The revolution in my Chinese apartment community has succeeded. 🇨🇳 The management company has been overthrown. The cars are disappearing. The pedestrians have reclaimed the streets. Unfortunately, the running track appears to have been destroyed in the fighting. Vive la Révolution! Let me explain. Some months ago, I reported a small revolution taking place in our apartment community here in Wenzhou. It began with a parking fee. Residents had been paying 50 RMB a month to park their cars in the underground car park. Then the management company decided to increase the fee to 120 RMB. The residents were not amused. So they revolted. Instead of paying the increased fee, they brought their cars out of the underground car park and parked them along the roads and pedestrian areas of our community. Cars everywhere. Our pleasant residential neighbourhood began to resemble a rather badly organised car park. There were arguments. The police were called in to mediate. Eventually, management offered to reduce the fee to 60 RMB. But by then, the revolution had gathered momentum. The residents organised a vote to remove the management company altogether. And won. Out went the old management. In came a new company. Vive la Révolution! Unfortunately, removing the management company proved rather easier than removing the cars. For a while, our pedestrian areas remained full of vehicles. But now things are changing. The cars are gradually disappearing, and the roads through our community appear to be returning to the pedestrians. There are even concrete blocks helping to keep the cars out. Victory at last! Except that I've noticed one small problem. We have a blue running track running through parts of the community. Or rather, we used to have something that resembled a running track. It's now cracking, peeling and disintegrating in great sheets. In places, the surface has practically disappeared. I've taken some photographs. It looks less like somewhere to go for a healthy morning jog and more like an abandoned airport runway. So there we are. The cars are retreating. The pedestrians have reclaimed their territory. But the ground beneath their feet appears to be surrendering. I suppose every revolution has its unintended consequences. As for my daily exercise, perhaps I'll have to take up running on a treadmill. At least the ground wouldn't disappear beneath my feet. Vive la Révolution!