The neighbor of the richest man in China, no longer

Huang Guangyu in happier times

The novelist Catherine Sampson lives in Beijing and writes a blog. It seems she was living next door to a rather prominent man:

Some time ago, I blogged about our wealthy Chinese neighbours, whose stretch Mercedes and phalanx of bodyguards fascinated everyone else in the compound where we live. Recently I saw the baby of the house going trick or treating accompanied both by his nanny and by a bodyguard. But there”s been a big change. The house is dark, apparently abandoned. No nanny, no child, no stretch Mercedes sweeping through the compound..Most obviously, no miniature army of bodyguards. Our neighbour – let”s call him Mr Huang — along with his brother, another Mr Huang — heads a Chinese retail company with branches all over the country…

In other Huang Guangyu news, ChinaSMACK has translated Chinese Internet forum comments about the arrest (link below).