Poem Stickers Brighten Up Two-Meter Spacing Lines at Testing Sites
Residents of a community in Haidian District recently discovered the mundane spacing lines on the ground had been replaced by stickers displaying Ancient Chinese Poetry when they arrived at their local testing center.
The stickers are the brainchild of senior high school student Shen Junbo, who lives in the community. He came up with the idea when he noticed that the original chalk lines used to mark spacing were wearing off and decided a better solution was needed.
A fan of poetry since he was young and with a father who writes poetry Shen came up with the unique idea to use lines from poetry to mark the spaces instead.
Shen told The Beijing News that he wanted to help people remember to keep their distance while also helping ease the anxiety that many people are currently feeling. After getting approval from the local authorities Shen and his mom picked out over 30 different poems together from some of his high school and middle school textbooks, got them printed then worked until 11pm to get them all in position.
When picking out poems Shen decided to choose some famous poems that he could recite along with some he was less familiar with. Due to the current tense situation with the virus, he also decided to pick poems along the themes of friendship and affection between relatives.
Two chosen poems were:
少年易老学难成，一寸光阴不可轻 Shàonián yì lǎo xué nán chéng, yīcùn guāngyīn bùkě qīng
A young man is easy to grow old while his education may not be that easy; no time shall be neglected/wasted. (Zhu Xi 朱熹)
三更灯火五更鸡，正是男儿读书时 Sān gēng dēnghuǒ wǔ gēng jī, zhèng shì nán'ér dúshū shí
Third watch (~ 11 p.m.) with lamp light and fifth watch (~ 5 a.m.) as the rooster crows are the best time for a boy to study. (Xun Zi 荀子)
Shen said that he has had many positive reactions from fellow residents about the poems, especially from “uncles and aunties”. He also told The Beijing News that it was nice to see people standing in line reading poetry rather than just staring at their phones as is normally the case.
Other parts of China have also seen people getting creative with the spacing stickers. In Zhengzhou one community used brain teasers to mark spacing. The first sticker would pose a question, then the next consecutive sticker would reveal the answer, creating a fun distraction for residents waiting in line.
In Jiangxi a more practical approach was taken with one community replacing stickers with umbrellas to provide shade to those waiting in line as they were worried about people waiting for long times in the heat and direct sunlight.
Have you noticed any interesting replacements for the usual two-meter stickers at your local testing center? Let us know!
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Images: Beijing News, Xinhua
