WTF?
Shame on it!!

The foolishness of taking stick-drawings seriously is never clearer than when asking yourself why all "no smoking" pictograms have the cigarette lit at the filter end...

... yes I know that's supposed to be the "ash", but it's as sensible as claiming "no work clothes" = "we don't want farmers here".

And what about the "no dogs" sign? No dogs, or no show-groomed poodles?

Is it just Asian farmer attire that they don't want or would they stop me if I was wearing western farmer attire?

Does this mean that it's only surfers and frat boys being targeted in North America, with the, "no shirts, no shoes, no service" pictograms of a choeless man in surfer shorts????

Also, is it not a PRIVATE business? Let's be brutally honest: what would a farmer be doing in Changchun's Charter department store? As a foreinger, I don't even go there because everything's bloody expensive. I doubt there are many rich peasants going to charter to even be offended.

This reads like a fenqing moron getting self righteous. It's also a wonderful, humorous Danwei post.

草你妈

It's no work attire. The straw hat represents what workers or labourers wear on the job regardless if the workers are migrants or the foreman.

This is so reminiscent of the famous (if mythical) No Dogs or Chinese sign in 1920s Shanghai that it could be some kind of rather unpleasant post-modern joke. But it probably isn't...

some of bitch

interestingly enough we get annoyed by the dog and the so called farmer but what about the last pictogram " no couples with children"

Owning a dog, being married with a kid and having my roots in my homeland's countryside, I suppose this is not a place for me. Instead of bitching about the signage write to emporio armani...they are also in the picture

希望他的本意是禁止衣着不整者入内的意思

Some years ago in Hong Kong there was a well-publicized example of a notice in English in the elevator serving an exclusive low-rise:

No Dogs or Amah Allowed

The owners, Chinese, didn't want the Filipina maids using the elevator. Yes, you'd think that... nah, that's too much to expect.

looks like he should also throw his camera into the dog pen, as the sign suggests. oddly enough, this place is only open to units of one man, one woman and a kid; the woman of course are only allowed one leg. (serious, why take signs so seriously. the smokers and spitter obviously aren't)

Anonymous,

毫無疑問﹐其意即是農工者止步。

vic: The "couple with child" icon doesn't have a slash through it. "Heterosexual couples must be accompanied by a child," obviously.

"The owners, Chinese, didn't want the Filipina maids using the elevator. Yes, you'd think that... nah, that's too much to expect."

Yes if the owners are categorized by racial grouping then by all means it's too much to expect.

The truth hurts, especially in the form of irony when it's visited upon a racial grouping. Hard to Dodge that, right?

I smell human flesh search.

神奇的国度总有神奇的事情发生

my dog and i are not allowed????? :(
no problem,my pig can go to talk with them.

wow, no farmers thats new

Seems like Changchun Charter Shopping Centre would be a good site for a flash mob. Imagine if hundreds of people from all walks of life, all wearing conical straw hats, converged on the place...

900 million rural Chinese are second-class citizens in their own homeland, deprived of the rights, privileges, services and dignity that urban citizens take for granted. This exclusion from a public space is just another indignity suffered by Chinese peasants. I'm not denying that the US is worse than China with respect to [racialized} rates of incarceration and the exploitation/dehumanization of undocumented immigrants but this is also a grave assault on human rights and dignity.

If it's private property, that entitles the owners to exclude whomever they like. In this case that's a business decision. It may be the wrong decision, but it should be theirs, not anybody else's.

@ Thon Brocket,

I don't know what Chinese law says in terms of businesses discriminating in this manner. But I wouldn't take it for granted that Changchun Charter Shopping Centre's nastiness is legal.

At any rate, there's no reason everyone else shouldn't put pressure on the shopping mall. Pretty outrageous stuff...

there is some fuss in Hk at the moment about a new 'luxury' development that offers potential owners the bonus of a separate 'workers' lift. some have interpreted this as referring to overseas helpers. the management in defence said that it was necessary as helpers often carry a lot of shopping and inconvenience other tenants. I wonder then if the separate lift should just be for those carrying shopping, whether chinese, expat or whoever.

If I saw signs like that infront of a store I wouldn't ever go inside. People look down on farmers (often conviniently forgetting that their family consisted of farmers one or two generations ago) and it is a joke. Farmers are the salt of the earth here, they work hard with little prospect of a better future and supply food for the idiotic nuveau riche who bribe their way through life and don't give a rats ass about breaking laws wherever they go, especially in their shiny I-have-a-tiny-pxxxx black 2 ton cars which are a danger to everyone. Signs like that reminds me of pubs in England on the old days stating "No dog, blacks or Irish".

perhaps no flip flops.
it's like in a fancy restaurant you are not supposed to wear a cap or in the library not supposed to speak loudly. Different places different dress code.
although you are right, they mostly don't get respect.

These people just dont use their brains. Truth be told, more than 90 percent of the elites or cadres in China came from the countryside, meaning they were born peasants. Man, I hope this was a joke!!!!!

It's dem danged cityfolk gettin' all uppity again.

They will be the first in line for the gallows when the next bloody peasant revolution comes along.

>The owners, Chinese, didn't want the Filipina maids using the elevator.

I remember that story a few years back! That wasn't put up by the blgs. management. It was put up by an irate tenant and didn't last long.

Hker

This is a much more recent story. can't find link. sorry. but the distinction was put in the building sales and marketing material. there was some debate on what was meant by 'worker'

Also our office bldg in HK has an elevator for workers and one for other people. It 'd be really annoying if one had to wait till the workers unload everything...

Office buildings in Hong Kong as in many, many other locations and countries have freight elevators separate from passenger elevators. That common arrangement has no relation to what we're talking about here, which is the prohibition of certain acts (taking photos), pets, but especially particular persons from entering the building.

I repeat, "Without doubt, the meaning (of the sign) is farmers and labourers are not allowed."

hadrian - you are missing the distinction. I am talking about domestic helpers not being allowed in the 'resident's' lift and there being a separate lift specifically for them (and other 'workers'). The division was between tenants and 'workers'.

I have a helper in my apartment and as far as I am concerned she is a tenant and is therefore allowed to use any of the amenities - pool, gym, etc - in the building should she choose to (she chooses not to).

My take is: No photography; No smoking, No pets, Dress Code Enforced (if you look like you steped out of the fields, you probably smell like it too); No kiddie carriages (they're unwieldy in narrow aisles).
IMHO, these restrictions are intended to protect/ensure privacy, comfort, cleanliness and safety.