China Local News

Boyfriend Who Cared for Comatose Girlfriend Turns Out To Be Her Abuser

One man made Chinese headlines in 2014 for borrowing RMB 200,000 (30,900$) to care for his girlfriend, who fell into a coma after a severe head injury. But now that the woman has miraculously woken up, she reveals a shocking story: her loving boyfriend was the one who caused her injuries.

Published

4 years ago

March 14, 2016

Anna Xue

One man made Chinese headlines in 2014 for borrowing RMB 200,000 (30,900$) to care for his girlfriend who fell into a coma after a severe head injury. But now that the woman has woken up, she reveals that her loving boyfriend was the one who caused her injuries. The story has shocked netizens, who hope that China’s new law against domestic violence will bring justice to victims of abuse.

In 2014, Liu Fenghe touched the hearts of many Chinese netizens. After his girlfriend Lin Yingying received serious head injury and became comatose, the young man from the port city of Dalian stood by her side, and even bore a debt of RMB 200,000 (30,900$) to care of his girlfriend.

Liu’s faithfulness and persistence was extensively covered by Chinese media, and many netizens pointed to Liu’s story as proof that true love still exists in China today. The pictures of the caring Liu standing by his girlfriend’s sickbed were shared amongst netizens.

But this love story took a shocking turn when Lin miraculously regained consciousness in May 2015. Lin’s family was overjoyed with her recovery, but they were then hit with a dark and terrifying truth; Lin’s ‘accident’ was a hard blow to the head by her boyfriend, Liu Fenghe.

The true story behind Lin’s injury has now been exposed by Chinese media, shocking Weibo’s netizens. Media report how Lin and Liu opened a bakery together shortly after they met. On the August 29th 2014, Lin accidentally burned twenty loaves. This supposedly made Liu so angry that he grabbed a large rolling pin and struck Lin hard in the back of her head. The blow left Lin seriously injured with blood coming from her ear, and she fell to the floor. According to Chinese media, Liu then called an ambulance, saying that Lin “fell over in the bakery”.

Lin Yingying also revealed that this was but one of many occasions where her boyfriend had beaten her. Liu Fenghe had previously punched Lin in the chest for playing a mobile game he didn’t like. Although Lin initially resisted Liu’s violence, she gradually came to endure his abuse in silence, fearing her parents’ reaction if they discovered her injuries.

Since Lin revealed her horrific experience, Liu Fenghe and his mother have been on the run. According to Tencent News, Lin’s father responded to the news with shock and commented: “As a person, you need to have a conscience. Why was he so cruel to my daughter? If he was the one who beat her, he should have admitted doing it.”

The news was shared on Weibo by many different media outlets, such as Legal Evening News, using the hashtag #Story Plot Twist (#剧情大反转#) Netizens reacted with outrage: “Nearly killing your girlfriend for burning bread? What kind of a monster is he?”

Another user commented: “The girl’s family should have called the police. I can’t believe they went all this time without knowing the truth.”

Other netizens called for Liu to be punished: “It’s time to carry out our domestic violence law.”

China’s very first law targeting domestic violence took effect at the beginning of this month, with the landmark legislation covering married couples and co-habiting couples, and including both physical and psychological abuse.

About a quarter of all Chinese women suffer domestic abuse during marriage, only 40,000 to 50,000 reports were approximately made each year, the Guardian reports. Like Lin Yingying, many victims remain silent to avoid bringing shame upon the family.

With domestic violence now formally being recognized in Chinese legislation, Weibo’s netizens express their hope that Liu, along with other perpetrators of domestic violence in China, will finally receive their just punishment.

– By Anna Xue
Follow @WhatsOnWeibo

Photos from news.qq.com

China Local News

Online Anger over Inappropriate Toast by Dutch Watch Brand Executive at Chinese Dinner Party

This is how NOT to do a toast in Dutch!

Published

5 days ago

September 13, 2019

Manya Koetse

Instead of teaching guests at a Chinese dinner party how to say “cheers” in Dutch, this viral video shows how the Chinese are told to join in saying “dikke lul,” the Dutch expression for “big d*ck.”

The Amsterdam-based watch & jewelry brand Rosefield has recently come under fire within the Chinese community in the Netherlands after a video went viral showing Rosefield’s CEO and its Head of Sourcing proposing an unusual toast at a Chinese dinner party.

The video, that was viewed over 173,000 times on Dutch site Dumpert.nl, shows a woman in a white blouse bringing out a toast, saying:

“In Dutch, we say ‘ganbei’ or ‘cheers’ in this way, and it would be nice if you all can say the same, we say: ‘dikke lul.‘”

The people at the table then proceed to toast saying “Dikke lul” – which, in fact, is not the Dutch word for ‘cheers’ but for ‘big dick,’ something that the Chinese people at the table are seemingly not aware of.

