House arrest in Longtan????

The police in Longtan are psycho. After I finished updating my blog yesterday, I went directly back to my hotel as the police had requested. Feeling nice and "safe" in my hotel, I later call a call on the phone from the hotel people - basically the police had called them again, and wanted to make sure that I wasn't going to be "going out" - not that there's really anything to actually "go out" and do in Longtan - it is just a regular township - maybe 7000 people, not exactly a sprawling metropolis with lots of things to do and see. After comforting the hotel owner (who was a really nice person - it was mainly the police who were bothering me, via the hotel owner) that I wasn't going out, I got ready for bed. After talking to Melanie briefly on the phone (my cell phone ran out of minutes mid call), I watched tv for a bit, and went to bed around 9am, planning to leave town first thing in the morning because the place was beginning to creep me out.

About a half hour later, when I was asleep, I get a knock at the door. Half awake, I shout out "what do you want" ("ni zhao wo shenme shi?", to which I get the reply, "Open the door" ("kaimen!"). Ok.... I open the door and there are two police officers. I am really confused - I've already registered, I've done absolutely nothing in their town but use the internet bar - so what could they be after me for? It turns out that they wanted to make sure that I "wasn't going out". I asked why they needed to know that, and they gave me the lame-o answer that it was "for my safety." Satisfied that the foreigner was just going to sleep and leave the next morning, they left me in peace.

This episode in Longtan has to be one of the strangest experiences ever. I'm pretty certain that the police chief guy thought I was up to something - most probably he thought I was doing missionary work. At the police station, they had offered me a beer, and I gave the answer that I don't drink, and they pressed me to drink (as the Chinese always do), so I told him the standard answer "wo xinjiao" (I am religious). The police chief asked "what religion" and I said a "sect in Christianity" "Jidujiao de yige paibie". After that he seemed to be extremely suspicious of me, and my Mandarin speaking ability. I don't know for certain that was why I got all the flak from the police here, but it seems possible to me.