On the morning of November 6, lawyer Fan Chen was attending a court hearing at the Zhangjiakou Intermediate People's Court in Hebei Province when the presiding judge, surnamed Zhong, demanded he put away his water cup. Fan Chen questioned the legal basis for this demand and refused to hand over the cup. The presiding judge then called in bailiffs and announced an adjournment, with the date for the resumed hearing to be notified later.