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China Health & Science

That Time of The Month? Chinese State Media Explain How to Use Sanitary Towels

Shortly after a large-scale fake sanitary pad scandal has been exposed in China, state-run newspaper People’s Daily explains women how to correctly use menstrual pads and how to differentiate real from fake ones.

Manya Koetse

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Shortly after a large-scale fake sanitary pad scandal has been exposed in China, state-run newspaper People’s Daily teaches women how to correctly use menstrual pads and how to differentiate real from fake ones. Many netizens do not appreciate the ‘non-counterfeit sanitary towel’ crash course.

A few days after a ‘fake sanitary pad’ scandal sparked health concerns in China, People’s Daily – the most influential state-run newspaper in China – explains to women on Weibo how to correctly use sanitary pads, and how to tell if they are real or fake.

“Girls, are you really using sanitary pads correctly?”

“Girls, after all these years, are you really using sanitary pads correctly?”, the People’s Daily posted on Sina Weibo on October 29, as spotted by What’s on Weibo.

Nanchang police recently discovered counterfeit sanitary pads that were sold under Chinese well-known brand names such as ‘ABC’ or ‘Sophie (苏菲). The fake sanitary pads were produced in a factory without the proper sterilization, which could potentially cause health problems for women using them.

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“How can you tell if a sanitary pad is counterfeit?”, People’s Daily posted: “And what are the common misconceptions about the use of sanitary pads? How can women choose the right type of sanitary towel?”

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People’s Daily posted several infographics explaining how to differentiate a fake pad from a real one, and how to properly use sanitary pads.

“How to differentiate real from fake menstrual pads?”

Under the header of “how to differentiate real from fake menstrual pads?” (“如何鉴别真假卫生巾”), the Chinese newspaper warns women to pay attention to the look, smell, shape, and quality of sanitary pads.

Non-counterfeit sanitary towels are properly packed and have no visible damages. There should be no chemical smell to the pads, and their thickness should be even. They should also be able to quickly absorb 10mm or more of water – which is a quick test to see if a sanitary pad is real, according to the Weibo post.

Besides offering a crash course in differentiating fake from real menstrual pads, People’s Daily advises women to change their sanitary pads every 2-3 hours – no matter whether their menstruation is heavy or light – to avoid reproduction of bacteria.

The infographic also warns women not to use old sanitary towels, even if they have never been opened, because keeping them for too long after the production date might allegedly affect its quality and hygienic standard.

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The state media outlet advises women to frequently change sanitary napkins that have high absorption capacity and not to use sanitary pads if it is not necessary to do so.

Lastly, People’s Daily says that women should be cautious about buying menstrual pads that are sold at a discount price and to buy reputable brands instead of new or unknown ones.

“It should not be up to women to distinguish real sanitary pads from counterfeit ones.”

The People’s Daily Weibo post soon triggered thousands of reactions from netizens. Many are angry that the newspaper advises women on how to look out for fake menstrual pads.

“I feel that it should not be up to women to distinguish real sanitary pads from counterfeit ones; it is up to the concerning departments to control and supervise [the sale of menstrual pads],” one netizen comments: “The people involved in illegal sales should be heavily punished!”

“This is too funny!”, another Weibo user says: “Now all women have to master how to differentiate between fake and real sanitary napkins.”

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“We are already in pain, and now we also have to think about if what we buy is real or not,” another female netizen complains.

“You don’t realize how poor many people are, and how expensive menstrual pads are. And now they can not only be fake, but you also tell us to change them every 2-3 hours, well that’s at least 7 pads a day (..) – the costs are just too high.”

“When you live in China, you have to able to tell if meat is fake, if alcohol is fake, if hotpot ingredients are fake, if gasoline is fake (..), and now even women ‘whose aunt is visiting’ are encountering fake products!”

“Now my menstruation just scares me even more.”

By now, the People’s Daily post has been shared thousands of times on Chinese social media, with the hashtag “Are you really using sanitary towels correctly? (#你真的用对卫生巾了吗#) being one of the top trending topics on Weibo’s ‘hot search’ list.

