On the China-Vietnam Border, the Empire Likes Back

We spent last night in Longzhou, a once-forgotten town near the Vietnam border that was once part of revolutionary base headed by Deng Xiaoping. These days, the picket lines continue, in the form of a puzzling number of border defense police checkpoints–which required our buses to stop and the passengers in the first three rows to hold up their ID cards. Signs everywhere urge citizens to take part in ‘upholding order,’ which, as explained, is their duty on behalf of a ‘strong border.’ Other signs post big-character PSAs on HIV prevention.