“I’m speechless. No wonder girls these days have such a hard time marrying off. My neighbour’s daughter is over 30 now, average looks, no boyfriend. Her mom is freaking out, wanting her to get married ASAP.
She pulled all kinds of connections to try to get someone to introduce her daughter a good guy. Today, when she was chatting with me, she asked me if I knew someone who would work. So I asked her daughter what she’s looking for? And this woman says in that fake sweet voice, “Well, I’d rather have nothing at all than a bad husband. Ideally, I want someone over 180, good looking, steady job, at least 100 square metre house and no mortgage, and he has to live by himself and not with his parents. He needs to turn over his salary to me, and his parents need to be healthy and have their own pension. That’s what I’m looking for.”
I thought about that for a while and honestly didn’t know anyone who fulfilled all those conditions. Okay, fine, you can’t really demand a perfect date. You just gotta believe in fake. Just like the roses at Shangxian Lake, they’ll bloom when spring comes.”
Comments say, “I fulfil all those conditions, but I’m not looking for anyone above 30. [Doge]”
“She’s only saying that because she doesn’t want to get married at all, but can’t say that outright because of pressure from her parents, so she names obviously unreasonable demands.”
“She talked about everything except love.”
A compilation of comments talking about the benefits of joining an old people vacation group.
“An old lady fell asleep and her blanket fell off, so I picked it up and laid it back on her. She insisted I become her adoptive daughter after that. Later on, when I visited her at home, she gave me a 20,000 RMB red pocket.”
“I went to Bali before, there were tons of old ladies and old men there. I added some people’s wechat, and only found out after returning to Nanjing that a ton of them drove Mercedes and lived in huge mansions and they invited me over to visit.”
“If you’re looking for a girlfriend/boyfriend, you can join a travel group with old people—they’ll never stop trying to set you up with people.”
“Joined a group 8 years ago, went with a bunch of grandmas and grandpas to North Korea, and became their favourite kid. We’re still in touch now, and they keep telling me to go visit them in Dongbei.”
“And you know, if the tour guide is being incompetent or mean, they’ll actually argue back. They’re so fierce. And when it’s meal time, they’ll all be like, “Kiddo, have this. It’s tasty.” I was taken care of like this once T_T”
“But my stamina can’t keep up. All the grandmas and grandpas are up at 5am and can keep going all day long, and they can do it for five days in a row. I can’t. T_T”
A post by a current events blogger reads, “I’ve succeeded in playing a video about the dangers of Japan’s nuclear waste water release on Times Square! Guys, after being turned down countless times, I’ve finally managed to play my video on Times Square. The English subtitles read that, “It turns out, that bizarre opening to the Tokyo Olympics was a warning.” I dubbed the videos myself!
First, there’s the technical details. Not only does America support Japan releasing nuclear waste water, but they’re even monitoring online discussion in China, according to a lot of people. No wonder I could never get my video approved for playing on Times Square. Of course they don’t want to air that sort of thing.
Every time I asked someone to submit the video for me, they’d get refused. I ended up having to slam a lot more money on it myself.
But, that’s fine. That doesn’t matter at all compared to what I’ve done in the past. But hey, even if it just brings a little bit of catharsis to China, then all my money and effort was worth it.
So long as she remembers, I have no regrets!”
Comments say, “You are saving all of humanity!”
“Is anyone watching, though?”
“Start a Kickstarter! I want to donate money towards keeping it on the screen all the time! Everyone in America’s being kept in the dark about this!”
“Yesterday, one of my patients told me she’d hoarded 40 bags of salt. I just listened to that like a joke. But today, I had a patient with a 14 year old son, who asked in my office, “Mom, what can we do? All the innocent animals in the ocean area dying. [Someone or other]’s mom hoarded 100 bags of salt. Maybe you should buy some salt too. Mom, Fuji is going to explode. You need to tell [so and so] to come back.” (her relative or something, studying abroad in Japan)
I couldn’t hold it in anymore listening to that, because I can tell this young man was a very kind person to be thinking of the lives of the sea creatures. I hate those who propagate false information. Especially when it influences the next generation. I can’t stand anything that screws up kids.
I explained to the child that based on open information, they’ve already submitted the amount they plan to release to international nuclear organisations, and those organisations have estimated a safe range for them to release based on the existing levels of radiation in the ocean. It won’t cause any harm to ocean life. He needed to believe in the international nuclear organisations and believe in science.