The issue has also been covered by other media outlets, from newspapers to (local) TV channels. Although People’s Daily is serious in its intention to teach women how to correctly use non-counterfeit menstrual pads, most netizens are either angered or humored by this ‘crash course.’

“As women, we already have to endure so much and now this too,” one person writes.

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For other Weibo users, all this talk about ‘that time of the month’ just is another reason to dread it. “Now my menstruation just scares me even more,” one netizen writes.

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

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Manya Koetse is the founder and editor-in-chief of whatsonweibo.com. She is a writer, public speaker, and researcher (Sinologist, MPhil) on social trends, digital developments, and new media in an ever-changing China, with a focus on Chinese society, pop culture, and gender issues. She shares her love for hotpot on hotpotambassador.com. Contact at manya@whatsonweibo.com, or follow on Twitter.

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China Food & Drinks

Japanese Restaurant in Shanghai Faces Backlash for Offering “Anti-Radiation” Meals

Amidst the panic surrounding Fukushima, this Shanghai-based Japanese-style restaurant ventured into a new business approach.

Manya Koetse

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Since August 24th, when Japan started the release of treated radioactive water from the damaged Fukushima power plant into the ocean, a myriad of related topics have surged across Chinese social media platforms.

The dissemination of news concerning the Fukushima wastewater discharge, amplified by Chinese media outlets, has sparked considerable unrest in various ways.

Among these is the phenomenon of salt hoarding. There have been dozens of posts on Weibo showing extreme examples of people stockpiling salt. In some places, people queued for up to an hour to buy salt while early-bird shoppers left stores with heavily laden shopping carts.

China also saw instances of salt hoarding in 2011, just after the tsunami and Fukushima disaster. Some people equate ‘salt’ to ‘sea salt’ and they are concerned that salt stocks could potentially become contaminated due to the Fukushima wastewater. But there is also a general belief that salt consumption could provide protection against exposure to radioactivity.

Nonetheless, regular table salt does not actually provide protection against radiation, and consuming excessive amounts of iodized salt could potentially pose health risks on its own.

While scientists and critics find the recent panic to be unfounded – emphasizing that Japan’s actions fall within the safety limits of the Atomic Energy Agency and that the environmental impact is minimal, – a prevailing skepticism toward Western powers combined with official media boosting news concerning the discharge of radioactive water, ensures that Fukushima-related fears and misconceptions remain pervasive.

The concerns surrounding Fukushima have already had negative consequences for many business owners in China, especially for some Japanese-style restaurant owners who felt the need to change their theme, change their name, or explicitly state that their ingredients are not actually coming from Japan.

Meanwhile, there are also some who are trying to capitalize on the situation for profit.

One Japanese-style restaurant in Shanghai’s Hongqiao recently starting offering a so-called “anti radiation” set meal (“防辐射”套餐). The set meal, which was first introduced on online platform Dianping, included ingredients such as tomatoes, edamame, tofu, and spinach.

The Japanese restaurant introduced the menu on the 25th, a day after Japan started discharging the first batch of wastewater into the ocean. While various Chinese media write that there is no scientific basis for the radiation-blocking effects of these foods, the restaurant stated they no longer use any products from Japan and that ingredients used are all sourced locally.

According to various news posts, the restaurant compiled the menu through research and seeking advice from a nutritionist. The restaurant also associated each dish with particular benefits, including claims of “reducing skin damage” or “stimulating cell growth.”

But soon after the restaurant had put their anti-radiation menu online, it became a big topic of discussion, with one related hashtag on Weibo getting over 140 million views (#上海一日料店上架防辐射套餐#).

“Of course, the next step is to make a quick buck by pushing anti-radiation products,” one popular comment said (using the phrase gē jiǔcài 割韭菜, ‘harvesting chives,’ also explained in our latest newsletter).

Other people wondered why one would order such a menu if you might as well cook the exact same things at home. “Why would I pay 28 yuan for tomato with seasoning?”

