Chinese researchers have sparked controversy in the scientific community after publishing a study on a mutant coronavirus-related virus that reportedly caused a 100 percent death rate in infected humanized mice.

The origin of the Covid-19 virus is still unknown, but conspiracy theories surrounding an out-of-control Chinese lab experiment are once again gaining traction online thanks to a controversial study recently published by Chinese scientists in Beijing. They apparently experimented with a mutated strain of GX_P2V, a coronavirus “cousin” discovered in Malaysian pangolins in 2017, three years before the Covid-19 pandemic, using it to infect genetically modified mice engineered to reflect similar genetic makeup to people. The controversial study is the first of its kind to report a 100% mortality rate in mice infected by the GX_P2V, far surpassing the findings of previous research.

Read More »

A Chinese advertising agency is being accused by former employees of moving its offices from the city to a remote mountain area to force them to quit and avoid paying them compensation.

In what has been described as one of the most extreme tactics to convince employees to resign, an advertising company based in downtown Xi’an City, China’s Shanxi Province, allegedly moved its offices to a rural mountain area with very limited transport options. The accusations were made by a former employee who claimed to be part of a large part of the staff to leave the company due to the new working conditions. The man, known only as Chang, said that the company notified them that they would have to travel to a new location in the Qinling Mountains, which required a two-hour commute (one way), with very limited options for those without a personal car.

Read More »

A Chinese family has sparked a debate on social media after moving into a luxury hotel suite permanently because it’s cheaper and more convenient than renting or owning a home.

The family of eight has been living in a luxury hotel in Nanyang, China’s Henan Province, for 229 days and has no plans to move out anytime soon. After getting a special rate (1,000 yuan or $140 per day) for a luxury suite with two bedrooms and a large living room based on the length of their stay, the family now plans to remain in the hotel indefinitely. Because the daily price of the suite also includes electricity, heating, water, and parking, the unnamed family claims that they actually save money by living in a hotel and their life is much more comfortable.

Read More »

Chinese media reports that a growing number of pet owners are putting their animals through painful cosmetic procedures in order to give them rounded ears inspired by Mickey Mouse.

Most cats and dogs have naturally pointy or droopy ears, but a new disturbing trend sweeping through China these days has pet owners ignoring common sense and their animals’ physical and mental well-being for the promise of stylish ‘Mickey Ears’. Apparently, some shady pet clinics will slice part of the animal’s ears off to achieve the Mickey Mouse look, but there are also a variety of special clamps available online for pet owners disturbed enough to perform the procedure themselves. Recent coverage of this bizarre trend sparked controversy online, with most of the general public urging authorities to ban the ‘Mickey Ears’ procedure and punish those who would torture defenseless animals purely for cosmetic purposes.

Read More »

A Chinese company has replaced its year-end employee bonus program with another scheme designed to promote exercise – enticing financial rewards for employees who exercise on a daily basis.

Guangdong Dongpo Paper, a paper company in Guangdong Province, China, recently made international headlines for replacing its traditional performance-based employee bonus scheme with one based on athletic performance. To promote a healthy lifestyle among its 100 employees, management decided to reward them based on how much they exercise. For example, an employee will be eligible for a full monthly bonus if they run 50 km a month. They will get 60 percent of the bonus for running 40km, and 30 percent for 30km. Running enthusiasts stand to get a 30% bonus if they can prove they ran over 100 km in a single month.

Read More »

Located 2,400 meters under the Earth’s surface, the Deep Underground and Ultra-low Radiation Background Facility for Frontier Physics Experiments (DURF) is the world’s deepest underground laboratory.

In December 2020, Tsinghua University and Yalong River Hydropower Development Company, Ltd. began work on a daring project under Jinping Mountain in Sichuan’s Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture. Designed to facilitate China’s research in relevant frontier fields, such as particle physics, nuclear astrophysics, and life sciences, the DURF reportedly provides the cleanest space on Earth to study the invisible substance known as dark matter, as the extreme depth it is located at (2,400 meters underground) helps block most of the cosmic rays that usually interfere with the observation of dark matter.

Read More »

A former Chinese whizkid who entered university at the age of 10 and was already a PhD candidate in Applied Mathematics at 16, spends his days doing nothing and relies on his parents for money.

Zhang Xinyang had always been destined for greatness. At just two and a half years old, he learned over a thousand Chinese characters within three months, and by age four, he was already in primary school. Born into a modest family, Zhang benefitted from his father’s tutelage and managed to skip several grades. At age six, he was already in fifth grade, and by age nine, he was enrolled in the third grade of high school. When he was ten years old, Zhang Xinyang became China’s youngest university student, getting accepted at the Tianjin University of Technology and Education. His genius surprised everyone, but as he grew, his attitude started to change…

  Read More »

An android waitress working at a restaurant in Chongqing, China, went viral last month, mesmerizing viewers with its precise robotic movements, but she turned out to be nothing more than a choreographed illusion.

With the threat of AI-powered robots stealing humans’ jobs looming over the world these days, the sight of a humanoid robot seemingly working as a waitress at a restaurant in China scandalized a lot of people when videos of it started circulating on Douyin (China’s version of TikTok). Some viewers were in awe of the android’s human-like appearance and its ability to interact with real people, greeting them as they entered the Chongqing restaurant, taking their orders, and bringing them to their tables, but others declared themselves a little creeped out by it, a relatively common reaction to the uncanny valley effect. But it turned out that the android waitress was more lifelike than people thought…

Read More »

A Chinese man barely managed to get off his smart toilet with his bum intact after smoke started coming out of the toilet bowl and the whole thing burst into flames.

