PASSING through a hole in a brick wall has been routine for people living in two neighboring subdistricts in Bao an District.
People living in a residential community in Shajing Subdistrict had to go through the hole in the 5.2-kilometer brick wall, which blocked the shortest way to work in an industrial park in Fuyong Subdistrict, the Daily Sunshine reported Thursday.
Crossing the hole was harder than catching a train during the Spring Festival, local residents said.
More than 1,000 people massed to go through the hole during rush hours each day, posing a safety hazard, the paper said.
People were sometimes injured climbing through the less than 2-square-meter hole.
A resident, surnamed Liu, said it took him 20 minutes to go through the wall between his apartment in Shajing Subdistrict and his work in Fuyong Subdistrict.
People had to walk a long way if they did not go through the hole.
Residents said the wall was built by the Fenghuang residential community in Fuyong Subdistrict to force people to rent apartments there, which cost 50 yuan (US$7.50) more than apartments in Shajing Subdistrict.
However, Wen Qitai, a staff member at the Fuyong Subdistrict Office, said the wall was built 10 years ago to ensure public security because the Shajing Subdistrict had poor public security.
Each time residents knocked a hole in the wall, the Fuyong Subdistrict Office would close it, said Wen.
A new method to connect the two subdistricts would be devised before the Spring Festival, the subdistrict offices said.
(Li Hao)
