Trending in BJ: Online E-Cig Ban, and a Racist Rant for the Ages

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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.

China bans e-cigarette online sales 

E-cigs on Taobao? Mei you!

Last Friday, Nov 1, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, and the State Administration for Market Regulation issued a joint statement banning all vaping and electronic cigarette sales and advertisements online. This ban was implemented in the hopes of preventing minors (or anybody, really, the butterscotch vape pods smell delicious!) from being exposed to the sweet-smelling stuff, and forming a habit before the legal smoking age.

The institutions claim that advertisements made vaping look fun and harmless. In the last few years, the vaping industry has exploded faster than we can say "electronic cigarettes," and regulators are only now trying to catch up with the market. Indeed, until last August, it was still perfectly legal to sell vaping products to minors. 

According to the statement, online platforms exclusively selling vaping products should be shut down, and other shops should take vaping products off their shelves. While the statement included no information about how the ban will be enforced, Tmall, JD, Suning, and other six platforms have already removed all affected stock from their sites.

Inexplicably, China's largest vaping company RELX has publicly announced its complete support for the regulation. The ban comes at a tricky time, when vape products are under extreme scrutiny in the USA, as they have been linked to 37 deaths and thousands of illnesses. However, mainland salesmen appear to be most concerned about all the lost 11.11 sales. Netizens are discussing the ban under #9家电商平台下架电子烟# (9 online stores took electronic cigarettes off their shelves).

Beijing pupils wear smart headbands in class

"why do I have to wear this dumb-ass thing again?"

Students at Beijing's No. 1 Middle School are now wearing smart headbands to monitor the student's attention during class, and they are exactly as stupid and terrifying as you'd expect. Similar headbands have previously been used in schools in Jinhua, Zhejiang, but have since reportedly stopped using them. 

The bands reportedly track each student's individual performance and send feedback to the main database, as well as parents' WeChat groups every 10 minutes. Parents and educators with absolutely nothing better to do can see how well their bundle of joy is paying attention, from a wave-like graph and check the individual performance score that is calculated for every student. In fact, teachers don't even need to consult the database to see how well the students are listening – each headband is equipped with an LED light that shines red if students are focused, blue if they are distracted or white if the connection is not stable. As if the number of yawns per minute was not already a perfect indicator of engagement.

Netizens are divided on the issue. The usual concerns include the violation of minors' privacy, inconvenience, and the cack-handed approach to solving classroom problems. "If you need smart headbands to make sure students are paying attention, how boring is the class?" wrote one. Others have noted that the headbands are just one more product in a long line designed to extract more money from education-crazed families. Discussions are brewing under #北京一中学也在使用智能头环# (Beijing No. 1 Middle School also uses smart headbands).

Scholar gets fired for his LinkedIn rant

How to get yourself fired, in six easy steps

While LinkedIn is usually what people use when they want to advance their career one Beijing-based Austrian employee decided to take it in a new direction recently. The man in question, visual designer Mark A. Kolars, got himself kicked out from the China Academy of Sciences for posting a racist tirade for the ages. As well as describing Chinese people as "dirty yellow guys" who are "not smart enough" and have been "inbreeding for too long", he also describes his own son as "very handsome" and "a mix of European Caucasian and Asien [sic] Chinese blood" um... thanks, Dad? 

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His comments were screenshotted (more illustrations here) and promptly posted on Weibo, which set off the whole storm. 

According to his LinkedIn page (which is no longer accessible), Kolars was a visual designer at the academy and was also a TV professional. According to SCMP, Kolars later posted an apology message acknowledging that his comments were inappropriate. Besides the expected outraged reaction, netizens are also wondering what does Kolar's Chinese wife thinks about his outburst. If there is a takeaway from all this, it's probably this: Don't be a shithead. Netizens are rolling their eyes at #中科院解聘不当言论外籍雇员# (CAS dismisses foreign employees for inappropriate comments)

Images: Weibo

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