A senior monk in China has attracted widespread social media attention for enthusiastically playing electronic games. Venerable Huayan, from Mingjiao Temple in Hefei in central Anhui province, has been a Buddhist monk for 20 years. He began to play e-games when he was a primary school pupil in the early 2000s, Counter-Strike (CS) is his favourite, according to the news portal Sina.com. Huayan once achieved the Legendary Eagle Master position, a very high ranking in CS. He said the most...
In several first-tier Chinese cities, chickens, which were once confined to the dinner table, are finding a new role: cherished household companions. On social media, posts and videos about “pet chickens” have racked up over 3.1 billion views, underscoring how they are reshaping perceptions of pet culture in urban China. In southeastern China’s Guangdong province, a local saying goes: “No chicken leaves here alive”, a testament to the region’s love of eating poultry. Yet one woman, Aguai,...
A Chinese woman who tried to copy a recently viral lamp post climbing challenge got herself stuck and had to call the police to rescue her. The woman, surnamed Song, from eastern China’s Jiangsu province, was out for an after-dinner walk when she decided to take on the challenge. The self-rescue challenge requires people to cross their legs around a lamp post, remain in a sitting position then try to free themselves. As easy as this may sound, many people have been shocked to discover that they...
A Mercedes-Benz was buried as a funerary offering in a village in northeastern China, igniting public outrage over legal violations and environmental safety. A viral video shows some villagers in Liaoyang, Liaoning province, attending the funeral of a septuagenarian on April 9. Sources told the mainland media that the dead person was an avid collector of luxury cars, prompting his children to bury a real vehicle to ensure his soul’s peaceful passage. The car, a black Mercedes-Benz S450L valued...
An online industry has emerged which allows people to create “wealthy” personal profiles on social media in China by buying “luxury lifestyle” photographs for as little as one yuan (15 US cents). The pictures feature travel scenery, gourmet dining, golfing, skiing and other activities on e-commerce platforms. The photographs are typically priced between one and eight yuan and are marketed as ready-made content for social media posts or for building a curated online persona. They are usually...
A 32-year-old Chinese man who went to hospital suffering from stomach pain was shocked to discover that a Mercury thermometer he had swallowed 20 years ago was still inside him. The man, surnamed Wang, from Wenzhou in Zhejiang province, southeastern China, had sought treatment at the Longgang branch of The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University. A scan revealed a foreign object in his duodenum, which doctors highly suspected to be a Mercury thermometer. As the tip of the...
A coffee shop in eastern China has gone viral for its entry rules banning a range of bizarre misbehaviour, from discarding black stockings to stealing tiny turtles from its pond. The café, Yi Nan Ping, is in Qingzhou Ancient City, a popular tourist site in Weifang, Shandong province, and is known for its signature pineapple Americano and picturesque courtyard. Visitors recently spotted an oversized notice at the café entrance, almost as tall as an adult, opening with a blunt admission: it had...
A Chinese man who joined a matchmaking event while his wife had briefly gone to the bathroom, then claimed he was single, has sparked outrage online. On April 1, during “Auntie Wang’s Matchmaking” event in Bengbu, Anhui province, central China, a man who claimed to be single went on stage to find a partner was exposed on the spot. The event, which originally took place in Kaifeng, Henan province, also central China, has attracted much attention on mainland social media. Those taking part are...
An online influencer in China known as Godmother of sexual intelligence, who was banned on social media earlier this year, has reappeared online to sell her controversial courses. Zhou Yuan, who lives in central Hunan province, teaches women to enhance their sexual appeal. She is alleged to have earned 24 million yuan (US$3.5 million) from selling her on and offline courses, Red Star News reported. Zhou’s account, with 200,000 followers, was banned in January for promoting “vulgar...
A pet-friendly hotel in southwestern China has drawn fierce online criticism after recommending dog meat restaurants to a traveller staying with their dog. On March 27, a social media user surnamed Chen described a disturbing stay at a hotel in Guizhou province. Chen said they had booked a pet-friendly property for a trip with their puppy, but was taken aback when the hotel sent them an official message recommending local attractions, including the town’s dog meat speciality. The message, which...
Following a dispute with his neighbour, a Chinese man resorted to blasting ghost stories for more than 10 hours a day as revenge, deliberately keeping the volume just below the legal limit, drawing widespread ridicule online. The case was revealed by the Ministry of Justice of the People’s Republic of China. The man, surnamed Lu, and his cohabiter, surnamed Li, both from Guangzhou in Guangdong province, southern China, became embroiled in a dispute with their neighbour, surnamed Xie. The exact...