Guangzhou has became China’s first city to reach a per capita income of $10,000 (although if you include illegals $7,000 seems a more likely figure) and has brought in a ban on motorcycles and motorized bicycles intending to cut down on a crime wave that has been building to more than 100,000 offenses a year.

The vehicles, the primary mode of transport for migrant workers, are also favored by criminals who use them for snatch and grab raids, normally from pedestrians. The motorcycle ban has already forced thousands of motorcycle taxi riders to leave the city. Others have turned over their motorcycles and motorized bicycles to government impound lots in exchange for modest cash payments.