To buy peace, officials in China tolerate some forms of disobedience

FOR A BUSINESS that flouts the law in a police state, Mrs Hu’s pancake cart is not hard to find. A tiny, unlicensed kitchen on wheels, her pushcart appears each night between 11pm and dawn on a road junction in central Beijing, between a centuries-old temple and a bus station. Neither summer heat nor snow deters Mrs Hu. Only rain keeps her at home, because it clears the streets of customers. On a recent night, diners munching her egg and onion pancakes, perched outdoors on low plastic stools, ranged from young hipsters to a bus driver still in her uniform.