Trending: Cloned Dogs, Han Clothing Revival, BJ Half Marathon
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The fun, the strange, and the what-on-earth-is-this: a wrap-up of top stories in Beijing as told by the trending hashtags, local press, and general power of the internet.
Man pays RMB 380,000 to clone his dog
Looking
for a playmate for your pet but don't want to go down the boring route
and "just get another dog"? Why not clone it? According to an article on
iResearch News (news.iresearch.cn), an unnamed Chinese dog owner
recently spent RMB 380,000 to have his dog Doudou cloned.
What sets this story apart from others, however, is the fact that
Doudou was still alive when his clone was created rather than the owner
waiting until his original best friend had died.
While
one could be mistaken for thinking that cloning is extremely common, as
every single tiny ball of curls in China looks exactly the same,
apparently it took over 200 attempts to successfully bring Doudou 2 into the world.
Cheaper than cloning, same result
Thanks to China's booming pet industry, the Changping Science and Technology Park-based company Sino Gene is
also considering cloning cats. Last year, China's pet industry was
worth over RMB 170.8 billion, which is an increase of almost 20 percent
compared to the year before.
Not
all netizens were impressed by the furry miracle. "When I can clone a
memory, I will consider it. I love my pet because of our experiences
together, but a clone is just a new animal," wrote one user. Watch a
video of the cloned pup above.
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Han clothing gets a revival
Have
you started noticing more and more strangely dressed people around
town? Nope, it's not the runoff of a daily comic book convention, but
the personal expressions of a young generation of Chinese who believe
that Han-style clothing has been neglected for too long.
While it is common to assume that a sleek qipao is
the perfect representation of Chinese traditional clothing, these
youngsters disagree. They've been reminding us that the iconic Qing
dynasty garment is actually a Northern Chinese Manchu minority creation
and does not represent the traditional clothing of the Han ethnicity
that constitutes more than 92 percent of China's citizens.
"Can be worn daily"
Instead, these young Chinese are bringing Han style clothes, or 汉服 Hànfú, back into daily life. In an interview with South China Morning Post, some Hanfu revivalists
said that they believe wearing this aged style can elicit feelings of
national pride. They also point out that although some formal-wear
versions of Hanfu like those pictured at the top of this
article are not exactly the norm in 2019, plenty of styles like the
mandarin-collar-style button-up shirt can easily be worn day to day
without surprising anyone.
However,
not everyone is on the same page. On Mar 28, two students of
Shijiazhuang Medical College were scolded and threatened with expulsion
because they were wearing Hanfu on campus (see vide above).
School administrators accused the students of wearing "strange clothes"
and having a "mental illness" before demanding they change immediately.
Netizens are discussing the issue under #穿汉服被辅导员威胁退学# (chuān hànfú bèi fǔdǎo yuán wēixié tuìxué, dressed in Hanfu, students are threatened with expulsion).
Everybody run! Netizens share their Beijing half marathon feedback
Huge
crowds turned out last Sunday (Mar 14) for the annual Beijing half
marathon, with more than 20,000 people taking part in the 21-kilometer
run from Tiananmen to the Olympic Park (including the Beijinger editor Huang Chenkuang who completed in 2h 26m. Go Kuang!). On average, competitors completed the route in three hours.
Sunday was a nice day, with low air pollution, and it was really nice to see the streets of Beijing without cars.
The
popularity of the race has increased year on year, with over 58,000
people applying for a place in this year's competition. According to
Huang – who successfully completed the race but managed to injure her
ankle immediately afterward, and has been limping around the office ever
since – the conditions for the race couldn't have been better. She
says: "Sunday was a nice day, with low air pollution, and it was really
nice to see the streets of Beijing without cars." Inspiring stuff!
Netizens are sharing pictures and sharing bragging rights under #北京半马# (Beijing half marathon).
READ: Hot Mama! Behold This Weekend's Supremely Hot & Spicy Entertainment
Images: Weibo, News China
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