Siren in Yantai, China - annual test 8-15-2006, 8 a.m.

[Robert Gift]

I am in Yantai, China with my wife who is visiting her parents.
August 15 just happens to be Yantai's annual air raid siren test!

The siren is on a hilltop park (highest point) in almost the middle of town.
It is kept underground in what appears to be a very old bunker which is covered with soil and trees, vegetation, etc.

All that is visible now is a 4 foot diameter very shallow conical metal plate disk resting on a cement "collar" which is in the ground in a small grassy area.

I'm told the dual-siren is horizontally mounted with rotor/stators at each end.
(It was formerly mounted in a nearby attractive 20 foot tall cement tower with roof, reminiscent of a pagoda. The mounting bolts on the
pedestal in the middle can still be seen.

Supposedly, the siren will rise up from the ground, sound for a few minutes, then descend back out of sight.

Household power here is 220 V 50 Hz.

I am told asking the newspaper about the schedule will be fruitless.
I have also been informed that the ?authorities? may not allow me, a possible American Imperialist spy*, to videotape the operation, though, last year, the siren was shown on TV, which is why my Chinese
nephew remembers it and the date.

(*Though I am a firefighter, I am likewise not allowed to visit
Yantai fire stations. Perhaps I may steal firefighting secrets.)

Still, I shall try to videotape the siren and place it on ARS.com
More later - if not in Chinese prison.

Robert "Lobter" Gift, Denver, CO