens of Datong vs Taiyuang (the city he serves now) fighting for him to serve for them, Datong citizens sending local cuisine to Mayor Geng in Taiyuan, etc.
http://tieba.baidu.com/f?ie=utf-8&fr=bks0000&kw=耿彦波
The city of Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi Province
（since 2013, the mayor is Geng Yanbo)
2013
@Götterdämmerung @Godman @Star Wars @StarCraft_ZT @Kaptaan @waz @Gibbs @Species @Lure @anant_s @Bussard Ramjet @Ankit Kumar 002 @PARIKRAMA @PARIKRAMA @Echo_419 @Danish saleem @PaklovesTurkiye @AViet @xiao qi @kaykay @kecho @Viet @LA se Karachi @Two @pzkilo @alarabi @oprih @Malik Abdullah @T-123456 @maximuswarrior @cranwerkhan @bbccdd1470 @Three_Kingdoms @Brainsucker @simple Brain @X-2. @Taygibay @Arsalan @shah1398 @muhammadali233 @Jf Thunder @Talwar e Pakistan @911 @Cherokee @liall @IsaacNewton @Levina @maximuswarrior @Arbiter @yesboss @Mista @kaykay @unbiasedopinion @Shakuni & Ravan @grey boy 2 @Jlaw @bolo @faithfulguy @Maira La @T-Rex @UKBengali @Odysseus @Nilgiri @Aether @Fattyacids @Darmashkian @Kaptaan @kadamba-warrior @Clutch @egodoc222 @AZADPAKISTAN2009 @Sky lord @faithfulguy @Zibago @saiyan0321 @el che @Mugwop @S.U.R.B. @Rasengan @xiao qi @Dungeness @ahtan_china @endyashainin @vostok @senheiser @kankan326 @Zulkarneyn @el che @thesolar65 @third eye @Desi_Guy @Three_Kingdoms @Brainsucker @Anjo @DoTell @proud_indian @my2cents @Reashot Xigwin @Cherokee @SouI @Max Pain @maximuswarrior @Levina @fitpOsitive @Doyalbaba @BDforever @TheTheoryOfMilitaryLogistics @Cossack25A1 @OrionHunter @rott @Anjo @Abba_Dabba_Jabba @Areesh @Huan @RISING SUN @Dungeness @PaklovesTurkiye @Dandpatta @KRAIT @anas_nurhafidz @Fallen King @Two @Huan @Kaptaan @coffee_cup @MilSpec @Cherokee @el che @hellfire @randomradio @grey boy 2 @Fattyacids @ChineseTiger1986 @Chinese Bamboo et al
He is a highly controversial mayor in China.
He is hated by many people, especially those outside the city he served.
He is loved by more people, especially those from the city he served.
The story was about the years when he served as the mayor of the city of Datong, one of China's most polluted cities, the capital of coal mines, the ancient capital of Wei Dynasty, a city on the verge of collapse because of poverty, pollution and unemployment.
Mayor of Datong, Shanxi Province
2008-2013
Before I get to the main topic, let us first watch the video of Datong in 2012.
This is the video about the day when local citizens demonstrated upon hearing the news he would be soon promoted to be the mayor of the capital city of the province (Taiyuan City).
They shouted, "Mayor Geng, stay! People of Datong need you!".
"Geng Yanbo, come back!"
A controversial documentary about a controversial politician
This documentary is very rare, I think it is the first of such kinds of depicting what a mayor's real life and work is in China.
I can only find some links of English trailers.
There are a lot of reports and articles about this documentary.
Here are some links,
VIFF: Fascinating documentary explores challenges of local Chinese government officialTrue/False Film Festival 2015: The Chinese Mayor, Finders Keepers, & Rules of the Game
Manufacturing China’s Future
I am not here to judge whether his opposition is legit or not.
I have never been to Datong or any city of Shanxi Province.
To me, it is a place of pollution, coal mines, ancient glory, and uncharacteristic cities.
I'd like to hear from you, especially members from China, what is your anticipation of Chinese mayors of your hometown?
Datong's old town Today
From my respective as a citizen of the city of Wuhan
Similarly, we have a very "bold" mayor (or CPC secretary of Wuhan) here.
Mr. Ruan Chengfa.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruan_Chengfa
He is dubbed as “满城挖”, or "digs all over town."
