Trending in Beijing: Fusion Friction, Work Addiction, April Fool Conviction

Joey Knotts, Contributing Editor | Apr 6, 2021 4:30 pm | Add a comment | 412 reads

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.

Baozza: A cheesy gift from god or a crime against decency?

Much to the delight of the Beijing-based brand Boazza, the pizza-bao fusion product made quite a stir on Weibo when user shytrash asked, “Why are they called Baozza and not 披子 pīzi,” playing on the fact that the latter sounds more like “pizza.”

The thread quickly attracted many Baozza fans who got a good chuckle out of the joke. Unexpectedly, however, the topic soon sparked a debate about the merits of fusion food – are such creations to be celebrated as the coming-together of distant cultures, or condemned as abominations that only serve to insult all parties involved?

One commenter responded to the post writing, “This is how you offend Chinese and Italians at the same time.” Another highly upvoted response took the form of a meme denouncing lousy attempts at fusion cuisine.

On the bright side, no few commenters defended Baozza as downright delicious. Meanwhile, the award for best comment in the whole thread goes to the user who posted their attempt at 馒披 mánpī, an amateur cross between mantou and pizza.

Working on the wall

Has 996 culture gone too far? Netizens were in an uproar this week as a man was caught on film pulling overtime on the Great Wall.

The fellow in question, who hails from Jiangsu province, brought his laptop along for his trip to the Badaling section of the wall, and unfortunately, he ended up staring at the screen more than he was able to peer at the view of the mountains. As he explains to the cameraperson, he had to get the work done now in order to hand it off to a client upon his return.

The top response by a class-conscious commenter reads, “So, it’s not just 996. In our society, there are also many cases of hidden overtime.”

Another comment came from the official YouTube Weibo account, who wrote, “He who does not reach the great wall is not a man, really; he who has money and does not profit is just silly.” (不到长城非好汉，有钱不赚是傻蛋 Bù dào chángchéng fēi hǎohàn, yǒu qián bù zhuàn shì shǎ dàn)

April fool ends up behind bars

Just two days prior to this year’s April Fool’s Day, a court has ruled on a case involving an April Fool’s “prank” gone wrong from 2019, sentencing the jokester to three and a half years in prison for extortion.

The case involved a man surnamed Wu, who wrote a handwritten letter to one Mr. Zhong demanding RMB 600,000 in cash if he ever wanted to see his two sons again. Naturally, he pulled the “it’s just a prank bro” defense, but the court wasn’t buying it. In addition to the prison sentence, Wu was slapped with a fine of RMB 10,000.

To be sure, Weibo commenters weren’t having it either, convicting Wu in the court of public opinion. “This is extortion, plain and simple,” writes one user. “He just claimed it was a prank when he got caught.”

Images: Weibo