WHAT’S HOT? WHAT’S NOT?
Cuddly Memorials
A craftswoman got a flood of orders after a video of her making a lifelike figurine of a customer's recently departed pet in wool felt went viral online. Known by her online name “Miaoxianxian,” the woman told media her wool felt dolls help grieving pet owners cope with their loss. To sharpen her skills, Miaoxianxian references books on animal anatomy and behavior. Sixty percent of her orders come from overseas.
PHD by His Bootstraps
Huang Guoping, a computer science PHD at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in
Beijing, touched hearts online with his inspiring story of struggle and success. In the acknowledgements section of his thesis, which went viral, Huang described how he left his poor mountainous hometown and struggled to get into one of the nation's most prestigious schools. Huang's mother left when he was 12 years old. His father, then his grandmother who took care of him, passed away. He was so poor that he had to wear rags and could not afford tuition. But Huang kept studying, believing that an education would change his fate. Netizens praised Huang for working hard to determine his own fate.
Do Not Feed the Zoo Animals!
Shanghai Zoo launched a campaign in April asking visitors to stop feeding its animals because it is making them sick. An unnamed zoo employee told media that one of the zoo's older orangutans has developed high blood pressure and other ailments from years of visitors feeding it sugary snacks. Visitors feeding animals has been a recurring problem at the zoo. In 2001, a 6-year-old deer that died was found to have 3.5 kilograms of plastic bags in its stomach. In 2005, a colobus monkey was injured by a kebab skewer. The zoo called on the public not to disrupt the animals' healthy diets with potentially harmful foods.
Abuse Over Unfinished Homework
A single mother in Jiangsu Province lost custody of her 12-year-old daughter after physically abusing her for not studying. According to the court, the victim's grandmother pressed domestic abuse charges, claiming her daughter had repeatedly beaten the child and burned her hand with a hot shovel. The child has been placed in her grandmother's custody. Netizens said fierce scholastic competition has pushed some parents over the edge and called on authorities to take drastic measures.