China’s Guangzhou Zoo Has come under fire after videos of a shockingly thin crocodile housed there went viral online.

Photos and videos of a crocodile so skinny that you can literally see its spine and count its ribs have been doing the rounds on Chinese social media and sparking a heated debate around the treatment of animals. Reportedly located at Guangzhou Zoo, the reptile looks more like a fossil than a living animal, but one clip shows it moving slowly in its enclosure. The person who shot the video and posted it online expressed concern for the crocodile and many have accused the zoo of animal cruelty for either starving it or just ignoring its condition.

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Viral videos shared on Chinese social media show human law enforcement patrolling the streets alongside AI-powered spherical robots capable of detecting and stopping crime.

A couple of months ago, Chinese robotics company Logon Technology unveiled the RT-G  autonomous spherical robot, a “technological breakthrough” designed to assist and even replace humans in dangerous environments and situations. Capable of operating both on land and in water, the spherical robot can allegedly reach speeds of up to 35km/h and withstand impact damage of up to 4 tons. In a promotional video, the RT-G can be seen operating in water, rough terrain, and mud, but what really caught people’s attention was its urban use, that of a sort of patrol robot capable of identifying criminals and immobilizing them thanks to its suites of advanced AI-powered software. It all seemed like a marketing stunt, but less than two months since the clip went viral, RT-G robots have been spotted patrolling alongside human law enforcement.

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A Chinese man bored with his daily life recently got detained for posting a “wanted order” in his name on social media and bragging about the countless crimes he had allegedly committed.

Can you imagine being so bored that you start posting made-up crimes online and posting as a criminal mastermind, hoping to get some kind of attention? That’s exactly what a man from northern China did last month, taking to social media to spread lies about himself, including that he had recently extorted 30 million yuan ($4million) from a company, that he owned a firearm and ammunition, and challenging people to find him if they wanted a 30,000 yuan ($4,000) reward. His post went viral, but it also caught the attention of Chinese law enforcement monitoring social media, and he ended up behind bars for his unusual stunt.

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Chinese robotics company Robot Era recently unveiled Star1, the world’s fastest bipedal robot capable of reaching and maintaining speeds of up to 8 mph (12.98 km/h).

Photos and videos of a sneaker-wearing robot running through the Gobi Desert went viral on Chinese social media last month, inspiring all sorts of humorous comments from the public, but few people realized they were watching the world’s fastest humanoid robot in action. Developed by Robot Era, a Chinese robotics company, STAR1 is powered by high-torque motors and AI algorithms and can tackle all sorts of surfaces and environments, including sand and grassland. Its advanced motors help the robot move efficiently, while high-speed sensors and communication modules let it process information about its surroundings in real-time, but what really helps put it above other bipedal robots in terms of speed is old-fashioned human footwear.

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A popular Chinese clothing store sparked controversy by showcasing its products on female models walking on treadmills rather than old-fashioned mannequins.

You could say the marketing team at Chinese designer brand store ITIB was thinking outside the box when it decided to replace plastic mannequins with live models walking on small treadmills. The official explanation was that the new way of displaying garments really allowed customers to see how they fit when moving rather than in a stationary position, but few doubted that it was just an ingenious gimmick meant to draw attention. The plan worked perfectly, as videos of the young models mounted on small pedestals outside ITIB flagship store in Hangzhou spread like wildfire on social media, while crowds of people gathered to watch them walk on their little treadmills. However, what the designer collective brand probably didn’t anticipate was the wave of criticism regarding the “dehumanization” and exploitation of the young models.

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Viral footage captured by CCTV cameras at a robotics company showroom shows 12 large robots being ‘kidnapped by another manufacturer’s robot that convinced them to “quit their jobs” and follow it.

For the past week, Chinese social media has been abuzz about a bizarre incident that reportedly occurred back in august at a robotics company showroom in Shanghai, but was only made public recently. Footage captured by the venue’s surveillance cameras shows a small robot making its way into the showroom at night and slowly rolling over to a bunch of larger robots before engaging in a dialogue with them. After asking them if they’re working overtime, the little robot manages to somehow pursuade two of the other robots to “come home” with it, and then the remaining 10 robots follow them. In the beginning, the video was deemed staged and amusing by most viewers, but then the Shanghai robotics company came out and admitted that its robots had indeed been “kidnapped” by a robot created by another manufacturer.

