You've been there... crowded parking lots and malls, bumper to bumper roadways and nowhere to stop your car.  In a pinch, sometimes we all are guilty of parking alongside the road or in other technically "illegal" parking spots. Sometimes we get lucky and sometimes we end up with one of these on our cars:

Well, the Wuxi Traffic Bureau has been on the case in recent months, erecting loads of "electronic police" (basically monitoring cameras) all over the city - these cameras, operating 24 hours a day, were placed specifically to monitor for illegal parking.

These cameras display the traffic violater's license plate number for all to see - if, after two minutes on a countdown timer, the car has not moved, another five minute timer will begin. If, after those additional five minutes, the vehicle is still illegally parked, a final set of photos will be taken and the car's plates will be entered into the traffic police's records. 

See below for the series of photos the new cameras will take:

The first photo is the vehicle entering the no-parking zone, the second is taken after the two minute interval, the third is after the second five minute interval and the final photo is a close up for the traffic bureau. 

Additionally, there are 22 areas in Wuxi that parking, short-term and long-term, will be absolutely forbidden. Punishment is steep if your car is either captured on camera or you are stopped by a traffic officer - there's a 100rmb fine plus 3 points will be deducted off your license.

The roads are:

• Jie Fang Ring Road

• Zhong Shan Road, from the intersection at Chao Yang Plaza to Chun Zhong Road

• Xue Qian Street, from the intersection of Jie Fang East Road to Jie Fang West Road

• Ren Min Road, from the intersection of Jie Fang East Road to Xi Shan Bridge

• Fu Xing Road, from the intersection of Zhong Shan Road to Jie Fang West Road

• Xian Qian Road, from the intersection of Xing Yuan Road to Chun Zhong Road

• Xi Hu Road, from the intersection of Guang Rui Road to Chun Zhong Road

• Wu Ai Road, from the intersection of Xian Qian West Road to Yin Long Road

• Yin Long Road, from the intersection of Xue Qian West Road to Wu Ai Road

• Nan Chang Street, from the intersection at Chao Yang Plaza to Yong Le Road

• Qing Yang Road, from the intersection of Jie Fang West Road to Tai Hu Avenue

• Yong Le Road, from the intersection of Shan Yang Road to Bridge East

• Jian Zhu Road, from the intersection of Hu Bin Road to Yin Xiu Road

• Hui He Road, from the intersection of Qing Shan Wen Road to Qin Qi Road

• Gao Lang Road, from the intersection of Lihu Avenue to Jin Shi Road

• Zhong Nan West Road, from the intersection of Hu Bin Road to Lihu Avenue

• Changjiang Road, from the intersection of Taihu Avenue to Tai Shan Road

• Hua Xia Road, from the intersection of Taihu Avenue to Xin Ming Road

• Xi Zhou Road, from the intersection of Xin Guang Road to Hua Xia Road

• Zhen He Avenue, from the intersection of Xi Cheng Road to Hui Shan Avenue

• Wu Yun Road, from the intersection of Zhen He Avenue to Zhen Hui Road

• Hui Shan Avenue, from the intersection of He Avenue to Zhong Hui Avenue

Be mindful of the roads you're stopping at - these rules are already being strictly reinforced, especially with New Year's Day and Chinese New Year fast approaching.

Have you been ticketed lately? Let us know in the comments!