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And Finally

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Hook, line and sinker

Video from Nanjing sparks discussion about pensioner fishing craze
Jun 18, 2021 (WiC 545)

M ost readers of WiC will be familiar with the term dama, referring to typically female retirees who congregate in public spaces and parks to dance each evening. But what of their husbands? How are they passing their time? The ...

Supine subversion

Why Chinese leaders worry about ‘tangping’ types
Jun 11, 2021 (WiC 544)

A few weeks ago Chinese social media saw a marked uptick in the number of cat photos posted online. Only this time these cats weren’t playing with balls of string or balancing on top of bookcases – they were lying flat on their backs, supine, ...

Con me if you can

Desperate job seekers pay Rmb4 million for airport job – only it’s a scam
Jun 4, 2021 (WiC 543)

Would you pay Rmb140,000 ($21,948) for the chance to work at Chengdu’s new international airport? You might be surprised to learn that at least 39 people did just that, thinking they had found a secret way to secure a long-term position at a ...

The place to be

Internet frenzy over liveability of Caoxian
May 28, 2021 (WiC 542)

Caoxian has an unusual claim to fame. As WiC noted last January, the rural county of 1.75 million in eastern Shandong province supplies a huge proportion of Japan’s coffins (see WiC481). And that is still a growth market, given Japan’s aging ...

Panic in Shenzhen as 350-metre building sways
May 21, 2021 (WiC 541)

Skyscrapers are designed to sway on their foundations during earthquakes. But if a tower starts shaking for no apparent reason, is there might be a justification to panic. That was the situation on Tuesday when the 350-metre SEG Plaza in ...

Not a fun day out

Elderly scammed in unwanted cemetery visit
May 14, 2021 (WiC 540)

On April 13 a group of retirees from Chongqing boarded a bus for what they thought was going to be a trip to a scenic spot. They had paid Rmb18 ($2.80) each for the tour and put on their best clothes for their day out. But when they arrived at ...

Loyal Labradors

China needs to train more guide dogs
May 7, 2021 (WiC 539)

April 28 was International Guide Dog Day – an event whose origins are lost in the mists of time, with no organisation claiming it as their own. However, the day does at least guarantee a heartwarming story about an intelligent Labrador – ...

Red carpet crackdown

Zhao wins Best Director at the Oscars, but there’s no celebration in China
Apr 30, 2021 (WiC 538)

The 93rd Academy Awards, held last Sunday, were significant for several reasons. This year’s nominations were mainly for films that had been watched via the internet. And in another new departure, nine of the 20 acting nominations went to ...

Suspicious calls

New anti-fraud app gets 100 million downloads
Apr 23, 2021 (WiC 537)

Phone scams are big business in China: in the first three months of this year citizens were said to have lost nearly Rmb19 billion ($2.92 billion) to grifters, according to the government. As part of a campaign to counter the fraudsters, the ...

Best foot forward

Local sneaker brands cash in on patriotic surge
Apr 16, 2021 (WiC 536)

Speculative trading of second-hand sneakers is nothing new in China. The resale market is so extensive that it has turned Dewu, a shoe trading platform, into a tech unicorn (see WiC451; the company was previously called Poizon). But shoe scalpers ...

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