"Papers Please" in China!
 

I am wondering if anyone else who travels in China has had this experience. I was in Guangzhou walking back to my hotel with my girlfriend last night and two cops came up to us on the sidewalk and asked to see our passports. Neither one of us had them. The guy didn't really know what to do so I offered to go back and get it for him and then come back and show him :D .

He told me no need but said I needed to fill out a little spreadsheet with my passport number name (first name only) and phone number and a few other items. I've traveled/lived in China for over 3 years and have never had this happen. Has anyone else had this happen to them and does anyone know if something is going on in Guangzhou, there seems to be a large police presence on the street this week.

A few other places -- in parts of "free" Europe and in parts of "free" South America -- have the same kind of nonsense.

Is it not the exception rather than the rule for a country NOT to have the requirement to carry ID?

Many countries accept photocopies of passports so that you can leave the original safely locked up.

Certainly in Hong Kong I have been asked for ID on a couple of occasions when I was a witness to traffic accidents. When I first came here (from the UK - one of the places which doesn't even have an ID system (yet), let alone the requirement to carry it) I was a little uncomfortable about carrying ID, but after 6 years I haven't been ID'd randomly and having it makes a lot of little things much easier (and transactions more secure) than they would be in the UK, so I've sort of come round to the idea.

It wasn't the rule in Hong Kong until the mid-70's when illegals entering from China become a problem. Quite a far cry from these days, when Hong Kong beg for more Chinese tourists and their yuans...

So, but the ID thing has become basically the first line of conversation from any police officer, whenever happens wherever - including jaywalking. "I need to see your ID" is always the first words of officers in HK.

I understand if I'm witness to an accident, jaywalking, ect. but I was just walking on the street doing nothing wrong...that's why I thought it was strange. Anyhow I think it may just have been an excuse for the policeman to practice his english!

i'll second that. as i was walking to the portman today, i noticed an awful lot of police officers on the street. then, when i tried to use the bathroom in the lobby, i accidentally entered the wrong one and was greeted by no fewer than 8 female cops (they were all very nice to me, btw). the correct bathroom featured the same story (but, those guys weren't quite as nice).

in short, the gov seems to be a bit sensitive this week. i will turn to google and try to ascertain the answer (though such answers are often hard to uncover in-country).

ok - just googled (news) "china protests" (no quotes) and got 2030 results, none of which had anything to do with events this week. as a test, i am curious if any of you outside of china can do better.

Google, Yahoo and Microsoft have all kow-towed to the Commies in China. I'd be surprised if you get anything different.

Moondog google: ["Sept. 18, 1931" China] to get your answer. Or see this link on the Mukden Incident -- the date is an increasingly sensitive flashpoint for the neo-nationalists. It would appear that word has come down not to allow a repeat of incidents form earlier this year.

To the OP, in my years living in China I’ve never had ID demanded by police except when pulled over for traffic violations in which case all they have wanted was my drivers license and never asked for any other ID (e.g., passport, residence permit).

make sure you are not conned by scammer, be careful what data you give them, and be sure you know they are genuine police.

Well they had a police car with flashing lights right next to them and they had the traditional "grey" police uniform so I'm pretty sure they were legit. I did think it was strange though that they asked for this stuff from me. The guy just told me it was a "routine check"

Upon reading your most recent post, I just got another idea. They might have been checking to make sure you weren't on Shenzhen only visas. Some Taiwanese friends were visited factories in Dongguan two weeks ago and received the third degree when they tried to leave Shenzhen (at one of the checkpoints) because they didn't have their passports.