Trending in Beijing: Subway Hours Extended, Discriminatory Swimming Pool, and Attack on a Panda

The fun, the strange, and the what-on-earth-is-this? Trending in Beijing is a wrap-up of top stories in Beijing as told by the trending hashtags, local press, and general power of the internet.

Operating hours extended on Beijing subway Lines 1 and 2

We are a few hours closer to riding the subway home after a boozy night out. Starting Jul 19, Lines 1 and 2 will operate on a new schedule that will make its trains run for around 60 minutes longer on Fridays and Saturdays. Under the new arrangement, trains will depart until about 12.30am.

Temporary changes to the Beijing Subway schedule have been introduced in the past, for example during the 2008 Olympic Games, trains ran for 48 hours continuously. However, the current extension is the first long-term change that has been implemented on the system. 

Netizens have already noticed the recent uptick in subway staff and praised their hard work, the amount of which will only increase with the extended hours.

Other netizens voiced their pessimism. "Please don't extend the subway hours. Now we will have to work overtime even more," said one, whose best excuse for heading home at a somewhat reasonable time must have been the subway's early closing. Users are discussing the changes under #北京地铁1、2号线延长运营# (Beijing subway lines 1 and 2 extend working hours).

Capital Normal University only admits foreign students

A Weibo user has shared pictures of a notice in front of Capital Normal University swimming pool, which states that only international students and professors are allowed access. Students are charged RMB 30 per visit, while professors pay RMB 60.

The Weibo user reportedly requested more details from the staff, who confirmed Chinese students are not allowed to use the swimming pool. Netizens were scolding the local institution for discriminating against their own citizens. The post has been widely shared on Weibo and went viral after it was posted by the Things Beijingers Don't Know About Beijing account.

It is not the first time foreign students found themselves getting (not always intentional) special treatment. Recently, Shandong University fell under scrutiny for their innovative buddy system, which paired up foreign and local students. Since local students were mostly female, while the foreigners were mostly male, the university ended up with a "one guy, three girls" result, which left the internet suspicious of the system's intentions.
 

Rowdy zoo visitors throw a rock at a panda

Animals in the zoo don't always behave the way we want them to. But that doesn't mean we supposedly evolved humans should bang on the glass or shout to get a reaction from them, much less throw rocks.

However, on Jul 13, a couple of disobedient visitors at the Beijing Zoo decided to throw rocks into a panda enclosure, startling the animal while it was relaxing in the sunshine. A video of the incident has now been watched over 7 million times.

A Beijing Zoo spokesperson has stated that a staff member reacted to the situation as quickly as possible and that the panda was safe. He also mentioned that there have been discussions about upgrading the panda enclosure to avoid such incidents in the future. 

Netizens are, in general, outraged by such actions as pandas are considered China's national treasure. "If you can't respect the national treasure, you can't respect anything," wrote one user. The fist-shaking continues under #北京动物园回应游客砸熊猫# (Beijing Zoo responds to visitors hitting pandas).

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Images: Weibo