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News of Shanghai Illegal Garbage Dumping Leads to Online ‘Shanghai Bashing’

Chinese netizens have responded with anger to recent news reports that tons of construction waste from Shanghai is being dumped outside the city. The news led to an online ‘Shanghai bashing’ galore, with some netizens defending the city’s reputation.

Manya Koetse

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Chinese netizens have responded with anger to recent news reports that tons of construction waste from Shanghai is being dumped outside the city. The news led to an online ‘Shanghai bashing’ galore – with some netizens defending the city’s reputation.

On Friday, July 1, eight vessels from Shanghai carrying around 4000 tons of construction waste were caught while secretly trying to dump it in the Suzhou Taihu National Tourism Zone (苏州太湖西山岛).

Authorities were able to intervene before the garbage was illegally dumped, but they later reported that over 20,000 tons of waste, mostly construction materials, were also found across 2400 square meters of the bank, Shanghai Daily writes.

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On Sina Weibo, various Chinese media reported about the event, saying the owners of the vessels and those involved have been detained. The related construction company is currently under investigation.

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For many angry netizens, the news was a reason to bash Shanghai: “This is typical for Shanghai people,” some netizens say. “Aren’t their morals high?”, another Weibo user sarcastically responds with smileys.

Others are not happy that the waste scandal is connected to Shanghai local culture: “Oh, here’s a chance again to bash Shanghai people,” one netizen responds. One female netizen responds to the Shanghai bashing with a long post: “4000 tons of garbage from Shanghai has illegally been dumped near Lake Taihu, which was reported by state media and then led to many reactions bashing Shanghainese. But this is typically Chinese. They don’t even know how other cities or backward regions handle their garbage.”

She also defended Shanghai by saying those responsible for the waste scandal originally are not from Shanghai.

netizen

Others agree with the girl, saying: “It is no use to bash the people of Shanghai for this – they were not the ones who all smuggled this waste to Suzhou.”

But there are many who say that the reason they bash Shanghai people is because “it is Shanghai people who always bash people from outside their city” and that “people producing so much trash deserve to be scolded.”

Earlier this year, another Weibo trending topic also led to ‘Shanghai bashing’ when a girl who called herself “a pure Shanghainese” broke up with her boyfriend from outside Shanghai after his parents served her a ‘disappointing’ countryside Chinese new year’s dinner.

Shanghai’s reputation recently also became a topic of discussion on the online forum Reddit, where netizens connected the city’s reputation to an ongoing rivalry between Beijing and Shanghai. “Half of China things Shanghai is full of stuck up twats. The other half think Beijing is full of stuck up twats,” one Reddit user wrote.

Other netizens say the supposed Shanghai-Beijing rivalry is comparable to that of other big cities like Sydney and Melbourne, or Tokyo and Osaka.

Besides the Shanghai bashers, there are also some netizens who do not link the recent Shanghai waste scandal to the city but to China’s way of dealing with garbage: “China does not have a good recycling system. If the government does not solve this problem, the pollution created by waste will become an increasingly serious issue.”

– By Manya Koetse

©2016 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.

Manya is the founder and editor-in-chief of What's on Weibo, offering independent analysis of social trends, online media, and digital culture in China for over a decade. Subscribe to gain access to content, including the Weibo Watch newsletter, which provides deeper insights into the China trends that matter. More about Manya at manyakoetse.com or follow on X.

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China Local News

The Liaoyang Restaurant Fire That Killed 22 People

Manya Koetse

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🔥 Quick Take: Trending in China – Week 18
This is a brief update from our curated roundup of what’s trending in China this week. A version of this story also appears in the Weibo Watch newsletter. Subscribe to stay in the loop.


An enormous fire that happened at a restaurant in Liaoning’s Liaoyang on the afternoon of April 29 (see video) has gone top trending on Chinese social media, mainly due to the fact that it caused so many fatalities.

By 7pm, Chinese official media reported that the fire, which happened at 12:25 in the city’s Baita district, had killed 22 people. Three people were injured.

The fire started on the second floor of the restaurant Sanli Chuniang (三里厨娘/Sanli Chef’s Daughter) on Minzhu Road (民主路) and quickly spread throughout the entire two-story brick-concrete structure, which covers an area of about 260 square meters. The windy weather also played a part in how quickly the fire spread. The fire broke out around lunchtime, when there were many customers.

The restaurant before and after the fire.

Some sources on Xiaohongshu report that, according to witnesses, toxic smoke filled the entire building in less than five minutes. The thick smoke, small spaces inside the two-story building, and limited escape routes — some of which were allegedly blocked — all contributed to the high number of fatalities. Some victims were reportedly just ten meters away from the exit, yet still failed to escape.

