Trending in Beijing: Foreign Health Volunteer, Hive Box Kicked in the Rear, Tears Over Bird Poo Smears

Joey Knotts, Contributing Editor | May 12, 2020 8:30 am | Add a comment | 916 reads

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.

Foreigner volunteer scans temperatures at Andingmen

Social media is not kind to badly behaved foreigners, so it’s nice to see the sense of togetherness that is garnered when people of different nationalities work in unison toward a common good. You might witness such a sight if you venture past the entrance of Yongkang Hutong, just south of the Andingmen-adjacent entrance of Wudaoying Hutong. There, a young Czech named David sports a red armband and a temperature scanner, signaling that he is an official health volunteer for the local committee.

The neighborhood has long been a haven for foreigners, who are drawn to the Guanshuyuan community apartments, but David speaks decent enough Chinese to converse with all the residents who pass through.

“I’m a foreigner, but I’m not an outsider,” he told Beijing TV. “I’m very comfortable here and I really like the neighborhood.”

Netizens responded enthusiastically, with many commenters repeating the phrase, "Of course he is not an outsider, China holds all such foreigners dear."

Hive Box stings with overtime fees, but communities won’t hand over the honey

The delivery storage service provided by Hive Box has become all but ubiquitous in Beijing. The storage boxes provided a particularly valuable service during the coronavirus pandemic, allowing delivery companies to drop off packages without the need to go to each customer’s door. Now, however, Hive Box has come under scrutiny in the capital and several other major cities as communities are asked to pay overtime storage fees. Rather than hand over the cash, some communities are telling Hive Box to pack up and store their storage boxes somewhere else.

As discussed on Weibo via the hashtag ‘Some Beijing community managers ask Hive Box to get out’ #北京部分小区业主要求丰巢撤出#, the company has been accused of demanding fees without consumer consent. Community managers told Beijing News reporters that Hive Box did not originally charge to install their boxes, but now they are asking the community’s to pay overtime fees despite the fact that customers were never asked to consent to use the services.

In some cases, delivery workers themselves have had to pay the overtime fees, with some Beijing kuaidi drivers claiming that they paid up to RMB 50 per month out of their own pocket.

Some netizens also questioned the logic of paying Hive Box, with one user asking, “I already paid the delivery charge, why should I have to pay the storage fee as well?”

Others had a more nuanced response, with one user writing, “It makes sense for Hive Box to charge overtime fees! ... Of course, the delivery driver shouldn’t have to pay it, but without Hive Box, what would the [community] managers do?”

However, some communities have taken matters into their own hands, organizing an ad hoc storage system for deliveries to circumvent the storage boxes.

Birds may poo as they please, say Fengtai authorities

Fed up with having to wash their cars, a community in Beijing's western Fengtai District has decided to serve the local birds an eviction notice.

After circulating a letter to inform residents that bird nests would be removed from community trees due to excessive defecation, the community hired a “greening“ company to do the dirty deed. No birds or eggs were directly harmed in the process, but as outraged netizens pointed out using the hashtag ‘Fengtai community removes bird nests because of bird poop’ #丰台园林局通报因鸟屎拆毁鸟窝#, the birds were left homeless as a result.

Fortunately for our feathered friends, the Fengtai Landscaping Bureau determined that the action violated China’s wildlife protection laws. Not only were the responsible parties fined, but the bureau went so far as to install birdhouses in the trees. The birds will be free to inhabit the houses without paying rent.

Weibo comment sections related to the matter were filled with mockery at the expense of those who felt so entitled that they thought they could get away with such a stunt. One comment reads, “Car owner: ‘I shall rule over the birds; they shall not rule over me.’”

Images: Weibo