The Yangtze Evening News newspaper recently reported the story of a man from Xiamen, Fujian Province, who recorded his smart toilet burning after a suspected short-circuit. The incident occurred on November 10, while the man was using the toilet. At first, there was the smell of smoke, then plumes of white smoke started billowing from the toilet bowl, and finally, just as the man got up from the toilet, the smart toilet burst into flames. Photos taken by the shocked man show that he didn’t even have time to put his shorts on before the toilet started burning.

Read More »

China’s hospitality sector routinely holds bed-making competitions that both showcase the skill and dedication of hotel employees and motivate others to achieve the same level.

In order to provide guests with the best hospitality services, Chinese luxury hotels require their staff to undergo intensive bed-making training, and the very best of them get to participate in bed-making competitions hosted by the hotel chain, or held at a regional or national level. And these contests are no joke! Participants need to be masters of their trade to stand a chance of convincing the jury that they deserve to win. Apart from speed – the first contestant to finish gets bonus points – competitors have to abide by certain rules and make sure that they pay great attention to detail.

Read More »

A recently divorced woman denounced her husband’s obsession with running, claiming that he once left their 5-year-old daughter locked in a car for hours so he could run a marathon.

In an angry post on Chinese social media, Zhao, a woman living in southern China’s Hunan province, said that her former husband’s obsession with running ended up destroying their family. Although he never really admitted he was obsessed with running, Zhao claims that it was always his number one priority. At first, she had encouraged him to run in order to preserve his health, but soon it became the only thing he cared about. In the end, it caused a rift between the spouses and one of the husband’s desperate actions convinced the woman that she was better off on her own.

Photo: unitea/Pixabay

According to Toutiao News, Zhao wrote in her post that her ex-husband once left their 5-year-old daughter alone in a car for several hours, just so he could do what he loved most, run. The woman did not observe this herself, but her daughter later told her everything. Apparently, her ex-husband bought the 5-year-old girl breakfast, gave her his phone for entertainment, locked her in a car, and went to run in a marathon.

Confronted by Chinese media after Zhao’s post went viral all over the country, the father, Peng, admitted to leaving his daughter alone in the car so he could run in the marathon. However, he claimed that he only ran a short distance before returning to the girl.

“I only ran 1.5km then returned to the car to find her sleeping,” Peng said, before telling the mother that if she didn’t like the way he raised their daughter, she should take her away with her.

“His addiction to running destroyed our family,” Zhao said.

An offline business in China’s Shandong Province has been getting attention for offering divorcing couples the chance to destroy their wedding pictures in a cheap and effective way.

Tearing up wedding photos after a failed marriage isn’t as easy as it sounds in China, a country where it’s customary to immortalize wedding stills on tough acrylic canvases that also happen to be very resistant to flames. That leaves divorcing couples with few options, like simply throwing their wedding pictures in the trash, which many are reluctant to do for fear that they might get recognized by someone. That’s where a new business venture from Shandong Province comes in. Founded by a young man surnamed Liu, the new company specializes in shredding wedding photographs, helping clients put their past behind them while also protecting their privacy.

Read More »

The so-called ‘Guyiang White House’ is a gigantic structure located in the posh Huaguoyuan Wetland Park area of Guiyang City, in China’s Guizhou Province. It has gone viral as China’s largest mansion, but you can’t believe everything you read online…

Featuring an architectural style usually observed in European palaces and museums, the Guiyang White House has become one of the most iconic sights in the Chinese city of Guiyang. Although many have described it as ‘kitsch’, ‘over-the-top’, and overly opulent’, there is no denying the eye-catching appeal of this megalithic structure, both during the day and at night, when it is illuminated by countless light installations. The structure got its name because of its white exterior and Western architectural influences, but when it comes to size, it actually dwarfs its Washington namesake. The entire complex, including the artificial pond in front of the edifice, is said to cover an area of ​​18.3 million square meters.

Read More »

A 63-year-old Chinese man who only started learning ballet a decade ago has gone viral on social media as a living example that you are never too old to follow your dreams.

Liu Ziqing has been a fan of ballet for as long as he can remember. He fell in love with it as a little boy, after watching The Red Detachment of Women ballet show in the early 1960s, more than 10 times, but he never really got the chance to practice it himself. Growing up in a poor family in a village near Baotou, the largest city in Northern China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region, his main focus was always on helping his family and putting food on the table. Dancing was a luxury he could not afford. He ended up becoming a farmer but also worked as a street cleaner in order to make ends meet. But he never got over his love for ballet, and at age 53, he decided to become a ballet dancer.

Read More »

A Chinese food vlogger found herself at the center of a social media storm after she posted a controversial video of herself killing, deboning, and cooking a 90 kg alligator.

Nowadays people do all sorts of crazy, controversial things on camera for attention, from eating tapeworm-infested fish to crashing small airplanes, but most of them draw the line at gratuitous animal cruelty. One Chinese influencer recently learned the hard way that people don’t like it when you kill, dismember, and cook a defenseless wild animal for their viewing pleasure, and that the stunt may now get her in trouble with the law. Chu Niang Xiao He, a female food vlogger with over 3.5 million followers on Douyin (China’s version of TikTok), recently posted a short clip demonstrating how to kill and prepare an alligator in the comfort of your own home. It was meant to shock and draw attention, but it also attracted a wave of negative reactions and accusations of animal cruelty.

Read More »