In China, panic buyers prepare for the end of the world
As December 21 approaches people make their final preparations for the 'end of the world' by stockpiling essentials and building shelters
Candles are suddenly a hot commodity in Longchang county, Neijiang city.
Panic buyers seeking candles and matches have been flowing into Luo Huanlin's small grocery near the county government headquarters ever since a rumour began circulating that a three-day blackout would strike on December 21, the date on which some people believe the world will end.
He heard the dire predictions repeated in tea houses, at bus stations and across mahjong tables. Some speculated that the blackout would last more than a week and that even cigarette lighters would cease to ignite. Only matches would catch fire.
Luo paid the jittery shoppers little mind until a few government officials joined their ranks. That deepened his fear.
"The words moved as fast as a storm cloud and suddenly everyone, from peasants in fields to government officials in armchairs, was living in its shadow," said Luo. "Nobody asked or cared about why. It was contrary to everything we learnt in school, I know, but when everyone was talking about it, we started to worry."
The Sichuan candle rush is just one of the many similar episodes unfolding across the world as anxiety builds over the approaching supposed end of the ancient Mayan calendar - predicted by some to portend the apocalypse.