Trending in BJ: Bike Highway, Murder, and Subway Deeds
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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.
When visiting scholar to the US Zhang Yingying went missing in Illinois back in June 2017, Chinese students abroad and back home followed the case closely. Soon after, 29-year-old suspect Brendt Christensen was arrested but only confessed to having given Zhang a ride in his car on the day she went missing. Fast forward to Jun 12 of this year, and Christensen sat in court facing a potential death penalty if found guilty of Zhang's abduction and murder.
Although Christensen pleaded not guilty to all accusations, his defense attorney dashed any hopes that Christensen may have had of getting off sentence-free by admitting that his client was guilty of the murder in his opening statement. Weibo users have been following and commenting on the events under #章莹颖案嫌犯承认杀害章莹颖# (zhāng yíngyǐng àn xiánfàn chéngrèn shāhài zhāng yíngyǐng, Zhang Yingying's suspect charged for killing Zhang Yingying), which had over 290 million reads at the moment of writing. Readers have expressed their condolences to Zhang's parents, wishing them strength.
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This is at least the third time we have written about the first bicycle-only highway that opened up in Beijing at the beginning of the month. The 6.5-kilometer lane, which officially opened to riders on Jun 1, reportedly serves an average of 13,000 bikes per day.
While many agree that the bike lane is a great idea, journalists have already noticed a number of violations of its strict rules. A number of users have been seen riding against traffic, eating and smoking while riding, getting off to take pictures, and abandoning share-bikes, according to Beijing News. Then, of course, there are the cowboy grandpas who use the lane as their own personal stroll spot.
Thankfully, municipal officials vowed to strengthen supervision and management of the project. Netizens are following the bike lane story under #北京首条自行车专用路# (běijīng shǒu tiáo zìxíngchē zhuānyòng lù, first bicycle-only road in Beijing).
If there is one thing that Weibo is overflowing with every day of every week, it's footage of misbehaving passengers on public transport. Some repeat offenders have even gained enough notoriety to be nicknamed and shamed (such as "chicken feet lady" who gained notoriety after eating the Chinese delicacy on the subway).
However, recently, a related trend has started taking over the internet instead: footage of fellow travelers cleaning up after messy commuters. Usually, the anecdotes feature young travelers picking up discarded sunflower seed shells, leftover food, or other rubbish.
This week, a young woman was even photographed picking up broken glass and tea leaves from the floor after a man broke his thermos before making a quick exit. The picture has over 300 comments, with netizens commenting that the girl "must be an angel." It didn't take long before someone complained though, with one netizen adding: "What did you do? Just took out your phone to take a picture." Oh, Weibo, we love you.
Images: Weibo
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