Taken from the East Xining Insight:

Xining – October 24th

For the past few weeks at the Haiguan Duimian Apartment Complex (HDAC) a penetrating sound has filled the air. It is the ceaseless sound of labor: the pounding of hammers on concrete; the whirling grate of drills into plaster and brick; and the incessant buzzing of electric saws. And in at least one apartment in this quaint little east Xining community the tireless sounds of construction are harmonizing with a fainter sound…(drip, drip, drip)…the rhythmic tenor of dripping water.

"We’ve got a pretty bad leak in the bathroom," Zhang Wen De, a resident of HDAC told this reporter on Monday. "They told us they would fix it, and it was fixed for a day, but now it’s back…and worse than ever."

Zhang Xiansheng (Mr. Johnson) is like many residents of HDAC; a victim of circumstance, a person living in the wrong place at the wrong time, an innocent bystander caught in the cross-fire of the policy making HDAC management and the task-driven industry of the Camou Work Crew Incorporated (CWCI).

"It’s not that we don’t want the radiators, we do!" Zhang told us as he revealed the holes in his bathroom ceiling and floor, "But we don’t want our homes to be utterly destroyed in the process."

Zhang’s reference to radiators touches on the crux of the problem at HDAC–a project now being called by many The Great Radiator Debacle. The project was originally designed as a means to improve the quality of life at HDAC by providing cost-efficient heating for its residents. Critics of the project cite lack of planning, a delayed implementation schedule, inefficient project management, and total disregard for human life, as proof that the project is already a glaring failure.

Proponents of the project claim that home invasion, destruction of private property, and violation of most people’s sense of aesthetics are a small price to pay for inexpensive heat. Zhang Xiansheng disagrees.

"Last night they were drilling and hammering upstairs at 11 o’clock! One worker carelessly broke one of my light fixtures with a pipe and when they drilled the holes in my bathroom, muddy water…I hope it wasn’t sewage…gushed down the walls and almost short-circuited my electrical outlet. I just want to know when the madness will end?!"

Indeed, when will the madness end?

Several HDAC conspiracy theorists say that the general mafan or inconvenience caused by the workers is not the greatest evil spawned by the Radiator Project. Instead, the conspiracy theorist claim that the real goal for the project is to kill off most of the inhabitants of HDAC through high-exposure to carcinogenic second hand-smoke. If such outlandish claims are true, each camouflaged-clad worker becomes a potential weapon. It is unclear what motivation would lie behind such a plot, but the theorists speculate that HDAC management could potentially profit by re-renting the vacant flats of the deceased as their leases would become null and void.

When asked to comment on the conspiracy theories, Zhang said, "I wouldn’t go that far. It’s more likely that they are trying to push our buttons psychologically. They’re trying to see what our breaking point is. We’re probably taking part in some kind of experiment and we don’t even know it.

Or maybe it’s a new form of hyper-advanced language and cultural acquisition. In an effort to help us acquire the language they’re exposing us foreigners to heavy doses of the Chinese language through interaction. I almost think I should provide cots for these workers to sleep on; they’re in my house so often."

Regardless of the theories, the Zhang family finally reached an impasse this week with the CWCI and HDAC management. As negotiations got tense regarding the lou (leak)resolution in their bathroom, the Zhangs halted all further labor and dismissed the workers currently on site. This drastic sanction and work stoppage caused an uproar among the CWCI and lead to extensive peace talks.

The Zhangs vetoed the first resolution plan submitted by delegates of the CWCI, (i.e. The workers suggested if they put the pipes in the leak would magically fix itself,) in favor of a more reasonable plan. After hours of grueling discussion, the CWCI ended the talks unexpectedly and asserted that they would send someone to fix the problem that afternoon.

Zhang Xiansheng is not holding his breath.

"It’s not that I don’t trust them. I just don’t believe what they say…especially regarding things like time and work," Zhang said.

Regardless of its initial motivation or final outcome, the Radiator Project (Debacle) continues slugglishly on as October winds to a close. As the cold winter months approach, it is uncertain whether the residents of HDAC will have functional radiators anytime soon or if they will be forced to rely on their old electric ones. For the sanity and well-being of the Zhang family, this reporter hopes that a good resolution is found soon. Then again, I may be a bit biased.

The Yeti reporting…