All of these little kids are seeing fearmongering fake information on social media, and at their age, they are very easily provoked into entirely unreasonable hate or fear. Parents need to know how to education their children when they read reports by unscrupulous news media.”
Comments say, “Looks like you only read half the information yourself—did you not see their disclaimer at the end? The nuclear safety organisations themselves said they can’t guarantee whether or not there would be an impact based on just samples from Japan. Why would you only talk about the first half and ignore the second half? And there are so many supposedly rational people in your comment section nodding along. You’re pretty good at spinning a narrative.”
“It’s not such a big deal to hoard a bit of salt. It’s only a couple RMB a bag and they don’t go back. And who knows if the water Japan’s releasing is even the same as what they submitted for testing? It’s not like Japan allowed third parties to test their water directly.”
“You’re the one making up rumours! If the water is safe, Japan can keep it in their own lakes, to water their own fields, to wash their own clothes with! How much money did they pay you?”
“A lot of places are encouraging marriage, but they’re still too afraid to actually change any of the unspoken rules: women have to marry into a man’s family, take care of the man’s parents, carry on the man’s legacy, and support the man’s career.
What tiny crumbs of rewards they toss out might make shallow parents moved, might make them try to oppress young women more.
But women are going to keep disappearing from the countryside, and these villages are still doomed to vanish. If they really wanted to thrive and grow, then give women actual rights—make their children take their surnames, give them just as much land and housing and benefits as men, actually cut them a slice of the patriarchy’s cake.”
Comments say, “They’re already pushing for zero bride price. It’s just too profitable to have a son. Just let these places be all male.”
“They don’t even want women’s children. They just want women to have children for men. They’re still thinking from the point of view of men.”
“Maybe it’s not so bad that Japan’s releasing nuclear waste. It’s time for the world to end.”
“If it hadn’t happened in my life, I wouldn’t even believe this is real. I’ve got a neighbour, who put everything into putting their son through school, like usual. Got him a private tutor all three years of high school, cost about 200K RMB.
And in the end, his exam scores came out: he can’t go to a public university, but he might have a chance at a private uni if they’re willing to pay out the ass.
The whole family thought for a long time and figured to themselves, “There’s no time in wasting another 4 years of time and money. It’s not like you can get a job with a private university diploma anyways.”
Now, their son is being an Uber driver, making about 200 RMB a day.
Once I heard this, I was like, “Well, he can’t keep driving for Uber forever. He’s gotta learn a skill or something.”
And my neighbour was like, “That’s what we think too. We’re just looking for something he can learn that has a good future.”
They even think that he should’ve never went to high school at all, and went into an apprenticeship as soon as he graduated middle school. The money they spent on tutoring in the last 3 years could’ve bought half a house already.
Hmm…well, I feel like they’re being a little extreme, but I can’t exactly say whether or not they’re wrong right now.”
Comments say, “Going to university is just basic, right? If he gets a little more educated, he’ll fall for scams less, and have less of a chance of doing something ridiculous in a moment of passion. It’s not like he can spend the rest of his life scrolling tiktok, drinking, and playing cards, right?”
“Isn’t it better to just not have kids to begin with? They’ve completely lost their investment at this point, right?”
“Yeah, you can learn programming online for a couple thousand RMB. I follow an IT blogger, whose ex-wife used to be a hairdresser and learned programming from him, and now works as a manager in a big IT company and makes a lot more money than he does.”
A tiktok video where the teachers at a school hides under umbrellas while students train in the train. The local Department of Education has responded that, “America and Japan are about to destroy China. What good will they be if they can’t even go through this much hardship in training? Have you never been trained on in life? There is no such thing as equality between teachers and students. There are different levels to humanity. Some people look human, but are actually animals. There’s a lot of difference in individuals. We’ve communicated with the school about organising these group events in the future, so they can reduce the number of students complaining.”
Comments say, “I mean, the teachers probably trained in the rain back in the day too. They don’t have to do it again now that they’re 50, 60 years old to show how tough and strong they are.”
“This is nationalism.”
“Isn’t it normal to train during windy, sunny, and rainy conditions? The Department of Education is just pointing out a very normal truth. I’m pretty glad that there are still government offices like this, who can stand by their bottom line, and not cancel everything just because some spoiled brats complained a little.”
