Guangzhou mayor’s office opens up to curious citizens

Some 30 curious citizens, including doctors, teachers, students and retirees, paid a brief visit to the office of Guangzhou mayor Zhang Guangning on Wednesday morning at 11 o’clock.

    The visitors, invited over by the mayor for the Open Day of the local government, spent half an hour at Room 311, No. 1 Building of the municipal government office complex, the office of Mayor Zhang.

    “I didn’t believe it is true when my teacher told me I was selected to visit your office,” teenager Li Yongqi told mayor Zhang when the mayor met him and other visitors at 11:05am on Wednesday.

    Li is the youngest visitor on Wednesday.

    “And now you believe it is true?” joked mayor Zhang.

    The 30-square meter office was a bit crowded as the mayor accommodated his guests from 11:05am-11:40am.

    The office is like any other ordinary offices you can see in the city, although it is neat and tidy, said one visitor.

    There are some sofas and chairs, as well as big bookshelves on the corners of the office.

    There are even many folded chairs in the office, which caught the attention of Li Yongqi, who wonders how these chairs could exist in the mayor’s office.

    “The mayor sometimes need to hold emergent meetings with many officials, and sometimes if the sofas are not enough, these chairs will be used,” explained an official accompanying the visitors.

    “We didn’t expect the mayor’s office to be so simple,” remarked one visitor.

    “We originally thought the mayo’s office must be very spacious and luxurious. But in fact it is just like any other ordinary offices.”

    It is said to be the first time forGuangzhouto open the mayor’s office to ordinary citizens.

    Curious citizens also paid a visit to the Municipal Standing Committee Conference Room, where a lot of major decisions were made.

    “We are glad to have a face-to-face chat with the mayor,” said the visitors.

    Mayor Zhang shakes hands with every visitor and cordially invited them to sit down for a brief chat.

Mayor Zhang Guangning chatted with the visiting citizens on a verity of local issues, from traffic management, community work to pet control.

Euro 2008 Gamblers Pick up 8 Red Cards in Guangzhou

 Eight people have been detained here over the past week, following a crack down on illegal gambling on soccer matches, police said on Tuesday.

    On Monday, four people were arrested after police raided four underground betting dens in the residential districts of Tianhe, Haizhu, Baiyun and Yuexiu.

    The locations were being used for online gambling on the Euro 2008 soccer championships inAustriaandSwitzerland, which ended on Sunday, police said. On Friday, police also arrested four people during raids on two gambling dens in Tianhe and Haizhu.

    More than 40 officers took part in the raid, which also led to the seizure of betting slips totaling 6.58 million yuan ($960,000), police said.

    An anonymous official from theGuangzhoumunicipal bureau of public security said: "The crackdown has dealt a heavy blow to those involved in online gambling and underground soccer betting events."

    While gambling is illegal inChina, Euro 2008 attracted huge interest among soccer fans in the country. Police have estimated that more than 30 million yuan was wagered via illegal betting websites over the three weeks of the competition.

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