Viral Week is our weekly round-up of the weekend’s trending memes, humor, rumor, gossip, and everything else Chinese netizens are chatting about.
This week, a 65-year-old grandma masters Rubik's Cube, an ancient poem turns out to be recent, male tech consumers rage against a "sexist" female comedian, and the oldest Chinese wine is discovered:
Undercover salesman gets promotion for a job well done
For Consumer Rights Day, a CCTV journalist went undercover as a salesman to investigate a used car dealership accused of cheating customers, but realized that the only way to further his investigation was to become more senior in the company. He then worked extra hard to be promoted to the firm's second-in-command, eventually gaining concrete evidence of the firm faking information about the cars.
Zhejiang granny is an old hand at Rubik's cube
Zhao Wenying, a 65-year-old woman in Zhejiang province, set a new world record for over-60s solving a Rubik's Cube blindfolded when she completed the task in 3 minutes and 3 seconds. She also recently passed a professional Rubik’s Cube-solving test with a 3 percent pass rate. Zhao has practiced Rubik's Cube since 2014 after her granddaughter introduced her to the game.
Beijingers now allowed to regret gyms memberships
Following the leads of cities like Shanghai and Shenzhen, Beijing authorities are implementing a "cool-off period" for gym sign-ups: Customers who regret buying a gym memberships can cancel the contract and get a full refund within seven days as long as they haven't used the services.
Liuzhou woman sends SOS via crayfish
An emergency call operator for the number 110 in Liuzhou, Guangxi, was initially baffled to hear a female caller trying to order crayfish. Suspecting that the caller was in a dangerous situation where she couldn't call for help directly, he dispatched police to the address she left for her "takeout," and they were able to prevent a domestic violence case.
Tang poem found to be 20th century work
The poem “Sending Mother Back to Her Hometown (《送母回乡》),” which has been attributed to 9th-century poet Li Shangyin and included in many textbooks for recital by children for over a decade, was found to be actually have been written by a poet called Li Yuzhen in the 20th-century.
Male Intel users boycott ‘sexist’ female comedian
Intel removed an advertisement which featured female stand-up comedian Yang Li after some male consumers threatened to boycott the product due to Yang’s for her “sexist” jokes about men, which include quips such as “Why are some men so ordinary, yet so self-confident?” While these male customers criticized Intel’s “stupid” decision to employ Yang and alienate its target market, many women were against the company’s response and asked, “Don’t women buy computers?”
Congee shop reuses customers' leftovers
A congee shop belonging to the successful Man Ling chain in Fuzhou has been shut down for atrocious hygiene after an undercover reporter shot footage of restaurant workers placing customers' leftover food back into cooking pots and handling food with filthy hands. "I actually vomited [when I saw the footage]...I used to order Man Ling every time I had a sore throat," says the most upvoted comment on Weibo under the story. Man Ling has over 1,100 stores across China and advertises itself as a health brand.
Earliest evidence found from Chinese wine
Archeologists believe they have discovered the earliest evidence of Chinese wine. The alcohol residue (which apparently smells like “grass after rain”) was extracted from silt in copper pots from tombs in Shanxi province dating back to the Zhou dynasty (1046 – 256 BCE). This overturns the theory that grapes were only introduced to China with the start of the Silk Road in the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE). As the cemetery complex contained the tomb of a woman, archeologists are wondering if women were also allowed to drink wine.
Cover Image from VCG
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