On WeChat, Chinese-language newspaper Asian News (华侨新天地) reported about the video and identified the Dutch woman and man at the table as the CPO and CEO of Rosefield Watches, a fast-growing luxury brand that is active in various countries.

Asian News describes the incident as a way of “ridiculing Chinese friends,” and writes it has triggered anger online.

Asian News (华侨新天地) is a Chinese language newspaper founded in 1992. It is mainly distributed in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. Its WeChat account has some 120,200 followers, and the post on the ‘cheers’ video was among its most-well read on WeChat this week.

The blog post noted that ever since the ‘dikke lul’ video has gone viral in the Netherlands, it has become one of the first results showing up when searching for the vulgar expression ‘dikke lul’ on Google.

Although it is not clear where the video was filmed and how it ended up on short video site Dumpert, it is rumored in WeChat groups that it was recorded during the Hong Kong Watch and Clock Fair earlier this month, and that the Chinese guests are business relations of the Dutch brand (unconfirmed).

The comment section on the Dumpert site shows that although some Dutch commenters think the video is funny, there are many who find it “vulgar,” “rude,” and “distasteful.”

Although many (overseas) Chinese expressed anger in various WeChat groups – some expressing regret over a Rosefield watch they recently purchased – the Asia News blog does remind readers that we do not know the context of the video, and whether or not there was a certain pretext or common understanding to the joke.

Nevertheless, the blog states, this kind of behavior is not professional and if a company such as Rosefield wants to earn money in China, “it should also respect Chinese culture and people.”

Although there have been ample discussions about the controversial video on Wechat, there are no online discussions about this issue on Weibo at the time of writing.

Over the past year, many foreign brands became a focus for controversy in China.

In November of 2018, Italian fashion house D&G faced consumer outrage and backlash on Chinese social media for a video that was deemed ‘racist’ to China and for insulting remarks about Chinese people allegedly made by designer Stefano Gabbana.

Swiss investment bank UBS sparked controversy in June for a column which mentioned “Chinese pigs.”

Over this summer, various foreign companies apologized to China for listing ‘Hong Kong’ as a separate country or region on its websites and/or t-shirts.

Still curious about how to actually say ‘cheers’ in Dutch? It’s ‘proost’ and this is how you pronounce it correctly.

By Manya Koetse
Follow @whatsonweibo

Spotted a mistake or want to add something? Please let us know in comments below or email us. Please note that your comment below will need to be manually approved if you’re a first-time poster here.

China Food & Drinks

This Is the BBQ Restaurant Jack Ma Visited in Zhengzhou

Jack Ma’s late-night snack means overnight success for this Zhengzhou skewer place.

Published

3 weeks ago

August 29, 2019

Manya Koetse

Whatever Jack Ma does or says makes headlines in China. The superstar Alibaba founder has especially been a topic of discussion over the past week since his meeting with Tesla’s Elon Musk at the World AI Conference in Shanghai, where the two billionaires had a discussion about the risks and rewards of AI development.

But on social media platform Weibo, Chinese netizens have not just been discussing what Jack Ma has been saying over the past few days – what he has been eating has also become a topic that has attracted thousands of views and comments this week.

A BBQ skewer restaurant in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, gained overnight fame after a visit from the business magnate and his group. The Alibaba delegation visited Zhengzhou for a meeting concerning a strategic partnership between Alibaba and the local government.

Jack Ma visited the barbecue skewer restaurant around one o’clock in the morning, and was photographed and filmed by many people standing around.

Ma visited Dehua Pedestrian Street and Zhengdong New Area before arriving at the Zheng Xiwang restaurant. Ma was with a small group of people and spent a total of 700 yuan (around 100 US dollars).

Grilled skewers are popular all across China, but especially in the Zhengzhou region, which is also nicknamed the “holy land of skewers.”

Image via Dianping.com.

The Zheng Xiwang restaurant visited by Ma was founded in 1991 – although it was just a street stall at the time – and has been thriving ever since.

Besides skewers, Jack Ma allegedly ordered stir-fried Hunan prawns and spicy clams.

As Ma’s visit to Zhengzhou and the restaurant has gone viral, some social media users write that they have also visited the restaurant immediately after, sharing photos and their receipts as proof.

Weibo user Jia Chengjun (@贾成军) from Henan shared photos of people lining up to get a table at the popular restaurant.

According to various reports on Weibo, the restaurant’s owner initially offered Jack Ma the dinner for free, but the billionaire refused and paid anyway. His payment method will not come as a surprise; he paid with Alibaba’s online payment platform Alipay.

“Why would you offer him a free meal anyway?” some netizens wondered: “He surely has more money than you!”

Curious to try the same food as Ma? Zheng Xi Wang is located at the intersection of Fuyuan Street and Yingxie Street in Zhengzhou (福元路与英协路交叉口向西160米路北(银基王朝南门)).

By Manya Koetse
Follow @whatsonweibo