The office of last resort

Beijing

There is no mistaking the place. It isn’t just the crowd of men and women sitting on the steps of the small official building; it’s the way they look as individuals. Once you’ve come across a group of petitioners in China, you can always spot them again.

They are usually middle-aged or elderly and poor. Their clothes are worn and dusty. They look discouraged, sad, beaten down by life. And yet there’s something else about them — something which says a great deal for the human spirit. They’re defiant. They’ve crossed the intangible barrier which divides the weak of purpose from those who are determined to see their project through, no matter what it costs.

These petitioners have come from all over China to complain about wrongs done to them by officialdom. It’s an ancient tradition: the Tang poet Du Fu, who wrote with an almost journalistic eye in the 8th century ad, mentions it.