CHINA - Men (& Women) in Uniform

Oooo..., if you dig men in uniform, then China is for you....

Army personnel are in pale green (don't try Taking the Mickey out of these guys... no sense of humour)...

A Revolutionary People's sculpture at the Mao Zedong Memorial Hall, Tian An Men Sq, Beijing... this guy is still looking stern having just jumped off his box to physically eject a (Chinese) visitor back over a barrier fence.

Police are in everywhere in Chinese cities... & crime is low(!). These boys in blue are the helpful guys, next to young Chinese who like to practise what little English they may know. This is a Police Station in Xi'an's Muslim quarter... where ethnic Chinese Muslims (mostly) cover their heads & offer interesting food.... oops, mentioned food again ;-)

Police at Big Goose Pagoda in Xi'an, another HUMUNGUS public space where folks gather for a sound, light & water fountain show every evening... although on our visit, all public entertainment had been banned for 3 days in memory of the Sichuan dead & even in Xi'an families were sleeping outdoors in such parks, fearing predicted earthquake aftershocks.

These rather sad individuals are 'Traffic Assistants', whose job is to monitor pedestrians & bikes & scooters at major intersections. 4 per intersection with whistles & flags. You can put money on it that during the Olympic Games, uniformed (& non-uniformed) control-personnel of all all descriptions will be everywhere... manpower is not something that China is short of. Streets (in major cities) are constantly cleaned by orange-vested street-sweeper men/women with cycle-wagons & some tourist areas are washed down every night.

(Sorry chaps, no pics of ladies in uniform.)