20 Percent Of China’s Population Believes The World Will End Today (Um, Really?)

Apocalypse!
Surveys and polls are notoriously unreliable in this country, which you might have heard is really intersecting/overlapping parts of four different and very disparate countries — urban China, rural China, rich China, and poor China. Sometimes what’s more interesting than poll results is poll methodology, and to that end, we’d like to find out which... Read more »

China detains more than 500 for spreading end-of-world rumors

The East is Read
Via AP: Chinese police have detained more than 500 people from a fringe Christian group for spreading rumors about the world’s impending end, state media reported Tuesday. That’s a lot of people. In western China’s Qinghai province alone, police arrested more than 400 members from the religious cult group, state-run China Central Television said Tuesday.... Read more »

When The Apocalypse Arrives, This Chinese Villager Will Die In The Safety Of His Giant Ball

Giant ball featured image
Liu Qiyuan, 45, isn’t letting the end of the world take him alive. He’s built seven spherical survival pods, each costing about $50,000, that are water-proof, ice-proof, and fire-proof. “Only my daughter supports me,” Liu says. “Practically everyone else thinks I’m crazy.” “If there is really some kind of apocalypse, then if you use my product,... Read more »

Chinese Inventor Builds “Noah’s Ark,” An Indestructible Ball That Can Support Life

Noah's Ark 4
If you can’t find it, build it. Noah’s Ark is the creatively named project of Chinese inventor Yang Zongfu, an insulated, breathable, livable yellow ball that we’re told can withstand 1,700 degrees Celsius of heat, survive a magnitude-10 earthquake, and support life for a year (not like James’s Giant Peach, we don’t think, but it... Read more »