Here in China in every city, you "have to" scan your luggage when entering the subway. Why I say "have to" is because it is not strictly enforced, and many peop

Here in China in every city, you "have to" scan your luggage when entering the subway. Why I say "have to" is because it is not strictly enforced, and many people just push by in a hurry, making the whole system kinda moot. During the rush hour (supposed to be the most "dangerous" time) the steady press of people just flows in, completely ignoring the scanners. Poor scrawny security guy whose job is to make sure everybody scans their stuff just stands aside, pretending to control it. Another thing is that the scanner staff shift starts around 7:30 am, while the subway opens at 5:30 so you can bring whatever in without anybody checking it. It's common knowledge here that the scanners company Nuctech belongs to ex-prime secretary's Hu Jintao's son, and the scanners are sold for 10-20x price compared to the competition (8m RMB ~ $1.17 million per one). Nuctech has been involved in numerous international fraud scandals. Yet they are everywhere: subway, airports, train and bus stations. Shanghai subway has over 400 stations, with many stations having multiple entrances (e.g. Xujiahui has 27 exits with 12 scanners), so the total price of the scanners is well over $3-4 billion just for this. Needless to say, this security theater doesn't improve the actual security a bit. I guess it has some positive impact by keeping people with ridiculous luggage like a box of live hens or 25 woks on a string out of the subway, but during the rush hour, the queue can easily stretch for 5-10 minutes (the create artificial "choke" points to force people to scan, barely wide enough for 2 people). That being said, full body scanners seem to be a good compromise compared to this.