This past weekend, the streets of Shanghai were crowded. Nothing different from the norm, right? But some of the bustle came from what is a rare occurrence: a political protest by members of China's urban middle class. The demonstrators, who marched through a shopping area and a public square, were denouncing the government's plan to send an ultra-modern magnetic levitation or "maglev" train through their backyards. YouTube has footage of the demonstrations here:

The train, the protesters complain, will create unwanted noise and expose residents to electromagnetic radiation. Government officials say it's safe, but one resident likened the situation to "living beside a big microwave oven." Some critics would rather see the funds applied to other projects, such as school repairs. The walks caught the attention of the authorities, who carted some of the demonstrators away in vans and merely "manhandled" others, according to Reuters.

A separate protest incident on January 7 ended in tragedy. When a construction executive and blogger in Tianmen, Hubei Province, pulled out his cell phone to record a group of local villagers who were trying to halt the dumping of waste near their homes, a gang of 50 angry municipal inspectors reportedly jumped him and beat him to death. The Chinese government took action following a public outcry and has detained 24 municipal inspectors in addition to launching an investigation into roughly 100. A Tianmen city official was also fired over the incident, according to Xinhua, China's state news agency.

Both protests have a different ring than usual. In Shanghai, residents are speaking out on a local issue, whereas the last instance of large demonstrations there in 2005 focused on nationalism and anti-Japanese sentiment. Also, they are wealthier urban residents, not the poor farmers you typically see getting into trouble for demonstrations. Regarding Tianmen, some say the Chinese government is signaling that local authorities cannot be so violent in enforcing order. A flowering of Chinese democracy? No. But it's a start.