China Local News

Woman Fakes Kidnapping to Test Husband’s Love

Published

9 years ago

July 1, 2016

A 43-year-old woman from Chongqing recently faked her own kidnapping, leading to a team of 29 policemen searching for her for 2 days and 2 nights. When they found her unharmed, she said she staged her own abduction to “test if her husband still loved her”.

When a 43-year-old Chongqing housewife named ‘Huang’ suddenly disappeared on June 22nd, her family was worried sick as repeated phone calls to her smartphone were left unanswered – except for one.

During the evening of June 23rd, when Huang’s phone was suddenly answered, her husband heard a muzzled sound and could make out the voice of his wife saying: “Please don’t kidnap me. I know you are from Changshou [district of Chongqing]!”, before the connection was cut off.

The woman’s family immediately called emergency number 110, after which the local police station sent out a team of 10 officers to rescue her, Chongqing Evening News reported on June 30.

Potentional mine abduction

The local police station took immediate action after the emergency call. In the end, a rescue team was set up with a total of 29 officers working on the case. Various police officers scanned different areas in Chongqing and did house-to-house investigations while fully armed.

Through technological methods, the police traced that Huang had to be near a village in the vicinity of the Changshou suburban district, which corresponded to what Huang had mentioned on the phone about her abductor.

Investigators discovered that the Huang’s ex-brother-in-law also lived in the same area. When they called his house, the phone was repeatedly hung up. As this brother-in-law was known to work in a remote mining area, police suspected Huang might have been brought there and called reinforcement to go to the mines. After finding them empty, they went to her house where they finally discovered the true identity of the “abductor” – Huang herself.

“Fun” experience to “test” husband’s love

According to Chongqing Evening News, Huang’s former brother-in-law stated that Huang had been at his home all along and had done all she could to repeatedly hang up incoming phone calls. When he demanded an explanation, she had left his home on the night of June 23.

Police finally tracked down Huang on the streets of the village, where she acted as if “nothing had happened”. Investigators later found out that Huang had fully staged her own kidnapping, for which she was sentenced to a 10-day detainment for “fabricating this affair”.

Huang later stated that, although she was happy with her marriage of ten years to her second husband and their family of two daughters, she just thought it “would be fun” to experience this “kidnapping”, and that she wanted to “test” how much her husband loved her.

Classical case of “urban empty individual”

According to psychological expert Gang Tanqiang quoted by the Chongqing Evening News, Huang represents the “classical urban empty person” (“典型的都市空心人”) who leads a “boring, monotonous and lonely” life and will go to extremes to put themselves at the center of attention.

Gang Tanqiang says: “If you experience feelings of emptiness as an urban citizen, be extra vigilant to avoid psychological problems. Talk about your feelings with relatives or close friends.” Gang also advises people to undertake outings to relieve boredom, and to join clubs for regular social interaction.

“Beyond any joke”

“This woman has a problem,” one Weibo user comments: “There’s always something, whether he loves her or not – she is too focused on what others think of her. And she has wasted the time of 29 police officers because of it. She should be detained.”

“These kind of police officers are hard to find, and yet she deceives them!” another commenter writes.

“Detaining her for 10 days is too light of a punishment…” one Weibo user writes. “To make false police reports, this goes beyond any joke,” another netizen says.

– By Manya Koetse
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Featured image: police officer during one of the house-to-house searches for Mrs. Huang, picture by Chongqing Evening News.

China Local News

The Liaoyang Restaurant Fire That Killed 22 People

Published

2 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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China Local News

Aftermath of Suzhou Marathon’s “Pissing Gate”

Published

2 months ago

April 24, 2025

Manya Koetse

🔥 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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