What a world we live in when the ground beneath our feet might open up any moment and suck us under. Yesterday afternoon, a five-by-eight-meter sinkhole that was reportedly four stories deep suddenly formed in a residential compound in Shenzhen. A very unlucky security guard, who happened to be walking past, never stood a chance. He died after efforts to revive him at the hospital failed.
A traditional rhyme in Sichuan goes like this: “Toss medicine money, worship your godfather, throw away clothes, and pray for the whole family.”
The people of Mianyang, the second largest city in Sichuan province after Chengdu, take the rhyme very seriously, along with other traditions. On March 18, thousands flocked to Jushui Village for the Ju Water Bridge Festival (雎水踩桥会), almost all of them to do one thing: step on a bridge.
Peng Liyuan, who’s warming up to her role as China’s “First Lady” — a term that, lest you forget, has basically never been applied to the wives of Chinese leaders — is currently traveling with her husband in Africa as part of Xi Jinping’s first overseas trip as Chinese head of state, and it’d be... Read more »
City planners in Nanning, the capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, might want to spend a bit more time on the drawing boards next time they take up a construction project. Residents have recently complained to media about a flyover built so low -- 1.3 meters to 1.5 meters off the ground, or 4-foot-3 to 4-foot-11 -- that they have to duck to walk underneath.
Ah, the classic China story: toddlers falling off balconies. I've gotten a bit complacent and let a few of these tales go unblogged, but this one from Zhongshan, Guangdong province has to go up.
On March 21 at about 11 pm, a small girl crawled or walked out of her sixth-floor apartment balcony. She clung onto the ledge for dear life. Seeing this, about 10 passersby quickly grabbed a tarp in expectation of catching her if she fell. Sure enough, because she's a toddler, she fell.
On Friday, the above, titled "A Short, Three-Day War," was posted to Uriminzokkiri, depicting North Korean paratroopers and the shells of long-range weapons descending upon South Korea. Via Sina English:
"The crack stormtroopers will occupy Seoul and other cities and take 150,000 US citizens as hostages," the narrator said.
“Well,” says the at the 4-minute mark of his opening monologue, “it seems the number of dead pigs found floating in a river in Shanghai has now risen to over 13,000.” An Angry Birds joke follows, which is lame. “Chinese officials said the dead pigs won’t affect the quality of drinking water in the river,” he... Read more »
A chengguan in Yingshan, Hubei province was killed in the line of duty last Saturday after he was struck in the head by a hoe.
On March 16, squad leader Duan Jinyin, 34, was reportedly leading a team in stopping an illegal construction when he was attacked. It happens at the start of the above video (discretion is advised). All it took was a single blow to knock him unconscious. He spent four days in the hospital before being pronounced dead.
A freak hailstorm swept through southern China last night, hitting Fujian, Hunan and Guangdong provinces, but the place that got it worst was the city of Dongguan, Guangdong, where preliminary reports say at least eight people have died and 136 injured.
According to SCMP, "maximum wind speeds were recorded at 49.1 metres a second, and the greatest precipitation of rain was recorded at 40.6mm in Dalingshan."
Viewed over 40,000 times on Youku in the last three days, this video of a cute North Korean performer spinning for nearly 45 seconds with a vase on her head. The jaw-dropping part starts at the 1:45 mark. You couldn't do this.
North Korea's known for these type of performances -- at the very least, English-language writers have commented on it before.
