Trending in Beijing: A Rowdy Senior Citizen, Spring Blooms, and a Cancer-Causing Audi
The fun, the strange, and the what-on-earth-is-this: a wrap-up of top stories in Beijing as told by the trending hashtags, local press, and general power of the internet.
1) Elderly inhabitant trashes his community
Usually, it's youngsters that are under fire for their bad behavior, but this time it's an elderly retiree in Datunli, north Beijing, who is getting lambasted on social media for giving local cleaning crews a headache.
Neighbors have reported that the man throws garbage (including heavy objects) out of his window, not only leaving street sweepers to deal with his mess but also forcing them to wear safety helmets as they scramble for cover. On Mar 20, the 北京人不知道北京事 (Beijingers don't know about Beijing) Weibo account posted a few pictures of the impromptu landfill, asking netizens if they had ever had to deal with this kind of situation. Many of the over 800 commenters claimed that they had indeed seen similar incidents in their neighborhood. Other netizens complained about poorly behaved elderly inhabitants in their own gated communities: "It's not an old man, it's an old c**t," wrote one user. Whatever happened to filial piety?
2) Victim's relatives blame leukemia on an Audi
Netizens are also closely following a lawsuit in which the relatives of a deceased man have blamed Audi for his fatal illness. While still alive, Mr. Fang filed the lawsuit himself after he was admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with acute leukemia.
Mr. Fang spent RMB 400,000 to buy a new car back in December 2014. He reportedly noticed a strong, unpleasant odor in the car, but assumed it was the famed "new car smell." That new car smell, however, also led him to complain often about feeling dizzy and nauseous while driving.
A year later, the man's symptoms brought him to Beijing 301st hospital, where he was diagnosed with acute leukemia. In April 2017, he sued Volkswagen Automobile Co. Ltd. before succumbing to his illness in September the same year. The court-ordered tests on the cars revealed that, indeed, some of Volkswagen's vehicles emitted unsafe levels of acetaldehyde, a cancerogenic substance.
As if that wasn't bad enough, at least one other female Audi owner has reported similar symptoms. So far, Volkswagen group has released a statement regarding a possible link between its vehicles and serious illness but has previously acknowledged that a batch of its cars that were reportedly emitting a strong odor.
Netizen reacted by saying that, "If you have money, buy a car abroad," pointing out that these cars are now "a local product" due to a joint venture between Audi and local manufacturer SAIC Group that began at the end of last year.
3) Dropping birthrates prompt worries of "deep aging"
Elsewhere on Weibo, China's handwringing over falling birthrates continues. Phoenix Finance and Economics recently posted a graph comparing the birthrates of different provinces and cities across the country, relaying alarming result: birthrates are falling in every province, with the national average dropping from 12.43 percent in 2017 to 10.94 percent in 2018.
An article posted along with the graph ties the birthrate issue to that of China's aging population. According to experts, a country is considered to have an aging population once 7 percent or more of its citizens are over 65 years old. When 14 percent of the citizens are over 65, the country has reached the "deep aging stage," and if it hits 20 percent then it is said to be experiencing "super aging."
According to the article, six provinces in China have entered a deep aging stage in 2018. Liaoning province in northeastern China has the highest elderly population rate at 23.96 percent. Other provinces that have entered the deep aging phase include Sichuan, Jiangsu, and Chongqing. Earlier last year, the National Bureau of Statistics released a report that shows that the number of people aged 65 and over has exceeded those aged 0-5 for the first time.
One user, seemingly not too frightened about the country's future, joked that the problem was down to efficacious education: "Well, you can't say that sex-ed doesn't work. We are now much more aware of contraception." Netizens are discussing the aging population under #6省份进入深度老龄化# (six provinces enter deep-aging stage).
4) S2 Line train runs through the "spring wonderland"
Here's a Beijing fairytale for you: one day you're just a regular suburban railway, the next one you are an internet celebrity. Drone photos of the S2 Line train in northern Beijing traveling through blossom-filled fields have attracted awe from netizens on Weibo.
The train runs from Huangtudian to Yanqing eight times a day for the measly price of RMB 6, passing through the Badaling Great Wall area. Instead of a usual humdrum commute, the blooming plum trees around the tracks have transformed it into a "spring wonderland" – who said those were only fit for winter?
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Email: tautviledaugelaite@thebeijinger.com
Images: Weibo
