Quirky China: woman in photo with grandfather called a ‘gold-digger’, cobra shocks customs, blogger fined over bike helmet
- Woman finds a three-year-old photo of her with her grandpa has become the centre of a gold-digging allegation against her
- Blogger gets fined for not wearing a helmet while riding a bike in video after internet users complain to police
A Chinese woman has become the latest victim of online rumour after a man wrongly claimed she had married an ageing tycoon based on a picture that actually turned out to be of the woman with her grandpa.
The post was made last week but deleted after public outrage, the Beijing Youth Daily reported. It claimed a 73-year-old wealthy businessman in Dongguan, Guangdong, southern China, had married a 29-year-old “beauty” from Guangxi, by giving her 880,000 yuan (US$137,000) as cash gifts, a flat worth 880,000 yuan (US$137,000) and a luxury car.
The woman soon noticed the post after some of her friends and relatives brought it to her attention. She said the photo was released online by herself three years ago and pledged to safeguard her rights, according to her post on social media on Sunday.
She said she had deep feelings for her grandparents who had raised her. The photo was one of a series of art-style photos taken in 2018 when her grandpa went to Shanghai to visit her.
The woman said the rumour had affected her life badly and she has contacted a lawyer to make the man behind the post accountable. However, the lawyer told her it would cost a good deal of time and money to bring the man to judicial punishment.
“I can’t figure out why it is me who has to endure all this trouble,” the woman was quoted as saying.
“I just want the rumour-monger to take the punishment he deserves. Why is it so difficult and so complicated?” she asked.
So far the man has not made any comment or apology online, the newspaper said.
Shocked officials discover giant snake in imported wood
Customs officials in southeastern China have found a four-metre-long king cobra among imported wood, according to a local news report.
The snake was caught by officials from the Customs authority in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu, eastern China, last week when they checked the container with the wood, Jiangsu TV reported.
The king cobra is the longest type of toxic snake in the world, with its length ranging from two to six metres.
The authority said the snake is at a local laboratory at the moment, and they are awaiting advice from experts.
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Zhangjiagang is the country’s major wood import port. Local customs officials said they have frequently captured alien animals, such as snakes, scorpions, spiders and centipedes because of poor management of products in their country of origin.
“As far as I know, workers in some countries have not done enough work to detect these harmful things. In some cases, they just cut down the trees in the primary forest and put them directly in the containers. That’s why so many alien species were brought into our country,” an anonymous official was quoted as saying.
Internet snitches on blogger not wearing a bike helmet
A blogger has been punished for not wearing a helmet after internet users reported her to police following a video showing posted of herself on an e-bike.
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The video, released earlier this month attracted 40,000 likes, showed the woman sitting on an electric bike driven by her boyfriend, news portal zjol.com.cn reported.
Police of Linhai, Zhejiang, said the couple had also breached a regulation that only passengers under 12 years old can be carried on the back seat of an electric bicycle.
The blogger, surnamed Shan, later apologised on social media and reminded her followers to obey the road rules.
