PARKS,NO RECREATION

China is trying to build more public spaces,but who has the right to use them—and how—remains contested Lin Qiuming couldn’t tell if she was out for a stroll,or starring in a spy movie.Throughout May,the young journalist had gotten used to dodging roving guards and blockedoff paths whenever she came to the Liangma River—one of the only outdoor hangouts still available in Beijing during a Covid outbreak that month-in search of the bench or tree where she’d agreed to meet a friend or an interviewee.