Paralympic Winter Games open

The Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games began on March 4 with an opening ceremony held in the National “Bird’s Nest” Stadium. Visually impaired athlete Li Duan, a Paralympic long jump and triple jump champion, lit the main Paralympic flame in the stadium. China currently sits atop the medal table with six golds, ahead of Ukraine which has three.

Chinese citizens evacuated from Ukraine

China’s embassy in Ukraine began evacuating 6,000 Chinese citizens in the country as conflict spread. The embassy arranged ground transportation to evacuate citizens to neighboring countries such as Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland. The embassy also promised to issue travel documents to non-Chinese family members of Chinese citizens. On March 7 the embassy announced the vast majority of Chinese citizens had been evacuated.

Annual “Two Sessions” political meetings produce a raft of controversial proposals

China’s annual political meetings of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) opened last week, with a number of proposals from delegates attracting public attention. One CPPCC delegate suggested the state provide subsidies of 600 yuan per month for families with two children, and 1,000 yuan per month for those with three children. Other controversial proposals called for decriminalizing drunk driving and increasing the length of the Chinese New Year holiday.

High heels for International Women’s Day

North Sichuan Medical College in Nanchong, Sichuan province, attracted attention after it decided to gift 3,000 pairs of high-heeled shoes to students, regardless of their gender, for International Women’s Day. Some online appreciated the gesture, while others criticized the college for promoting gender stereotypes, with one Weibo comment arguing high heels “conform to the male gaze.”

Woman gets train to the wrong Hunan; ends up 1,000 kilometers from destination

A woman from Guangdong province thought she had got a train traveling to the neighboring Hunan province, but was surprised when she instead arrived at Hunan town in Quzhou, Zhejiang province, around 1,000 kilometers away from her intended destination. With only 8 yuan in cash to spend, the woman was left stranded until a police officer in Hunan town took pity on her and bought her a ticket to Hunan province.

Deaf PhD student wins award for inspirational life story

CCTV selected Jiang Mengnan, a deaf PhD student at Tsinghua University, as one of ten people who most “moved China” in 2021, for her inspiring experience of studying at first Jilin University for a bachelor’s and master’s degree, and then Tsinghua University for her PhD study. Jiang relies on lip-reading and sign language in her studies.

Old man selling pickles sued

An elderly man making a living selling homemade pickles online for 9.9 yuan a bag has been sued for 1,000 yuan by a customer who complained that his products lacked official food safety labels, sparking debate online over whether the lawsuit is justified.

Boy tries to become Olympic mascot

A boy in Yuxi, Yunnan province, lay prone on a cold sidewalk in what he said was an attempt to “become a Bing Dwen Dwen,” the ice-encased panda mascot of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games.