The “Appealing Village” is a small spot next to the Beijing South train station. It has become the temporary "home" for people who come from all over China to Beijing to appeal for their grievances. As the number of people accumulated at the Village over the last few days, the area was encircled by police from 8am to 11am on the morning of January 22. Two police cars blocked the road that led to the Supreme Court.

People were only allowed to enter the Appealing Village, but were not allowed to leave the Village. This happened even though the 22nd was a Saturday, a day on which the government’s appealing organizations did not work. Obviously, the police encircled the Appealing Village not to stop people from appealing, but to stop them from offering condolences to Zhao Ziyang. Actually, the people who planned to go to Zhao’s former residence to condole him were cornered.

On the same day, Hu Jia, a democracy advocate, went missing. After he got off from a train from Henan Province to Beijing, he went directly to Zhao Ziyang’s former residence in Fuqiang Street to offer condolences without going to his own home first. He lost contact for over 5 hours and was suspected to have been arrested by police.

Hu Jia took a train from Henan Province and arrived in Beijing on the morning of the 22nd. After he left Henan Province, he managed to evade the policemen who had been following him all the time. (The policemen had been following him to prevent him from investigating the situation of AIDS patients in Henan Province and taking investigative reports out of Henan.)

It is reported that a group of policemen were waiting outside his home in Beijing for him to come back. Hu called his friend Ye Mingjun, another human rights advocate at noon, and told him that he “had arrived at a place close to Zhao’s residence and would get something to eat before going to Fuqiang Street to offer condolences to Zhao.” However, Hu Jia’s telephone was cut off after 12:20pm and nobody could get hold of him anymore.

Ye Mingjun told The Epoch Times, “We arrived at Fuqiang Street at 10:30am. We saw many policemen and plainclothes policemen. Traffic control was implemented all around Fuqiang Street. The police didn’t allow people to get into the street to offer condolences to Zhao at all. They said that no one was allowed inside without an appointment unless Zhao’s family came out to personally greet them. A person from another province was arguing with the police, while holding a flower in his hands. We took a detour to a small street at the back of Zhao’s residence. They didn’t allow us to enter there either. A plainclothes policeman was following us all the time. There was a tall watchtower behind Zhao’s residence, and many plainclothes policemen kept watch there. We didn’t think Hu Jia could get in either.”

Others said that the police were alright yesterday, but they were much harsher on Saturday. Five police cars were parked at the entrance of Fuqiang Street to keep watch.