Quote from wiki
To this, Ruan responded, "I'm not scared of people calling me 'Manchengwa'. If we're not doing construction, we are doing a disservice to the city."
Likewise, the majority of citizens of Wuhan highly praise him and his team. Unlike his predecessor who was afraid to "do things", he is someone to get things done regardless of the opposition from the vested class, interest groups, lobbyists, and those who have illegal housing and add more floors for excessive financial compensation during the acquisition of land.
The process is indeed painful, frankly speaking.
Hundreds of civil projects are ongoing at the same time, schools, hospitals, subways (10+), intercity HSRs, elevated roads and flyovers, redevelopment of slums, high-tech zones, etc.
It is understandable people can feel angry sometimes.
But he is still, the only mayor citizens of Wuhan have ever highly praised and endorsed.
He is ambitious to transform from "the big county", a name former PM gave Wuhan (thanks to his predecessors), to an international high-tech hub on par with Shenzhen.
Wuhan today
They still want him back
Datong citizens: come back!
Taiyuang citizens: stay!
Back to Datong, Mayor Gengs' legacy is well preserved.
The city has totally transformed to a different ecological city regardless what critics are mumbling. GDP growth of 2015 was 9%, pipeline gas reached 98.6% families, unemployment rate decreased to 3%, income growth reached 8%, number of vehicles increased by 11.3%.
http://www.shanxigov.cn/gzsj/tjgb/201605/t20160511_122306.shtml
I visited the Baidu topic bar of Mayor Geng (Baidu topic bar is similar to a small online forum, everyone can create a bar on a certain topic. For example, we have a Baidu topic bar exclusively on Pakistan, on the family name of "Jin", on the city of Shanghai, etc), I found there were 202704 comments by 6pm 22rd Sep. 2016. You can read threads in which they post new images of Datong or Taiyuang, netizens of Datong vs Taiyuang (the city he serves now) fighting for him to serve for them, Datong citizens sending local cuisine to Mayor Geng in Taiyuan, etc.
http://tieba.baidu.com/f?ie=utf-8&fr=bks0000&kw=耿彦波
The city of Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi Province
（since 2013, the mayor is Geng Yanbo)
2013
@Götterdämmerung @Godman @Star Wars @StarCraft_ZT @Kaptaan @waz @Gibbs @Species @Lure @anant_s @Bussard Ramjet @Ankit Kumar 002 @PARIKRAMA @PARIKRAMA @Echo_419 @Danish saleem @PaklovesTurkiye @AViet @xiao qi @kaykay @kecho @Viet @LA se Karachi @Two @pzkilo @alarabi @oprih @Malik Abdullah @T-123456 @maximuswarrior @cranwerkhan @bbccdd1470 @Three_Kingdoms @Brainsucker @simple Brain @X-2. @Taygibay @Arsalan @shah1398 @muhammadali233 @Jf Thunder @Talwar e Pakistan @911 @Cherokee @liall @IsaacNewton @Levina @maximuswarrior @Arbiter @yesboss @Mista @kaykay @unbiasedopinion @Shakuni & Ravan @grey boy 2 @Jlaw @bolo @faithfulguy @Maira La @T-Rex @UKBengali @Odysseus @Nilgiri @Aether @Fattyacids @Darmashkian @Kaptaan @kadamba-warrior @Clutch @egodoc222 @AZADPAKISTAN2009 @Sky lord @faithfulguy @Zibago @saiyan0321 @el che @Mugwop @S.U.R.B. @Rasengan @xiao qi @Dungeness @ahtan_china @endyashainin @vostok @senheiser @kankan326 @Zulkarneyn @el che @thesolar65 @third eye @Desi_Guy @Three_Kingdoms @Brainsucker @Anjo @DoTell @proud_indian @my2cents @Reashot Xigwin @Cherokee @SouI @Max Pain @maximuswarrior @Levina @fitpOsitive @Doyalbaba @BDforever @TheTheoryOfMilitaryLogistics @Cossack25A1 @OrionHunter @rott @Anjo @Abba_Dabba_Jabba @Areesh @Huan @RISING SUN @Dungeness @PaklovesTurkiye @Dandpatta @KRAIT @anas_nurhafidz @Fallen King @Two @Huan @Kaptaan @coffee_cup @MilSpec @Cherokee @el che @hellfire @randomradio @grey boy 2 @Fattyacids @ChineseTiger1986 @Chinese Bamboo et al
Last edited:
