Trending in Beijing: Cloned Dogs, Han Clothing Revival, and the Beijing Half Marathon

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.
 

Man pays RMB 380,000 to clone his dog

Looking for a playmate for your pet but don't want to go down the boring route and "just get another dog"? Why not clone it? According to an article on iResearch News, an unnamed Chinese dog owner recently spent RMB 380,000 to have his dog Doudou cloned. What sets this story apart from others, however, is the fact that Doudou was still alive when his clone was created rather than the owner waiting until his original best friend had died.

While one could be mistaken for thinking that cloning is extremely common, as every single tiny, ball of curls in China looks exactly the same, apparently it took over 200 attempts to successfully bring Doudou 2 into the world. 

Thanks to China's booming pet industry, the Changping Science and Technology Park-based company Sino Gene is also considering cloning cats. Last year, China's pet industry was worth over RMB 170.8 billion, which is an increase of almost 20 percent compared to the year before. 

Not all netizens were impressed by the furry miracle. "When I can clone a memory, I will consider it. I love my pet because of our experiences together, but a clone is just a new animal," wrote one user. Watch a video of the cloned pup here. 
 

Han clothing gets a revival

Have you started noticing more and more strangely dressed people around town? Nope, it's not the runoff of a daily comic book convention, but the personal expressions of a young generation of Chinese who believe that Han-style clothing has been neglected for too long. 

While it is common to assume that a sleek qipao is the perfect representation of Chinese traditional clothing, these youngsters disagree. They've been reminding us that the iconic Qing dynasty garment is actually a Northern Chinese Manchu minority creation and does not represent the traditional clothing of the Han ethnicity that constitutes more than 92 percent of China's citizens. 

Instead, these young Chinese are bringing Han style clothes, or Hanfu, back into daily life. In an interview with South China Morning Post, some Hanfu revivalists said that they believe wearing this aged style can elicit feelings of national pride. They also point out that although some formal-wear versions of Hanfu like those pictured at the top of this article are not exactly the norm in 2019, plenty of styles like the mandarin-collar-style button-up shirt can easily be worn day to day without surprising anyone.

However, not everyone is on the same page. On Mar 28, two students of Shijiazhuang Medical College were scolded and threatened with expulsion because they were wearing Hanfu on campus. School administrators accused the students of wearing "strange clothes" and having a "mental illness" before demanding they change immediately. Netizens are discussing the issue under #穿汉服被辅导员威胁退学# (dressed in Hanfu, students are threatened with expulsion). 
 

Everybody run! Netizens share their Beijing half marathon feedback

Huge crowds turned out last Sunday (Mar 14) for the annual Beijing half marathon, with more than 20,000 people taking part in the 21-kilometer run from Tiananmen to the Olympic Park (including the Beijinger editor Huang Chenkuang who completed in 2h 26m. Go Kuang!). On average, competitors completed the route in three hours.

The popularity of the race has increased year on year, with over 58,000 people applying for a place in this year's competition. According to Huang – who successfully completed the race but managed to injure her ankle immediately afterward, and has been limping around the office ever since – the conditions for the race couldn't have been better. She says: "Sunday was a nice day, with low air pollution, and it was really nice to see the streets of Beijing without cars." Inspiring stuff!

Netizens are sharing pictures and sharing bragging rights under #北京半马# (Beijing half marathon). 

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Images: Weibo, News China