Trending in Beijing: Cave Quarantine, 2008 Throwback-Packs Seen, Corgis Knock a Woman Over Clean

Joey Knotts, Contributing Editor | Jan 14, 2022 5:25 pm | Add a comment | 294 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

Quarantined spelunker gets more than he bargained for

There’s nothing too funny about the omicron outbreak affecting our neighboring Tianjin, but netizens did manage to get a laugh out of one quarantiner’s experience in the city.

A hotel quarantine was arranged for the young man, but little did he expect that luxury hotel Jinling Huaguoshan had stepped up to the challenge of housing him – by placing him into a novelty room decorated like a rainforest cave.

Commenters on Weibo had a good chuckle and even expressed a bit of envy, noting that the nightly price in the hotel could go for a pretty penny.

“Dropped into a place like this, I would take on the role of a cave dweller in a second,” read one comment.

Posters began dreaming up hypotheticals like being quarantined in the so-called Terracotta Warrior hotel in Xi’an. “Imagine waking up to those clay eyes staring down at you,” wrote a netizen.

No bathroom breaks for Olympic ski officials, foreign journalists spotted in backpacks from 2008 Games

You may have been following our coverage of the upcoming Winter Games in Beijing, but recently a couple of stories in particular have nabbed attention on social media.

First up, an interview with a technical official assigned to cross-country skiing events revealed that he will have no time to use the bathroom during the five-hour competition. And, since yellowing the snow is not an option, he will have to wear a diaper while on the job. Naturally, the official was lauded for his perseverance.

Meanwhile, netizens took note that a number of long-time foreign journalists had broken out their old Beijing 2008 Olympics backpacks as they hit the scenes to cover the upcoming Games. The packs were subject to repeated praise for their longevity – though an alternative interpretation might indicate that the packs saw little use over the past decade. Either way, it’s clear that these journalists are feeling the hype for the events’ return to the capital.

Corgi and watermelon cause legal trouble

Wild lawsuits and criminal cases are always a favorite on local social media. Over on Zhihu, the topic of interest was the case of a retired woman knocked over by a pair of corgis, causing a spine injury. Unfortunately for the defendant, the incident was caught on camera, which was damning enough to win the plaintiff RMB 2.6 million.

In a “What’s your outlook on this case?” Zhihu thread, the top comment provides a few insights on the case that pet owners would be wise to heed: “The owner failed to hold the corgis’ by a leash. Corgis weigh on average 30 pounds, meaning that this 61-year old woman was hit by 60 pounds of weight. It was also mentioned in a blog that these dogs were not registered.”

The commenter continues: “The amount of 2.6 million may seem large, but when you get down to it, it’s really a small amount for causing someone to be disabled. For example, the cost of a nurse alone is RMB 200-400 per day.”

Back on Weibo, netizens caught wind of woman charged with throwing watermelon rinds out of a 21st-floor window damaging a car below. The woman was sentenced to six months is jail and another four months’ probation.