China Local News
Hangzhou Now Offers Women-Only Parking Spaces…Extra Wide
One Hangzhou parking lot recently introduced women-only parking spaces that are 1.5 times bigger than regular parking spaces. Although some netizens appreciate the extra space for female drivers, there are also many who deem them sexist.
A parking lot in Tonglu County, Hangzhou, recently introduced eight parking spaces especially meant for female drivers. The parking spaces, 1.5 times bigger than regular parking spots, are marked with pink lines and a female symbol.
The women-only parking spaces, located at a service area near the Hangxinjing highway, are part of a parking lot with 370 spaces, that also include handicap parking spaces. Pan Tieyong (潘铁勇), the manager of the area, told Qianjiang Evening News that the spaces were meant especially for female drivers experiencing difficulties to park in reverse.
Qianjing Evening News writes that there are many who appreciate the extra space, but that there are also people who think the female-only dedicated space is sexist.
On Sina Weibo, the female-only parking spots have become a point of discussion. Many netizens applaud the idea of wider parking spaces, but think they should be for unskilled drivers in general – male or female.
“This is a good idea for bad female drivers,” one Weibo user comments: “But what about the bad male drivers? Can they park there, too?” Another user writes: “These kinds of parking spaces should be available to any new driver who is insecure about parking in reverse.”
Female-only parking in Shanghai (Time Out)
“This has to do with being a good driver or not; it has nothing to do with being male or female,” one netizen comments. “Where are the feminists!?” one other netizen cries out.
This is not the first time female-only parking spaces are introduced in China. A Shanghai mall also has female-only parking since May of last year. The introduction of designated parking areas for women in the city of Dalian in 2015 also sparked some controversy.
Women-only parking space near a Chinese mall (Buzzfeed).
China is not the only country implementing female-only parking spaces. Many parking lots in Germany also have designated women’s parking spaces, also causing debate over this phenomenon being sensible or sexist. According to German newspaper Bild, the designated spaces are actually discrimination against men, not women.
According to Washington Post, the German female-only parking spots were originally introduced to protect women from potentially being assaulted in dark parking lots. Many cities therefore established safer parking spaces for women, that were well lit and located closer to the road or buildings.
In this way, the original intention of female-only parking spaces in Germany differs from those in China, where the extra large parking spots reinforce stereotypes of women being worse drivers than men.
“Well, I think it’s a good thing,” one female netizen says about the parking spaces: “I am a bad driver, and I am happy to have this extra space. If you think it is sexist, just don’t park there.”
Manager Pan Tieyong says that the female-only parking spaces are currently very popular. As he tells Qianjiang Evening News: “If all goes well during this trial period, we will consider introducing more parking spaces especially for handicapped people and for female drivers.”
– By Manya Koetse
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China and Covid19
Anger over Guangzhou Anti-Epidemic Staff Picking Locks, Entering Homes
While these Guangzhou homeowners were quarantined at a hotel, anti-epidemic staff broke their door locks and entered their homes.
WEIBO SHORT ｜ Weibo Shorts are concise articles on topics that are trending. This article was first published
Dozens of homeowners in Guangzhou, Guangdong, were angered to find out the locks of their apartment doors were broken during their mandatory hotel quarantine.
The residents had gone to a quarantine location after a positive Covid case in their building. Afterward, anti-epidemic staff had entered their homes for disinfection and to check if any residents were still inside.
The incident happened earlier this month in an apartment complex in the Liwan district of the city.
The incident first gained attention on July 10 when various videos showing the broken door locks were posted online. During the morning, the property management had conducted an ’emergency inspection’ of 84 households. The doors were later sealed.
The case went trending again on July 18 when the residential district apologized to all homeowners for the break-ins and promised to compensate them.
“What’s the use of apologizing?” some Weibo commenters wondered. “Where is the law? If this even happens in Guangzhou now and people in Guangdong put up with this, what else will they dare to do in the future?”
On Chinese social media, most comments on the Guangzhou incident were about the break-ins allegedly being unlawful.
Media reporter and Toutiao author Kai Lei (@凯雷), who has over two million followers on Weibo, said the incident showed that those breaking in “had no regard for the law.”
To read more about Covid-19 in China, check our articles here.
By Manya Koetse
With contributions by Miranda Barnes
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China Local News
Shanghai Ruijin Hospital Stabbing Incident
The police opened fire and subdued the suspect, who stabbed at least four people at Shanghai’s Ruijin Hospital on Saturday.
WEIBO SHORT ｜ Weibo Shorts are concise articles on topics that are currently trending. This article was first published
On Saturday July 9, a stabbing incident that occurred at Shanghai’s renowned Ruijin Hospital (上海瑞金医院) shocked Chinese netizens as videos showing the panic and chaos at the scene circulated in Wechat groups and on Weibo.
At around 11:30 AM the police department started receiving calls that there was someone stabbing people at the hospital, which is located in the city’s Huangpu district. At the scene of the incident, at the 7th floor of the outpatient clinic, they found a knife-wielding man holding a group of people hostage.
According to police reports, the police opened fire and subdued the suspect. Four people who were injured during the knife attack are now being treated, none of them are in a life-threatening situation.
People fled the scene at Ruijin Hospital in Shanghai's Huangpu District this morning, where at least four people were injured after a stabbing incident. pic.twitter.com/AFn0ZlWIIr
— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) July 9, 2022
The case is currently under investigation.
According to The Paper, Ruijin Hospital resumed its outpatient services at 14:08 this afternoon.
This is the second stabbing incident in Shanghai this week. On Monday, a man was arrested after going on a random stabbing spree in Shanghai’s Jing’an District.
While some Shanghai residents say the recent incidents made them feel less safe, others praise the fast police response to the incident.
One doctor from Shanghai posted on Weibo that hospitals should have proper security checks in place in order to prevent these kinds of incidents from happening again in the future.
By Manya Koetse
With contributions by Miranda Barnes
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Diandian GUO
May 28, 2016 at 2:33 pm
They could have just titled it Parking Spot Extra or Parking Spot XL, for all those who are lousy with parking. It is a common perception that female drivers tend to get nervous when parking. Perhaps this has something to do with sense of space and distance. But it does not mean that men are always confident. Imagine a greener male driver who really wanted to park his car in the female-spot for the extra space, but could not due to the exclusive sign… Women are not all lousy drivers; similarly, men should not be assumed to be perfect drivers either…