This is one of those locally sourced, probably dramatized, perhaps unreliable accounts that appear every now and then in Chinese media, but the Global Times headline makes the piece:
I don't want people thinking I'm making fun of geriatrics. This photo is actually incredibly endearing, and only somewhat funny. It's via Xinhua to promote the 2014 Beijing Book Fair at Chaoyang Park, which kicked off yesterday and will last until April 20. May just be worth the visit.
Last Monday, a curious new Chinese law called the Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly went into effect, forcing the country's healthy adults to visit their parents on a semi-regular basis. “Family members who live apart from their parents should visit often or send their regards to their parents," the law stated. (That same day, a court in Wuxi, Jiangsu province cited the law in an actual court case.) But most people say the law is more symbolic than anything, a piece of regulation designed to remind the cosmopolitan, rapidly modernizing citizens of China of their traditional Chinaness, which includes filial piety.
Oh geez, more adventures on buses. In Suzhou, Jiangsu province on Saturday morning, an old man began striking and kicking a young woman he felt should have given him her seat. Of course it's traditional in China for passengers to offer their seats for elders -- we are constantly reminded of this via prerecorded messages on public transit -- but why was this one particular girl singled out?
An 83-year-old man was riding bus No. 606 in Tianjin on the morning of May 22 when he missed his stop. Instead of doing what normal people might, which is to get off at the next stop and backtrack, he threw a massive fit, lost control, and berated the bus driver, "I didn't see you stop at all!"
And then the old man seized the driver by the shoulder while the bus was still moving -- something no one should do.
Dina Manfredini of Iowa died on Monday at 115, passing on the mantle of "world's oldest person" to Jiroemon Kimura of Tokyo, who was born on April 19, 1897 -- 15 days after Manfredini -- the Guinness Book of World Records confirmed yesterday.
But not so fast, says Xinhua. In a story published two hours ago, it reports that the world's real oldest person is actually Chinese, and apparently 127 years old:
Ed’s note: Offbeat China, who first blogged this on Friday, has more pictures of Liu Xianping, the 72-year-old model of Yuekou online store. This piece is the first for BJC’s newest contributor, Xiao Yi. By Xiao Yi “Look at the camera – no slouching!” Miss Lü instructs as she shoots pictures of her 72-year-old grandfather, dressed in... Read more »
