WHAT’S HOT?

WHAT’S NOT?

Pet Morticians

Since becoming a pet mortician two years ago, Ge Yue has prepared around 300 pets for funerary services in Jinan, Shandong Province. Ge left her previous job in clothing display for her new career after her dog fell into a coma while under anesthesia for an operation. Ge believes her work brings tremendous comfort to people who see their pets as part of their family and honors the lives of animals. As pet ownership in China continues to climb, pet morticians are a lucrative career.

Doctoral Deliveryman

Meng Wei grabbed attention online not for his graduate degree but for working as a deliveryman to support his ill daughter. According to media reports, he postponed his doctorate at Zhejiang University for eight years to work parttime as a deliveryman after his daughter was diagnosed with a serious heart condition. While some online accused Meng of purposefully postponing his graduation, he said his thesis was rejected for insufficient innovation and data, and he has been busy revising it. Meng also hopes to raise awareness of working students struggling to support their families.

White Fox Woes

A Sichuan Province man was recently detained for endangering protected animals after he spent 750 yuan (US$118) buying his girlfriend a white fox as a pet in October 2021. Media reports said the man surnamed He bought the fox, a class-two protected species, on an e-commerce platform. Lawyers said that endangering protected animals carries a maximum sentence of five years plus fines. He argued he was unaware the fox was a protected species. Netizens called for authorities to improve public awareness of animal protection laws and tighten supervision of e-commerce platforms.

Cyberbullied for Mourning

A young woman became a target of harassment on Douyin (China’s Tiktok) after posting a video mourning her aunt who died in the March 21 plane crash that users claimed was seeking sympathy for online clout. The accusations began soon after Xiaoyue (pseudonym) posted a video on March 23, which blurred out her aunt’s image and name. Xiaoyue posted a response, saying she created the video purely out of grief for her loss. Most on social media sided with Xiaoyue, saying victims’ families have the right to choose how they mourn and Xiaoyue’s critics had resorted to cyberbullying.