Trending in Beijing: Universities Suspended, Man Saved From Drowning, and an Earthquake in Fangshan
The fun, the strange, and the what-on-earth-is-this? Trending in Beijing is a wrap-up of top stories in Beijing as told by the trending hashtags, local press, and general power of the internet.
Five Beijing universities stripped of their credentials
Five of Beijing's universities have been suspended for not adhering to the city's higher education standards. Their credentials were stripped following an investigation by the Beijing Municipal Education Commission, who found that the schools had no official curriculums and have not participated in annual inspections.
One of the victims, Beijing Self-Study University (北京自修大学), which according to Baidu was the first private university in the country and established just after the Cultural Revolution, updated their Weibo page to reflect their new status:
Alongside the cartoon tombstone, the latest post on the university's Weibo reads: "Since 1977, Beijing Self-study University has cultivated hundreds of thousands of outstanding graduates for society. Now, due to various reasons, the school finally faces the fate of being closed after choosing the wrong path. We hope to be remembered by people. After all, we were young and had dreams." Besides the heartfelt farewell, the university's account appears to be used primarily to sharing silly or shocking videos (which has continued even after the farewell). One astute netizen pondered, "Self-study university? Then what do you go there for?"
Cynical as we are, we're surprised that more of Beijing's universities weren't on the list, at least with regards to their international programs. Some Weibo users appeared to agree with our assessment, saying that the list is way too short, but that's a discussion for another time. Netizens are following the discussion under #北京自修大学等5所学校停办# (5 Beijing universities suspended).
A hero with no name
Elsewhere, netizens are on the hunt for a young hero who was spotted jumping into a frozen lake in Changping in order to rescue an older gentleman who had fallen through the ice (video). The real-life Iceman reportedly left the scene of the incident (probably to find some dry clothes) before anybody could get his name.
Witnesses claim the young man quickly jumped into the water, unfazed by any potential harm to himself, and singlehandedly help break a path in the ice, allowing the older man to be pulled to safety. Most netizens wondered why the old man would go onto the thin ice in the first place. "Wasn't there another old person who fell into the river last year? Why do old people like going on rivers so much?" asked one user, recalling similar previous cases (we're hoping for a Planet Earth-esque documentary).
It goes without saying: don't venture onto frozen ponds or rivers. This winter's temperature has been teasing us urbanites with an average of around 0 degrees Celsius, which is in no way a safe temperature to be strolling on ice. The search continues for the unmasked lake crusader under #寻北京冰河救人小伙# (Looking for the Beijing ice river rescuer).
Earthquake hits Fangshan
On Thursday, Beijing was hit by its first official earthquake of 2020. The 3.2 magnitude earthquake took place just a stone's throw – or more precisely, a mountain range – away in Beijing's western Fangshan district.
Just as with the previous quake to hit the news recently, just over a month ago in Tangshan, Beijingers took to the Internet to complain about how they didn't feel anything. "I am in Fangshan and if it wasn't for the news, I would never have known that there was an earthquake," wrote one user.
You too can join in talking about how you didn't feel the quake under the hashtag #北京房山3.2级地震# (Beijing Fangshan district 3.2 magnitude earthquake). As of the time of writing the topic had 45 million readers – quite the turnout for a non-event.
Meet the Summer Palace's new robotic mutts
Finally, ignore everything we told you about not going out on the ice, as the Summer Palace has recruited the help of some cute, slightly goofy huskies to do their bidding (watch the video here). The best part: they're not real! It's also a good job that they never get tired because these robotic canines have been pulling excited visitors around the lake all week. If you make it out to see them this weekend, let us know how your experience goes.
READ: China's SIM Card Registration Laws Among the World's Strictest
Images: Weibo
