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Alice Yan

A woman in China has fractured four ribs after a coughing fit caused by spicy food.
The Shanghai woman, surnamed Huang, said when she had the coughing fit, she heard a sharp cracking sound come from her chest, Shanhai Video reported.
At first, she didn’t think there was anything wrong, but later she felt pain when talking and breathing.
A CT scan revealed four of Huang’s ribs were broken, and she was told by doctors she would need to have bandages wrapped around her chest for a month and to rest while her ribs healed.

The doctors said the underlying cause of the minor fractures was that her body weight was unhealthily low.
Standing at 171cm tall and weighing just 57kg, Huang said she is especially thin on her upper body and that her ribs are visible.
“Your ribs can be seen clearly under your skin. There is no muscle to support the bone, so it’s easy for your ribs to get fractured when coughing,” an unnamed doctor told her.
She has promised that after recovering from her injury, she would do more physical exercise to increase her muscle mass and upper body weight.
Police swoop on radish bandits
Chinese police have arrested three people for stealing 150kg of radishes from a farmer in Zhejiang province in eastern China, catching the trio as they were mid-way through slicing the vegetables to dry in the sun for making a traditional local dish.
The farmer reported the theft to the police the next morning. Hours later, the three suspects were apprehended in their own courtyard, Gaodu News reported.
Surveillance records showed one of the men in a pedicab and two others on motorbikes transporting the stolen radishes last month.

They told the police they wanted to eat dried radish, a popular regional cuisine. It took them a long time to cut the huge amount of radishes into thin slices, they said.
Many internet users were amused by the case.
“Radish is sold at merely 0.56 yuan per kg. So 84 yuan (US$12) in total for 150kg of radishes they stole. Why did these three people bother?” Wrote one user on Douyin.
Another suggested: “The farmer should pay the thieves a processing fee. After all, they didn’t sleep the whole night.”
Bank’s free tissue promotion ends in a big mess
A Chinese bank is under fire for a promotion that offered customers free tissues if they could pull them from a giant roll within five seconds.
The bank in central China’s Hubei province placed a huge tissue paper roll on the street for the promotion, hoping to boost its popularity in the region, Hebei TV reported.
Nearly all participants were senior citizens – particularly old-aged women – who were seen in a video eagerly grabbing at the tissue paper and dragging it from the roll to beat the five-second time limit, as the more they grabbed, the more free tissue paper they would receive.

The promotion has trended on Weibo, where it has been viewed more than 110 million times. Many internet users said they didn’t feel comfortable with the activity.
“It is humiliating to old people who are well known for their habit of taking away free things and profiting at the expense of others,” wrote one person. “Many public toilets’ tissues disappear shortly after they are refilled because of old people.”
“Isn’t this a waste of paper? The tissues they get are so dirty and messy. Could it even be used?” Another person asked.
However, another said the idea was harmless: “The bank is happy. Those old aunties are happy. It’s fine.”


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Trending in China

Quirky China: woman ends up with broken ribs after spicy meal, 150kg of radishes stolen and bank’s free tissue offer gets messy

A woman has a coughing fit from spicy food that breaks four ribs and radish thieves get caught by police while preparing to eat the produce. Photo: SCMP composite/handout

Huang says she will do more exercise to improve her muscle mass and raise her body weight after her ribs heal. Photo: Weibo

The thieves were seen on surveillance footage making their escape with the stolen produce on motorbikes and a pedicab. Photo: Weibo

While some people are angered by what they see as unnecessary waste, others say the promotion is taking advantage of thrifty elderly people. Photo: Weibo

‘Not giving him all my savings’: Chinese woman storms out of home after mother demands she buy brother flat for future marriage

A young woman in China, outraged by her mother’s demands she help her brother buy a property, has reignited the gender role debate in China. Photo: SCMP composite/handout 

The woman’s mother insisted her daughter help her son financially, arguing that her daughter’s future husband would provide for her. Photo: Weibo

Millions of people have viewed the woman’s video and voiced their opinions online after her story went viral on mainland social media. Photo: Weibo

Property in China has become increasingly expensive amid a series of property booms in recent decades. Photo: Shutterstock

‘Don’t let her work’: video of mother in China telling son to keep wife at home or she’ll run away amuses millions, triggering gender norms debate

A video of a mother in China telling her son his wife will divorce him if she gets a job trends on social media and starts gender debate. Photo: SCMP composite/Handout

The video of the couple’s story has generated significant online discussion, with almost 5 million people watching it. Photo: Weibo

The woman’s daughter-in-law explained she is happy in her marriage regardless of whether she worked or not and pointed out that her husband helped with household chores. Photo: Weibo

The husband, pictured above, helps with raising the couple’s child and is a devoted husband, says his wife. Photo: Weibo

‘She set the noodles on fire’: culinary disasters of newlywed woman in China trying to learn how to cook an online hit with her ‘surprise’ dishes

A woman in China with no cooking experience shares her comedic attempts to feed her husband and delights millions on mainland social media. Photo: SCMP composite/handout

Perhaps the most surprising dish Huamei served up for her husband was a noodle dish that she set on fire with a lighter when served at the table. Photo: Weibo

Huamei’s dishes include misshapen dumplings, raw steamed buns, burnt pies and a noodle dish that caught on fire. Photo: Weibo

Many people who see Huamei’s videos criticise her husband’s reaction to her cooking, saying society expects too much of women. Photo: Weibo 

‘She smuggled pancakes over a wall’: online backlash forces school to back down over expulsion of student who sneaked deep-fried treats into locked-down campus

A public backlash over a Chinese high school’s decision to expel a student for secretly sneaking deep-fried pancakes into a locked down campus has forced school chiefs into a climb down. Photo: SCMP COMPOSITE.

A high school student in northwestern China has been re-instated after she was expelled for smuggling deep-fried pancakes over a wall into a campus locked down due to Covid-19. Photo: SCMP Composite.

The pancakes were smuggled up a ladder, over a wall and into a student dormitory at the locked down school. Photo: Getty Images.

The expelled student’s family run a business selling deep-fried pancakes, a popular dish in China. Photo: Getty Images.

‘I want my US$20,000 back’: man in China wants divorce and wedding refund 33 days into union by hanging banner outside wife’s home

A husband’s campaign to get a refund from his estranged wife for wedding expenses after their marriage lasted only 33 days trends in China. Photo: SCMP composite/handout

Hou and his parents dipped into savings, worked extra jobs and borrowed from relatives to raise money to pay for the couple’s extravagent wedding. Photo: Weibo

Despite government efforts to curb excessive spending and surging prices, weddings remain a significant financial burden for many families in China. Photo: Weibo

News

People & Culture

A woman’s spicy meal ends with fractured ribs and a weight gain recommendation by doctors
A trio of radish racket thieves are caught by police mid-way through slicing the vegetables to make a traditional dish


A woman in China has a coughing fit from spicy food and breaks her ribs, radish thieves caught preparing to eat the produce and a bank’s free tissue offer ends messily.


China society

Children in China

Quirky China: woman ends up with broken ribs after spicy meal, 150kg of radishes stolen and bank’s free tissue offer gets messy

A woman’s spicy meal ends with fractured ribs and a weight gain recommendation by doctors A trio of radish racket thieves are caught by police mid-way through slicing the vegetables to make a traditional dish

A woman’s spicy meal ends with fractured ribs and a weight gain recommendation by doctors

A trio of radish racket thieves are caught by police mid-way through slicing the vegetables to make a traditional dish