A blogger writes, “I’m going to fight all you rich people TT_TT”
They reblog several instagram posts showing off yachts as birthday gifts.
“My dad never says he loves me. In fact, he barely knows anything about my life, and he never calls me. I’ve thought that he might prefer my brother sometimes. Now, I know that he loves me more than anybody, and has been silently giving me the best he could afford.
He built a ship in my name, and registered a company and gave it to me as my 20th birthday present. He knew I liked avocado green, so he painted the ship in those colours. Even if he’s so busy he doesn’t have time to sleep, he’ll still travel with me where I want. My dad is a sweet, gentle poem.”
“What a coincidence. My 16th birthday gift is a little yacht too. Although I’ve got newer yachts now, this one has always been my favourite. It doesn’t take a lot of money, but it takes a lot of love.”
“Oh good. I’m glad everyone has a yacht.”
Comments say, “”Everyone has it” “doesn’t take a lot of money”??? I don’t dislike rich people. I don’t dislike rich people living a lavish life. But I hate rich people who know what the fuck is up but pretend not to just to show off and ask why we don’t eat cake.”
“I got so angry that I got angry.”
“They say right now that they don’t need a lot of money, but as soon as their family goes bankrupt, they’ll be begging, “I need money! I need so much money!!””
A series of screenshots of a TV program in Korea, interviewing old people about why they spend so much time at the airport:
An old man says, “My job was interior design, but I can’t keep doing it anymore this year. It’s too exhausting. I don’t really know a lot about culture and life. I just feel very relaxed watching the planes take off and touch down in a big open space like this.”
The reporter explains that they go to the airport because no one looks at you strangely there.
The old man explains, “I’ve got a department store near my house that has everything, but people look at you weirdly if you go and sit for a long time without buying anything. But that’s not something you can worry about at an airport. You can sit for as long as you want.”
The reporter asks, “Do you never go to movie theatres or cafes?”
He replies, “I’ve never went to these places in my life. Young people don’t like it when old people go, right? That’s where they go to forget about the exhaustions of reality. Plus, there’s a limit to how many movies you can watch. From a long time ago, I’ve been spending my time aimlessly in solitude. This is my sanctuary.”
The reporter notes, “A lot of people aren’t going to the airport, but instead hanging out at parks with other old folks. There’s a retirement home right behind the park, but the old people never go.”
She interviews an old man at the part, who says, “Am I so old I need to go to a retirement home? Only ancient people go there.”
The reporter continues, “Once they’re older, they have nothing to do, they have no work. Although there are events for old people, no one informs them of it. We need to educate old people about a lot more than just how they can claim a social security check. We need to tell them about what services exist for them in their local area. Everyone has 24 hours in their day, but for old people, these 24 hours seem especially long.”
Comments say, “Man, everyone in the comment section here is talking about what they’re gonna do once they retire, but I’m just like, “Am I even gonna live to see retirement?””
“I feel like no one dislikes a group for no reason. There’s just too many rude people out for extortion, and people can’t tell right off the bat what kind of person you are. They’re worried about getting into trouble, so people stay away from old people.”
“Things seem a lot better in China. I see a ton of retired folks forming their own dance groups and marching bands. They seem excited to rehearse every day.”
“I almost ran out of diapers for my baby, and the batch I’d ordered online hasn’t arrived yet, so I went out for some emergency diapers from the local baby store. It was 140 RMB per bag, buy two get one gree. I thought it was a pretty good deal, so I bought two, and got my baby a swimming membership card there. Then when I came home, I noticed something was off. Compared it with my old bag of diapers, and found that I’d bought a knock off! When I went to get a refund, they kept trying to dodge the issue, saying that online and offline packaging is different, that it’s Pampers from America, that none of their other customers complain about their diapers. I ended up having a huge fight with them and still not getting my money back. I’m so mad!!”
Haha Pannpers!
I had an Adibas jacket from China when I was a kid.
Why even bother with this? If a company were going to make a knock off, why not go all the way and just fake the brand name? Are there repercussion for that?
"but they’re even monitoring online discussion in China, according to a lot of people. " What does this mean? Like, just reading it, or does this person think America has some ability to censor the Chinese internet, or what?