I didn’t have my computer at that time so it’s only now that I’m uploading the photos.
I took these pics on the eve (30.09.04) of 国庆节 at People’s Square.

There were many people going to People’s Square that day.
People going to People's Square

On my way to People’s Square, my friends and I noticed those black cars parked near there on the main road. It looked a bit odd. oh well.. maybe people just love black cars here.
Black cars parked near People's Square

I took this photo at People’s Square.
At People's Square

They were selling those plastic inflatable things at People Square. I wanted to buy one too. :wink: There were a few cute ones ( Hello kitty, Winnie the Pooh,etc ) but I didn’t buy any because I knew that I wouldn’t be able to carry them with me in the bus. It would take up too much space.
Fight at People's Square
Many people were playing around, hitting each other with those plastic things but then a fight started. My friend who took me there told me that it’s like that every year.The young people have fun hitting each other but sooner or later a fight starts. Sometimes it’s because someone started hitting a little bit too hard and the other person hits back even harder and it ends up in a vicious fight with their respective friends joining. Sometimes it’s because someone hits another person by mistake and before he can apologize, he gets hit by many other people. It’s easy to tell when it’s a real fight. I saw a guy being hit until his nose started bleeding and his glasses fell to the ground and got shattered. Then people started to call their friends and you see mean looking guys dressed all in black come. Creepy. There were policemen making the rounds in their van every 10 minutes or so but somehow they always arrive after a fight.

Still, it’s usually very safe here in Shanghai. In fact, apart from that fight I saw at People’s Square on that day, I didn’t see any acts of violence here.
In Mauritius, I’d never even think of walking about after midnight but here it’s different. My friends and I go out at night sometimes and take the bus or taxi quite late. We can usually see many other people walking about very late. Sometimes we return to our campus at 4 am and we feel “safe” walking back.