Although mahjong is the traditionally favored game in China, in some circles the rules of dominoes are being ruefully learned. This is a game no one expected to crash China's party. The global financial crisis is being felt acutely by most "lao bai xing" (common people), thanks to falling property prices, rising costs of food staples and loss of jobs. In the manufacturing crucible of the Pearl River Delta alone, around 68,000 small companies closed in 2008, and by the end of the year 2.5 million laborers may be unemployed. This is alarming for the Centra Government, which, above all, insists on social stability and does not tolerate unrest.
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