Hollander, are you sure they are connected to triads? I grew up in Shaanxi and Shanxi is near it, never heard any triads presence in these two provinces. Actually I think triads are not able to expand to Nothern Chnia because gangs here have some whole different culture and even people in Nothern China do not share the same culture with Southerners,criminals caught in the raids are more likely to be local gang members. Triads has its stronghold in Hongkong, Taiwan and a few Southern provinces and thats it.
I stayed in China for some time, including Shanghai and Beijing, and I actually witnessed very little if any gang or OC activity over there. Hong Kong and Guangdong is different in that regard as it's still remarkably easy to spot gang members there, despite the fact that the Triads are reportedly not operating as openly as they used to.
Triad activity indeed seems to be very much of a Southern Chinese thing. In Hong Kong it's mostly something that came out of the Cantonese and Teochew communities. In Taiwan on the other hand the biggest gang, Bamboo Union, it's members have mostly origins in Sichuan, Hunan or Jiangxi while the other Taiwanese gangs have mostly roots in Fujian. All southern provinces.
