[ **up: [[China]]** ] --- # Beijing (China) ## Beijing Districts - [[Chaoyang District (Beijing)|Chaoyang 朝阳区]] --- ## Beijing Locations - [[Dragons--Chinese#Nine Dragon Screen (Beijing)|Nine Dragon Screen (Beijing)]] ### Beijing Temples - [[Hongluo Temple (Beijing)]] - [[Longquan Temple (Beijing)]] - [[Yonghe Temple (Beijing)]] --- ## Civil Affairs Bureau ### Marriage in Beijing - [[Beijing Municipal Marriage Registration Work Standards]] --- ## Climate + [[Heatwave, Beijing, 2023]] --- ## Education - [[Beijing Film Academy]] --- ## Misc. ### Bathhouses - [[Bathhouses (Beijing)]] - [[Bathhouses (Beijing), Visuals]] --- ### Cars in Beijing [[2025-0313. 'In 2011, Beijing began distributing new license plates through a bi-monthly public lottery, with more slots and shorter waiting times for electric vehicles than gas-powered vehicles.'|'In 2011, Beijing began distributing new license plates through a bi-monthly public lottery, with more slots and shorter waiting times for electric vehicles than gas-powered vehicles.']][^1] [[2025-0313. 'In 2011, Beijing began distributing new license plates through a bi-monthly public lottery, with more slots and shorter waiting times for electric vehicles than gas-powered vehicles.'|’Every petrol-powered vehicle must also remain idle for one day weekly, determined by the last digit of the license plate.’]][^2] Some people circumvent this lottery by registering sham marriages with someone who already has registered plates in Beijing. [[2025-0314. Beijing Drivers Are Entering Sham Marriages Just to Get Their Cars Registered.|'The route of sham marriage registrations has become a fairly popular business that has been nailed down to a science. In fact, an ideal client can be on the road in about 20 days.']][^3] --- ### Internet cafes In 2008, Beijing “implemented new regulations requiring all first-time visitors to any of the city’s more than 1,500 internet bars to have their pictures taken and their ID cards scanned on site.”[^4] All internet bars/cafes were to have “registration terminals” installed by the end of 2008.[^5] City residents, in contrast, would “be required to stand before government-issued image terminals before being cleared to go online, and their photographs and scanned ID cards will be sent instantly to a monitoring platform at the [Beijing Cultural Law Enforcement Agency](http://www.bjwhzf.gov.cn/default.htm), where the information will be stored.”[^6] The process would take about thirty seconds.[^7] Policy was aimed at preventing ““ID sharing” (一证多用).”[^8] A *[[China Youth Daily]]* editorial, written in response, wrote: > In recent years, clampdowns on Beijing’s “black internet bars,” the decrease in the number of accidents in internet bars and regulations on the industry have all stemmed from this kind of high-pressure control from enforcement bodies. It’s only that while ordinary people like this writer enjoy the peace and order the comes with this high-pressure control, we must also give up the freedom and convenience of online rights we once enjoyed. As one web user said, taking pictures of web users in this way, and scanning their IDs, means internet bars are no different from airports — only in airports what people are looking for is security, but in internet bars people are looking for a piece of freedom and comfort. > > And now they are installing a monitoring system. And now they are storing photographs and personal information. According to reports, this is all in order to better prevent “ID sharing.” Because “in the monitoring center, personnel will be able to target any terminal at any internet bar in the city to compare the user with registered information.” But in this monitoring system that renders users “naked,” how will the freedom and privacy of citizens using the internet be protected? The Beijing Cultural Law Enforcement Agency reassures us that these controls end with the enforcement team’s monitoring platform, and that we “have no need to be concerned about the leaking of personal information.” But aside from worrying that personal information might be leaked to others, we also worry that the freedom of our online communication and the privacy of our conversations will be betrayed by public power. Under this platform of “monitoring of any terminal at any internet bar in the city,” won’t monitoring mean that enforcement officials will have the right or the opportunity to view our chat histories? Can they not read our private correspondence at will? Won’t any and all online behavior fall under the eyes of the enforcement officials? If this is the case, then all web users really are “entirely naked,” if only before a limited number of enforcement personnel. > > The “fear is often greater than the danger,” but in consideration of citizens’ rights, there is always a need to be sufficiently alert to intrusions by public power. Overseas, even when urgent necessities bring new restrictions on personal liberties these tend to meet with great public skepticism. This was true of the [U.S. Patriot Act](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_PATRIOT_Act) passed after the 911 attacks … Even though it arose from the urgent need to respond to terrorism, this law still drew fierce opposition from various quarters of society from the first day it was issued, and it particularly raised concerns among the public that the government might invade the privacy of citizens. Shouldn’t our enforcement and regulatory authorities think carefully about whether it is truly necessary to carry out such monitoring on every web user in internet bars?[^9] [^1]: ‘Beijing’s License Lottery’, *Wikipedia*, updated 27 September 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing%27s_License_Lottery. [^2]: ‘Beijing’s License Lottery’, *Wikipedia*, updated 27 September 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing%27s_License_Lottery. [^3]: Rob Stumpf, ‘Beijing Drivers Are Entering Sham Marriages Just to Get Their Cars Registered’, 28 November 2019, *The Drive*, https://www.thedrive.com/news/31231/beijing-drivers-are-entering-sham-marriages-just-to-get-their-cars-registered. [^4]: David Bandurski, ‘Mugshots for all in Beijing’s Internet Bars’, *China Media Project*, 19 October 2008, https://chinamediaproject.org/2008/10/19/mugshots-for-all-in-beijings-internet-bars/. [^5]: David Bandurski, ‘Mugshots for all in Beijing’s Internet Bars’, *China Media Project*, 19 October 2008, https://chinamediaproject.org/2008/10/19/mugshots-for-all-in-beijings-internet-bars/. [^6]: David Bandurski, ‘Mugshots for all in Beijing’s Internet Bars’, *China Media Project*, 19 October 2008, https://chinamediaproject.org/2008/10/19/mugshots-for-all-in-beijings-internet-bars/. [^7]: David Bandurski, ‘Mugshots for all in Beijing’s Internet Bars’, *China Media Project*, 19 October 2008, https://chinamediaproject.org/2008/10/19/mugshots-for-all-in-beijings-internet-bars/. [^8]: David Bandurski, ‘Mugshots for all in Beijing’s Internet Bars’, *China Media Project*, 19 October 2008, https://chinamediaproject.org/2008/10/19/mugshots-for-all-in-beijings-internet-bars/. [^9]: *China Youth Daily* editorial, via: David Bandurski, ‘Mugshots for all in Beijing’s Internet Bars’, *China Media Project*, 19 October 2008, https://chinamediaproject.org/2008/10/19/mugshots-for-all-in-beijings-internet-bars/.