Mainlanders, as a rule, know better than to openly protest against anything the govern-ment says; and, to be fair, they do have 5,000 years' worth of practice in mute submission. It's a question of survival.
However, when the municipal government of Shanghai decided in 2010 to outlaw the lovely tradition of wearing pyjamas in public, people did protest, and in the only way they knew how: by continuing to wear pyjamas in public.
How the officials must have been tying themselves in knots: here was the biggest showcase of Chinese greatness since the Beijing Olympics, namely the Shanghai World Expo, and people were insouciantly walking around in their jimjams. In front of the whole world.
The "big-character posters" so beloved of communists all around the world started appearing all over Shanghai: "Pyjamas aren't suited for going out the door; let's have a civilised Expo!"