*The cops didn't like the idea. But cops are complicated.
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2015/08/he-xiaoxin-how-far-can-i-go-and-how-much-can-i-do/
(…)
"Each person’s life is like a clay pot. It holds so many things. But it’s fragile. One shock can break it apart.
"The money we work so hard for, the houses and the cars we buy, all destroyed in an instant.
"We spend countless years hoarding everyday objects, and in a flash they’re gone.
Even life itself—don’t think about that.
"But as long as we’re still alive, who cares about losing all those other things?
"As I looked at all this, I finally understood what is meant by “just things.”
"Except for life, everything else is empty.
"11.
"After just a few minutes of taking photos, the police found all three of us.
"They took our ID cards. They searched and interrogated us.
"We’d seen a lot of reports about police and residents preventing journalists from taking photos, so we didn’t say we were journalists. We said we were students who had just come out of curiosity.
"I thought our ruse was pretty week. No one would believe it. Our backpacks were filled with cameras and computers.
"My ID card is from when I was at the Communication University of China, and it has the school address on it.
"But the police didn’t show any signs of seeing through our lie. I don’t know if they really believed us, but in the end they didn’t figure us out, and they didn’t see our press cards. Instead, their voices relaxed as they explained that they had searched us in order to protect the residents’ property. They were responsible to the people of Tianjin, and they were responsible to us.
"When they searched us, they wanted me to open my backpack and turn out my pockets. I told them to search me themselves, but they didn’t dare. I’d taken the memory card out of my camera and put it in my pants pockets. An officer said it wasn’t hidden on me. He patted me down haphazardly, but didn’t find the card. Then they made me delete every photo from my cell phone, one by one. Then they made me open my laptop. It was in sleep mode, and as soon as I opened it photos from the scene popped up. I couldn’t escape. I deleted every photo. They even found another folder of photos.
"I really don’t think our “student ruse” fooled anyone, but the police are complicated. They didn’t completely fulfill their duties. On the outside they’re strict, but they provided me with so many loopholes.
"Only after I’d left did I discover that I was the most carefully search among the three of us. They’d even deleted the photos on my cell phone and computer.
"After they had searched me, before I left, an officer yelled at me, “Take off your shoes!” He thought I was hiding something in them. How naive. He even made me take out the insoles. Of course he came up with nothing.
"We left…."