According to Caixin, the restaurant’s second floor had several private rooms without windows.

To make matters worse, some nearby vehicles were not moved in time, hindering the rescue operations.

Sanli Chuniang was a locally popular restaurant serving various Chinese dishes, snacks, and dumplings. It was in business since 2016.

On social media, many commenters are expressing shock and sadness over the deadly fire. They also want answers into why there seemed to have been little to no fire safety precautions at the establishment.

The last time a restaurant fire with many fatalities made major headlines in China was in 2023, when a gas explosion inside a BBQ restaurant in Yinchuan resulted in 31 deaths. Nine people, including the restaurant owner, were later arrested in connection with the fire and the lack of safety precautions.

Some reports on the Liaoyang restaurant fire have now been removed, but it appears that the restaurant had been operating illegally since 2023 and that its fire safety inspections were not up to date.

Guancha reported that while the cause of the fire is still under investigation, the restaurant owner has been taken into custody.

🔄 Update 1: Chinese leader Xi Jinping issued a statement regarding the devastating fire, calling on local authorities to hold those responsible accountable and to properly handle matters related to the victims and console their families.

Premier Li Qiang also emphasized that local authorities across China should screen for fire hazards and strengthen safety measures to prevent such major accidents from occurring.

🔄 Update 2: Preliminary investigations have ruled out arson or gas leakage as the cause of the fire. The specific cause of the incident is still under investigation, focusing on leftover cigarette butts that might have started the fire or possible electrical faults. The restaurant’s furniture and interior materials were highly flammable, and strong winds outside caused the fire to spread quickly and block the exits. This made it difficult for those trapped inside to escape. Most victims died from asphyxiation after inhaling large amounts of toxic smoke in a short time.

As definite results have not yet been issued at the time of writing (May 6), some netizens are wondering: “When can we expect to hear more?”

 
By Manya Koetse

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Spotted a mistake or want to add something? Please let us know in comments below or email us. First-time commenters, please be patient – we will have to manually approve your comment before it appears.

©2025 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.

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China Local News

Aftermath of Suzhou Marathon’s “Pissing Gate”

Manya Koetse

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🔥 Quick Take: Trending in China – Week 17
This is a brief update from our curated roundup of what’s trending in China this week. A version of this story also appears in the Weibo Watch newsletter. Subscribe to stay in the loop.


It has already been over seven weeks since the Suzhou Marathon took place, but it was trending again today in light of a statement that has come out regarding a particular situation.

During the March 2nd Suzhou Marathon, which had over 25,000 participants, images and videos went viral showing how some runners stopped to take a toilet break and urinated against the main sign of the Jiangsu Suzhou Experimental Middle School (江苏省苏州实验中学).


At the time, the Suzhou Marathon soon released an official statement denouncing the “uncivilized” behavior of the runners.

Other images showed that there were portable toilets set up along the route, but even there, there were runners urinating in public.

Portable toilets along the route.

Runner urinating behind the portable toilets.

On April 24, the Chinese Athletics Association (中国田径协会, CAA), the national governing body for athletics in China, issued a statement saying that, according to the association’s disciplinary regulations, ten participants who urinated against the school sign have been banned from participating in any marathon affiliated with the CAA for the next three years, until March 1, 2028.

The Chinese Athletics Association further stated that they have decided to revoke Suzhou Marathon’s eligibility to apply for event certification in 2026.

Although most online commenters agree that the runners should be punished for their behavior, some also note that it seems “unfair” that Suzhou Marathon also cannot apply for organizing its 2026 marathon:

💬 “(..) because of the uncivilized behavior of just 10 people, Suzhou Marathon’s eligibility to apply for certification from the Chinese Athletics Association in 2026 was directly cancelled. Isn’t this kind of penalty a bit unfair to Suzhou? After all, just 20 meters away from where those people were peeing, there were many portable toilets set up.”

Just around the corner from where the runners urinated in public, there were plenty of portable toilets set up.

Where they peed against the wall, and the toilets nearby.

The punishment for the Suzhou Marathon seems to be a classic case of “killing the chicken to scare the monkey” (杀鸡儆猴): a drastic measure that sends a clear message to other marathons. Not only should they provide plenty of portable toilets, but they must also enforce measures or assign staff to ensure that another “pissing gate” doesn’t happen in the future.

 
By Manya Koetse with contributions by Miranda Barnes

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Spotted a mistake or want to add something? Please let us know in comments below or email us. First-time commenters, please be patient – we will have to manually approve your comment before it appears.

©2025 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.

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What’s on Weibo is run by Manya Koetse (@manyapan), offering independent analysis of social trends in China for over a decade. Subscribe to gain access to all content and get the Weibo Watch newsletter.

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