China Local News

Pregnant Woman Causes Havoc In Beijing Subway Because There’s No Seat

A pregnant woman has caused havoc in the Beijing subway today when nobody would give up their seat for her. Incidents of aggression at Beijing’s most busy subway line are nothing new; cases often involve young women.

Published

4 years ago

September 1, 2016

Manya Koetse

Netizens have filmed how a pregnant woman sat in between the doors of a Beijing subway train because she was angry that nobody would give up their seat for her.

The incident occurred on line 10 during the day of September 1. The woman allegedly said she was pregnant, and when people did not stand up to give her a seat, she complained to subway staff and blocked the doors by sitting in between them, preventing the train from leaving.

Line 10 is the longest and most-used train line within Beijing’s subway system, which is one of the busiest metros in the world. With about 9.75 million passengers riding the Beijing subway lines each day, trains can get incredibly crammed.

Pregnant Woman Causes Havoc In Beijing Subway… by whatsonweibo

In the video, you can hear passengers saying that it is peak hour and that people are in a rush to leave.

Beijing’s subway often has to deal with angry and aggressive passengers. Overcrowded trains and stations can lead to outbursts of aggression from hurried passengers. According to local officers, many incidents involve female passengers, especially of women aged between 20-30; this group accounts for approximately one-third of all fights at Beijing’s most busy transit station.

For the local police, intervening in these fights is often difficult and time-consuming. Local officers handle female-related violence differently from when there is an altercation between men, as they have previously told Beijing Times.

When aggression involves men, the police will normally let passengers cool off and then mediate by letting them talk to each other, which generally solves the case within ten minutes. When dealing with violent outbursts amongst young women, however, the passengers have to be taken apart to avoid further escalation. An officer will hear their stories separately to win their trust and settle the case. The disputes are often more complicated because the passengers want to be compensated for dirty clothes or missed hours at work. Mediation for these cases generally takes the police over half an hour.

The case of the pregnant woman was not much different. According to Caijing Economy, she finally left after local police calmed her down and talked to her.

“Maybe it would be sensible to have given her a seat, but there is no legal obligation to do so!” one Weibo netizen responds. “Being pregnant may not be easy, but it’s nobody’s duty to give up their seat!”, other commenters say.

“I am also pregnant and I don’t understand this woman’s behaviour at all,” another netizen says.

– By Manya Koetse
Follow @WhatsOnWeibo

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China Arts & Entertainment

Oh, the Drama! Chinese Opera Performance Turns into Stage Fight as Drunken Man Attacks Actors

This local traditional opera performance unexpectedly turned into a stage fight.

Published

3 weeks ago

October 11, 2020

Manya Koetse

On October 9 in Zhejiang’s Lishui city (Laozhu Town), a theatrical performance unexpectedly turned very dramatic when a drunken man stormed on stage to fight with the performers.

A video showing the Chinese opera performance being disturbed by the drunkard, turning it into a chaotic stage scene, is gaining major attention on Chinese social media.

The incident occurred Friday night around 9 pm, when the Laozhu Theatrical Troupe was performing.

Videos of the incident that are circulating online show how one man comes on stage, attacking one of the actors. The scene escalates into a big fight when others try to intervene. The police were quick to arrive at the scene.

Oh, the drama! A Peking Opera performance turned into an explosive fight this weekend when a drunken village chief's son stormed on stage. He was allegedly rejected by one of the (Huadan) actresses.
Can't help but think the audience still got a spectacular show. pic.twitter.com/DPg3Q6QGOh
— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) October 11, 2020

Various news reports suggest the man started to act out after getting into an argument with one of the ‘Huadan’ (花旦) performers of the troupe. In traditional Chinese opera, the Huadan characters are young female roles, often seductive in appearance and quick with their words.

Local police posted on Weibo that the chaos was caused by a 33-year-old local who started to become aggressive after he had too much to drink. The man is charged with disorderly conduct and is currently detained.

The case received even more attention on social media when it turned out that the 33-year old troublemaker is the son of the head of a neighboring village.

Many Chinese netizens feel that the man is spared by Chinese news media outlets, which only report about a “drunken man” who was “causing trouble.” They insist that the real story should be properly reported.

“The son of the village chief took liberties with a huadan actress who rejected him, and then he kicked her, causing her to lose consciousness. He then beat up other actors,” some commenters explain.

“He is not just a ‘drunkard’, he’s the son of the village secretary.”

“What an explosive performance it was!” one Weibo blogger writes.

By Manya Koetse
Follow @WhatsOnWeibo

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China Food & Drinks

Tianjin Restaurant Introduces “Meal Boxes for Women”

The special lunch boxes for women were introduced after female customers had too much leftover rice.

Published

2 months ago

August 25, 2020

Manya Koetse

China’s anti food waste campaign, that was launched earlier this month, is still in full swing and noticeable on China’s social media where new iniatives to curb the problem of food loss are discussed every single day.

Today, the hashtag “Tianjin Restaurant Launches Special Female Meal Boxes” (#天津一饭店推出女版盒饭#) went trending with some 130 million views on Weibo, with many discussions on the phenomenon of gender-specific portions. The restaurant claims its special ‘female lunch boxes’ are just “more suitable for women.”

According to Tonight News Paper (今晚报), the only difference their reporter found between the “meals for women” and the regular meals, is the amount of rice served. Instead of 275 grams of rice, the ‘female edition’ of the restaurant’s meals contain 225 grams of rice.

The restaurant, located on Shuangfeng Road, decided to introduce special female lunch boxes after discovering that the female diners of the offices they serve usually leave behind much more rice than their male customers.

The restaurant now claims they expect to save approximately 10,000 kilograms of rice on an annual basis by serving their meals based on gender.

On Chinese social media, the initiative was heavily criticized. Weibo netizens wondered why the restaurant would not just offer “bigger” and “smaller” lunch boxes instead of introducing special meals based on gender.

“There are also women who like to eat more, what’s so difficult about changing your meals to ‘big’ and ‘small’ size?”, a typical comment said: “Some women eat a lot, some men don’t.”

Many people called the special meals for women sex discrimination and also wanted to know if there was a difference in price between the ‘female’ and ‘male’ lunch boxes.

There are also female commenters on Weibo who claim they can eat much more than their male colleagues. “Just give me the male version,” one female user wrote: “I’ll eat that meal instead.”

This is the second time this month that initiatives launched in relation to China’s anti food waste campaign receive online backlash.

A restaurant in Changsha triggered a storm of criticism earlier this month after placing two scales at its entrance and asking customers to to enter their measurements into an app that would then suggest menu items based on their weight. The restaurant later apologized for encouraging diners to weigh themselves.

By Manya Koetse
Follow @WhatsOnWeibo