The Ximen River flows quietly through the small, mountainous county of Wengan in Guizhou province . Straddling the 'Mother River of Wengan' is the Dayan Bridge - one of four bridges in this small, remote mining town.
It was on its banks that the body of 17-year-old Li Shufen lay in a refrigerated coffin on June 30 - nine days after she allegedly drowned and was pulled from the river. Her death sparked outrage among local residents that has boiled for weeks.
Authorities insisted that Shufen had killed herself, denying that she was raped and murdered, as was claimed by her family and some residents. Rejecting official explanations, and claiming police had long colluded with crime gangs, thousands of locals led by students rioted on June 28. Government offices and the county police headquarters were attacked and police cars set ablaze. Dozens of police were injured. As of last Saturday, at least 117 people had been detained.
The Wengan riots, which took place less than two months before the Olympic Games, once again placed the mainland's fragile governance at the grass roots in the international spotlight and raised questions about the way local officials and police handle protests.
Last Saturday, two rubber farmers in Yunnan were shot dead by riot police during a similar action.
Officials in Wengan have insisted the riots were instigated by gangsters. Although provincial leaders later fired the county's top leadership and its police chief, they stood firmly by the line that Shufen had committed suicide and that three companions who were with her shortly before midnight on the night she died were not responsible for her death.
Three autopsies have been held since Shufen's death, with experts from outside Wengan helping, but most residents suspect a cover-up and foul play.