China Local News

Toxic Love Affair: Mistress Poisons Love Rival with Thallium

Published

12 years ago

September 16, 2014

September 16, 2014: Weibo netizens are feverishly discussing the ‘Anhui poisoning trial’ (#安徽铊投毒案#), a rare case in the southeast of China, revolving around a love triangle and a poisoning with the highly toxic substance thallium. The Anqing court found kindergarten teacher Ling Ling guilty of chemically poisoning the ex-wife of her lover. She was sentenced to life in prison. Netizens express their worries over the seemingly effortless way the convict was able to purchase thallium over the Internet. “This reminds me of the Tsinghua University Thallium poisoning case of Zhu Ling [1995]”, one netizen says: “how can thallium be purchased so easily?!” This is the third thallium poisoning case in China.

Victim Pan Jingjing (left), her husband Awang and their child in happier times (picture: Sina 2014).

Pan Jingjing will turn 26 next month. She will not be able to celebrate, as the young woman has been in a vegetative state for over a year – the result of a two-time thallium poisoning in the presence of her ex-husband Awang and his girlfriend Ling Ling (pseudonym). Soluble thallium is highly toxic. Formerly, it was used in rat poisons and insecticides. Due to its historic popularity as a murder method, it is also known as “the poisoner’s poison”.

Although married to Pan, Awang got to know kindergarten teacher Ling Ling through the Internet in 2009, Sina reports. The two first became friends, and then developed a love relationship. Pan Jingjing discovered her husband’s extramarital affair in 2011. Although the couple soon filed for divorce, Pan Jingjing remained living in their family home and did not tell her family or co-workers of her divorce, while her husband and Ling Ling continued their relationship.

On September 2nd 2014, the Anqing court reasoned that Ling Ling’s main motive for poisoning Pan was to free herself of her lover’s ex-wife, who was still so involved in his daily life.

Ling purchased the toxic chemical thallium through the internet in April, 2012. She had invited Pan to join her and Awang for a hotpot dinner on April 17th. When Pan left the table to get some beer, she mixed the chemical in her drink. That same night, Pan Jingjing got sick with diarrhea, and later suffered from pain in her legs and hair loss. When doctors in Hefei (capital of Anhui) could not find the cause of her symptoms, she was diagnosed with a mental disorder. By the summer of 2012, Pan had gradually recovered. Ling and Awang were now officially married. Ling Ling poisened Pan with thallium for a second time in August 2012, by mixing thallium through her tea in a karaoke bar. This time, Pan found herself unable to walk and was admitted to the hospital in critical condition. Doctors later discovered traces of thallium in her system.

The judicial thallium case has now come to a close after two years. Although both Ling Ling and Awang were arrested as suspects in the poisoning case in 2012, Awang has now been acquitted of all charges due to a lack of evidence of his involvement. Ling Ling, who now has a baby with Awang, has been sentenced to life in prison.

A former colleague of Pan Jingjing has stated to the press that Pan had expressed doubts of being poisoned after initially getting sick in April 2012. Her colleague had been there when Pan directly asked her husband if he and his girlfriend had mixed medicine in her drink to harm her, as she remembered the presence of a white substance in her drink at the hotpot restaurant. “Nonsense,” her husband allegedly said: “That was just an ingredient of your drink.”

“What is happening to this world?”, says another netizen: “This morning I woke up to headline news about a woman who poured acid in her cheating husband’s mouth while he was sleeping… and this afternoon I read about this mistress poisoning the ex-wife. I guess it’s safer to stay single.”

“We must not underestimate thallium,” says commentator Su Li in online magazine ZJJZX: “This case really is about two keywords: ‘thallium’, and ‘online shopping’.” Su pleads for a stricter organization of the online shopping market and a serious restriction to the sales in toxic goods.

For Pan Jingjing, future stricter regulations of China’s online sales in toxic substances will come too late. She is currently still hospitalized and unable to speak.

Pan Jingjing cannot move or talk, and needs constant care (picture by 163.com).

[box] This is Weiblog: the What’s on Weibo blog section. Short daily updates on what is currently trending on China’s biggest social medium, Sina Weibo.[/box]

China Local News

Six Chinese Students Dead After Falling Into Flotation Tank During Mine Visit

After six students drowned in a mine tank, social media users question safety precautions and media framing.

Published

8 months ago

July 25, 2025

Manya Koetse

🔥 Quick Take: Trending in China
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.

The tragic death of six Chinese students during a visit to the Wunugetushan Copper-Molybdenum Mine (乌努格吐山铜钼矿) in Inner Mongolia has been trending on Chinese social media this week.

The students, who study mineral processing engineering at the School of Resources & Civil Engineering Northeastern University (东北大学), visited the site as part of their studies on Wednesday, July 23.

The facility, which operates under the state-owned China National Gold Group Corporation (中国黄金集团), includes a mineral processing plant where ore is crushed and processed using flotation cells to separate copper and molybdenum concentrate from waste rock.

The students were standing on a metal grate above a deep industrial tank used for mineral processing. The grate then suddenly collapsed, and they fell into the flotation tank, which was filled with mineral slurry (see this video to better understand the situation).

The tank was deep, and once inside, the slurry made it impossible to swim.

By the time the students were taken out of the tank, they had already drowned. They were all aged between 20 and 22. One of their teachers was injured in the incident.

According to Sohu News, citing a preliminary accident investigation report, the direct cause of the incident was a pre-existing crack in the grate above the tank, which caused the entire panel to flip and fall off. The grates had been replaced in February but were not properly tested. The site also lacked warning signs about load capacity and reportedly did not restrict the number of people allowed to stand on it.

Three people responsible for safety measures at the site, including the deputy general manager, have now been placed under criminal detention.

Besides the many questions surfacing online about how such a gruesome accident could have occurred, there is also criticism of how the media has reported on the incident. Some outlets mentioned that the 45 other intern students—presumably also present during the visit—were “emotionally stable,” and that the teacher who was injured was in a “good mental state.”

One blogger criticized these phrases, which are often used in media reports following similar incidents. While they appear to describe the psychological condition of survivors or bystanders, the author argued that they are more political than psychological: their real function is to signal to readers that—despite the loss of life—the situation remains under control.

After the online criticism, the Weibo hashtag “45 Intern Students from Northeastern University Are Emotionally Stable” (#东北大学45名实习学生情绪平稳#) has since been taken offline.

At the time of writing, the official website of Northeastern University has been changed to black and white.

By Manya Koetse

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China Local News

The Liaoyang Restaurant Fire That Killed 22 People

Published

11 months ago

April 29, 2025

Manya Koetse

🔥 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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