An audacious attack on the headquarters of the Communist party in the province of Shanxi saw at least six homemade bombs, fitted with timers and packed with ball bearings and metal shrapnel, explode during morning rush hour.
Almost all the bombs were left in the hedges that line the 12-lane road outside the imposing 20-storey biscuit-coloured building in the city of Taiyuan.
The scene on Yingze Street in Taiyuan following the explosion (Reuters)
The explosions began at 7.40am, according to the local police. "They must have been timed for when government officials begin to arrive at work," said one local, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of incident. "If they wanted to hurt the public, they would have left them outside the bus station"."They went off one after another, with a 20-second interval between them: bang, bang, bang," he added.
At least 20 vehicles were damaged in the blasts, with one bus left outside the building, its back window smashed and its paint flecked with shrapnel.
The bombs, while small, were not unsophisticated. Police investigators said they had found computer circuit boards among the debris, perhaps part of a timer system. Ball-bearings, some an inch wide, were packed inside.
One left on the other side of the street, outside the offices of the government-run Shanxi Literature and Art Union, exploded with enough force to pepper second floor windows from a range of 100ft. On the pavement below there were two discrete blood stains.
"The person who was hit here died," said one of the staff from the building, who declined to be named. "My colleague said she heard the bang and ran back inside, diving under her desk".
There was no confirmation of the identity of the fatality, but bystanders said an elderly lady had been hit while walking her grandson to primary school.
While most Communist party buildings in China are blanketed with closed-circuit television, there appeared to be few cameras on the street outside the Taiyuan headquarters.
The timing of the blasts could not come at a more sensitive moment for the Communist party. Last week, a white jeep exploded in Tiananmen Square in what the state media has termed a "terrorist attack".
This weekend, meanwhile, the Communist party's most senior leaders will begin a key meeting known as the Third Plenum to thrash out the future of the Chinese economy.
Locals said the building has been a magnet for protests in recent years. "There are small demonstrations at least once a week and there are big protests once a month," said a 53-year-old man near the scene who would only identify himself as Mr Ma.
Taiyuan has one of the largest wealth disparities in China, with the emergence in recent years of a class of obscenely wealthy coal barons.
"There are so many groups of people who would have a reason to do this," he added. "Lots of people in the city are angry. I remember once there was an attack on the building by 500 people, and another time I photographed a woman who managed to get inside the compound before she was dragged away. The police came to me and made me delete the picture".
The bombs appear to be confirmation that the simmering anger that has bubbled over in recent years in the form of street protests across China has now hardened into more drastic, and destructive, action.
Some noted that the city's new mayor, Geng Yanbo had embarked on a swathe of home demolitions in recent months to clear the way for a new motorway. "They call him 'Point the finger' Geng," said one man. "Because wherever he points his finger, they knock down the house."
Mr Geng, who was until February the mayor of another city in the province, Datong, is a controversial figure. Loved by some for his ambitious urban-planning, he is loathed by those who have to make way for his projects. "There was a protest by some people from Datong here last week," the same man said. "Perhaps this is linked to that."
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