Meanwhile, Chinese media outlets, citing legal experts, focused more on the legal problems surrounding the menu, suggesting that making false claims is against the law.

Following the controversy, the restaurant has now pulled its menu offline.

Nonetheless, the restaurant won’t be the first or the last business owner to profit from Fukushima fear and anger. While some are selling anti-radiation tablets, others are selling t-shirts with slogans opposing Japan’s decision to discharge the wastewater.

T-shirt sold on Taobao opposing the “ocean dumping” of Fukushima wastewater (screenshot via Whatsonweibo).

On Weibo, local authorities and media accounts are cautioning consumers against purchasing ineffective products that offer no protection against radiation exposure, reiterating that buying loads of salt will not help either.

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.

©2023 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.

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China Health & Science

Confirmed Case of Monkeypox in Liaoning (Updated: and in Changsha, Tianjin)

After hearing about a reported monkeypox case, some netizens think it’s time to dust off their disinfectant again.

Manya Koetse

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A suspected case of Mpox (monkeypox) reported in Shenyang, Liaoning, has become a top trending topic on Chinese social media this week.

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the results of local lab tests, giving a positive result for the monkeypox virus.

The case was first reported on June 29th and official diagnosis with the monkeypox virus was confirmed on July 3rd.

The patient is currently undergoing isolation treatment in a designated medical institution, and their condition is stable.

Monkeypox (Mpox) is an infectious disease caused by the monkeypox virus. It is characterized by symptoms such as a skin rash or ulcers, accompanied by fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, fatigue, and swollen lymph nodes. Mpox can be transmitted to humans through physical contact with infected individuals, contaminated materials, or infected animals.

On Chinese social media, there is a significant concern expressed by many individuals regarding a possible outbreak of Mpox. People are seeking information on preventive measures to avoid contracting the virus and expressing their strong desire for the virus to remain distant from them. After experiencing the impact of the Covid pandemic for years, another virus outbreak is the last thing people want to encounter or hear about.

“Retreat! Fetreat! Retreat!” meme posted on Weibo in response to the monkeypox case in Liaoning.

“Do not come over” meme.

“This is still an issue that needs to be taken seriously because once the first case emerges, there may be subsequent cases,” one commenters says: “It requires the collective efforts of various local departments to thoroughly control and contain it from spreading any further.”

“When I see this kind of news, I silently pick up my face mask, take my Vitamine C, and take out my dusty disinfectant again,” another person writes.

During May 2022, an outbreak of monkeypox was identified in the United Kingdom. Two months later, the World Health Organization (WHO) designated the outbreak as a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern.” As of March of the current year, over 113 countries had reported a cumulative total of 86,516 confirmed cases. However, in May, the WHO declared the global health emergency to be concluded.

At the time of this global outbreak, there was some controversy when a chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention warned locals against touching foreigners to avoid getting infected. This happened a day after the first case in China was detected in September of 2022.

Update July 8: Another case of mpox went trending on Chinese social media on Saturday, this time it concerns a case detected in Tianjin.

On July 6th,the suspected case of monkeypox was reported. The Chinese Center for disease Control and Prevention later confirmed the case through testing. The patient is undergoing isolation treatment in a designated medical institution, and their condition is stable.

On Weibo, the hashtag “Case of Monkeypox Detected in Tianjin” (#天津发现一例猴痘#) attracted over 150 million views on Saturday. On Friday, three new cases of monkeypox in Changsha also attracted attention on social media (#长沙发现3例猴痘病例#).

“Why do I feel like this is 2019?” some people write, seemingly concerned about another major outbreak. Nevertheless, the way of contracting monkeypox is vastly different and not comparable to Covid, as it mostly spreads through close, personal, often skin-to-skin contact (or mouth-to-skin, mouth-to-mouth). People who have contact with clothing, bedding, towels, objects, electronics, and other surfaces that have been touched by someone with monkeypox are also at risk.

 
By Manya Koetse 

Get the story behind the hashtag. Subscribe to What’s on Weibo here to receive our newsletter and get access to our latest articles:

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.

©2023 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.

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