page_title: Anti-Hong Kong Express Rail Link movement
section_title: January 2010
hierarchical_section_title: Anti-Hong Kong Express Rail Link movement / Protest timeline / January 2010
caption_attribution_description: Anti-Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong rail oppositions Jan 2010 protest
context_page_description: The anti-Hong Kong Express Rail Link movement was a social movement and period of civil discontent in Hong Kong between mid-2009 and early 2010. Select groups of Hong Kong residents protested at the proposed Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link, a high-speed railway that would link Hong Kong with mainland China's growing high-speed rail network.
context_section_description: A group performed a "prostrating walk" (苦行) imitating Tibetan pilgrims, dubbing it the "Prostrating Walk of the Five Districts", in which participants kneel down and touch the ground with their heads every 26 steps (to symbolise the length of the rail link), from 5 to 8 January. Protesters also walked around the LegCo building in a similar fashion during the protest from 15 to 16 January.
  A series of disputes and arguments were held in and out of the HK legislative council chamber for four weeks.  Lawmakers that were for or against the line traded insults during debate that lasted 25 hours straight.  On 15 January, hundreds of young protesters swarmed the government house gates.
  On the morning of 16 January, protests carried on, along with the debates inside the LegCo building. About 10,000 people showed up at the peak according to organizers.  Police gave the figure of 1,700. About 1,200 police officers were involved. Just before the approval of the budget at around 18:00, an initial group of people tried to storm the Legislative Council Building, but was blocked by the police. Then scuffles broke out as the police used pepper spray on the citizens while they covered their face with sheets of plastic wrap.
  Arming with mobile devices and communicating with Twitter, protesters quickly moved into 6 separating strategic positions on the streets around the LegCo building, blocking all the exits. Eva Cheng and pro-government legislators were trapped inside the Legco building until 17 January. Blogger Martin Oei drew a detailed strategic map showing the distribution of police and protesters, and gave an estimation of about 1700 protesters in that night. The crowd that surrounded the building promised Eva Cheng her safety if she would only come out to talk. She did not.
  The pro-Beijing DAB had to be escorted out of the building while the crowd chanted "shame". Five police officers were injured.
caption: Prostrating walk by citizens. A group of people prostrating in line each wearing a green top with the Chinese character for stop the bill of Express Rail Link.
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