There are constants for anyone who travels regularly in China, from the excellent food, to the palatial local government buildings that brazenly defy spendthrift central edicts, and the din of frenzied development upending the physical landscape as far as the eye can see.

Then there are the protests. It is hard to go anywhere without seeing some kind of demonstration, or a manifestation of one. The most common are laid-off workers outside the gates of state factories, demanding back pay and pensions, and residents ejected from their homes without what they regard as fair compensation.