China: All shook up by the torch relay · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Is the Olympic torch relay still going on? It is, but most people stopped paying attention to it following the devastating earthquake in Sichuan in May. However, a handful of China's top sports reporters have been following it faithfully.
One of those is Sports Illustrated China writer Guan Jun, who wrote on his Beijing Olympics blog on the Southern Weekly BSP of Benxi, one small obscure city in Northern China's Liaoning province, and how being chosen as a torch relay city shook it all up (also note the joke that's been going around lately that with all the whining people have been doing about the preparations for the Olympics, it's probably the police of China who will be far happier than anyone once everything goes back to normal):
巨大的兴奋之后，艰苦的准备工作开始了，对于这座人力、财力有限的城市而言，“举全市之力迎接火炬”的说法，并不夸张。尤其是随着火炬传递的安保压力越来越大，本溪市的安保之弦也越拉越紧，仿佛要经过这座城市的不是祥云火炬，而是敌对国的装甲车。
火炬传递线路几经斟酌，最终决定绕开所有繁华地带，安排在滨河路从体育馆到殡仪馆一段，这里不仅人少，路边的建筑都少，容易控制。
全市所有的网吧、按摩、洗浴、娱乐场所都接到通知，只能经营到晚上11点半之前。这些基本靠夜晚做生意的店家门前，很快出现了大量的变卖、转让的广告。
Several routes for the torch relay were considered, then finally it was decided that it should avoid all busy areas, and so it was arranged to go along Binhe Rd. from the sports stadium to the funeral parlour, where not only would there be few people, but few buildings alongside the road as well, making it easy to control.
All the internet bars, massage parlours, bath houses and entertainment venues in the city received a notice that they could now only operate until 11:30 at night. Very quickly, in front of these shops which for the most part do their business in the evenings, there appeared large numbers of clearance sale and ‘buyer wanted’ advertisements.
火炬传递起点旁的鹏程园社区，有近百住户临街，他们的门最初被敲响，是因为政府要借用他们的阳台，贴上中国国旗与奥运五环并列的招贴画。几十幅整齐排列的图案，为的是展示本溪人“对奥运圣火的热情”。
敲门声不是只响这一次，而是时常响起。警察、街道干部经常要来做工作，确定房间的固定住户，登记备案，而且被告知火炬传递时的既不许家中无人，又不许开窗，不许在窗前观望、走动。作为某种精神补偿，每户会收到一个西瓜。
不仅如此，在6月下旬、7月初的两次演习和正式传递的时候，每个沿线住户家都会安排一名警察或政府工作人员入户值守，以防意外事件。
The sound of doors knocking didn't only come once, but from then quite often. Police and neighborhood cadres came frequently to carry out their work, confirming the number of inhabitants, having them register, and notifying them to make sure the apartment will not be left empty during the torch relay, that they will not be permitted to open the windows then, stand at them and look out, or move past them. As emotional compensation, every home received one watermelon.
And that's not all. At the end of June/early July when two rehearsal and two practice relays were held, one police officer or government employee was arranged to stand guard in every home along the route, to prevent any accidents from occurring.
入户是一个让人为难的任务。值守人员敲一家沿线住户的房门，敲了几次都没人答应，最终他们动用某种技术手段开了门，见到的竟是屋内一双愤怒的眼睛：“你们凭什么闯进我家？”值守人员也很生气：你凭什么不配合政府的工作，难道心里有鬼？把他带走，接受审查。结果，那位拒绝合作的住户被关了几天。
另一强硬的住户运气好一些，他们大声斥责擅入民宅于法无据，值守人员自觉理亏，无奈地离开了。
一位女警察早晨4点就到了——实在是太早了。她负责“照看”的老夫妻有抵触情绪，拒绝开门。女警察就在门口站着，看外面天光渐亮。后来，老夫妻竟有些过意不去，给她拿出一只小板凳。
火炬手张学锋熟识的一位警察，任务是值守路边建筑物的屋顶。“他在上面站了一晚上，真不容易。”
这座城市的神经好像从未紧张到如此程度，一位姓王的警察告诉我：“我们都快被逼疯了。”
Another stubborn resident had slightly better luck, cursing them out loudly for having no legal basis to enter a residence; the would-be guard saw that they were in the wrong and had no choice but to leave.
One female police officer arrived at 4am—too early, actually. The people she was in charge of “seeing to” were an old couple who had been putting up resistance, and refusing to open the door. So the female cop just stood in the doorway, watching the sun slowly rise outside. Later, the old couple began to feel sorry for her and brought her out a small stool.
One officer that torchbearer Zhang Xuefeng is quite familiar with had the task of standing watch over the roofs of the buildings along the street. “He stood up there for an entire night, that's not an easy thing to do.”
I think this city had never been this strung out before. One police officer named Wang told me, “we're liable to crazy any minute now.”