Jieshi, Lufeng Explained

Jieshi Town
Other Name:Kitchioh
Translit Lang1:Chinese
Translit Lang1 Type:Chinese
Translit Lang1 Type1:Pinyin
Settlement Type:Subdistrict
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Guangdong
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:China
Subdivision Type1:Province
Subdivision Name1:Guangdong
Subdivision Type2:Prefecture
Subdivision Name2:Shanwei
Subdivision Type3:County level city
Subdivision Name3:Lufeng
Government Type:Town
Established Date:1389
Population As Of:2008
Population Total:229,971
Timezone:China Standard Time
Utc Offset:+8

Jieshi is a Town in Lufeng, Shanwei Municipality, Guangdong.

The town administers 41 villages.

Features

Yuanshan Temple on Xuanwu Mountain is located in Jieshi Town. Built in 1127, during the Southern Song dynasty, the temple was enlarged in 1577 during the Ming dynasty.

Feuding Villages

Early in 2009, the Jieshi villages of Gangkou and Meitian began contesting the control of a road down to their common seaside.At one point, armed Meitian villagers surrounded Gangkou and attacked. The victims appealed to Jieshi Town executive / Party office to no avail. In April over 400 Gangkou residents boarded 26 fishing boats and sailed for Hong Kong. (The boats were turned back by Hong Kong police after a seven-hour protest near Clear Water Bay).

Meitian also suffered assault. Some villagers posted claims on a local website that their houses had been pelted with bricks, their schoolchildren beaten, a teenager raped (in April). More violence came in October.

On March 7, 2010, late in the evening, Meitian villagers again attacked Gangkou. They hurled rocks, rods, home-made grenades and petrol bombs at Gangkou residences through the night, destroying roofs and windows. All Gangkou residents fled and by morning were camped out before the Jieshi Town govt/party building.[1]

A Gangkou resident surnamed Xu told Nanfang Daily that about 40 people had been injured. Four of them had been hit in the eyes by metal pellets from the grenades, and five elsewhere on the head. Some villagers were taken to City hospital in Donghai.

"We're homeless now. So many of our houses were burned out after we left," Xu said. "We can't go back or else we'll be beaten. We're like refugees."

Jieshi paichusuo (police substation) sealed off Gangkou village from cars and outsiders.In Donghai, the Lufeng City executive said that Meitian and Gangkou villages had been attacking each other with fire-crackers and that work groups had been sent to investigate.

Notable people

References

22.8197°N 115.8258°W

Notes and References

  1. Guangdong Villages Battle over Road use, Verna Yu, South China Morning Post, 10 March 2010.