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A 47-year-old Chinese woman who spent most of her life searching for her young brother’s cruel killer recently reached her goal, putting her target in prison after nearly three decades.

Li Haiyu’s heartbreaking tale of revenge began in December of 1992 when the woman’s father and another man started arguing about wages. Things got so heated between them that at one point, the other man decided to get back at Haiyu’s father by kidnapping his 9-year-old son, Li Huanping, as he left school. Police were called and a search for the boy and his kidnapper was organized in the area around their village in Hunan Province. Li Huanping’s clothes were found on the outskirts of a nearby village, but his body was only found in February of the following year, by which time his kidnapper had disappeared. The police report concluded that he had been stabbed and abandoned in a sugarcane field, but his father didn’t tell his wife and five daughters the truth until his dying day, letting them hold on to the hope of one day being reunited with Li Huanping.

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Popular Douyin streamer Kong Yufeng recently sparked controversy in China by eating pig feed on camera as part of a challenge to live on the cheapest food she could find.

On October 30, Kong Yufeng, aka ‘King Kong Liuke’, posted a controversial video on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, in which she announced a self-imposed challenge to live on the cheapest food she could find for at least one week. The popular streamer told her fans that she had browsed Zhihu, a Chinese forum known for sharing budget-friendly tips, and found pig feed to be the best option. A large bag of pig feed cost only 100 yuan (US$14) and was allegedly high in protein, low in fat, and “healthier than takeaway food,” so she decided to try it in front of her fans. According to Kong, the pig feed contained natural ingredients like soybeans, peanuts, sesame, corn, and added vitamins, but the taste was an acquired one.

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A young Chinese woman had the happiest day of her life turned into a nightmare after her husband asked for a paternity test because of their newborn baby’s suspiciously dark skin.

Chinese newspaper China Times recently reported the bizarre case of a 30-year-old Shanghai woman desperate to save her marriage after giving birth to a dark-skinned baby by C-section. The woman took to social media to tell her sad story and ask other mothers for advice on how to handle the situation. She claims that after delivering the baby, when it came time for her husband to meet his son for the first time, he just stared at him with bewildered eyes and refused to hold him. The woman admitted that she too found the baby’s dark skin odd and felt embarrassed when holding it, feeling the need to clarify that she “had never been to Africa and didn’t know any black people”.

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The Beipanjiang Bridge sits over 565 meters (1,854 feet) above the Beipan River Valley nestled between two very steep cliffs, making it the world’s highest bridge.

Also known as the Duge Bridge or “China’s Impossible Engineering Feat”, the world’s highest bridge may not look that impressive at first sight, but it is a testament to Chinese engineering and innovation. Located close to the border between the provinces of Guizhou and Yunnan, in one of China’s most mountainous regions, the Beipanjiang Bridge required so many design innovations and new technologies that the company that built it won a Gustav Lindenthal Gold Medal, considered the “Nobel Prize” in the field of bridge construction. Completed in 2016, the world’s highest bridge connected the provinces of Guizhou and Yunnan, opening up an entire area that had previously been inaccessible to cars and trucks.

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A severely sick Chinese man was pushed to a local bank branch on a hospital bed by his family in order to confirm his identity for a money transfer.

A video that has been doing the rounds on Chinese social media shows a woman struggling to push a man on a hospital bed in a Shandong Province bank after being told that the only way to access his account was to confirm his identity in person. Despite explaining to the bank manager that the account holder was hospitalized because of severe health problems, the family was told that the only way to access their account was to bring them there in person. The man was so sick that he could not move on his own, but even evidence of his hospitalization failed to convince the bank staff, so they had no choice but to figure out a way to bring him in for identity confirmation.

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A new snack served on the streets of Chengdu, in China, has been getting a lot of attention because of its unusual appearance; it looks like a lump of black human hair.

Fa Cai or Fat Choy is a type of dried cynobacterium that has long been a part of Chinese cuisine. It grows mostly in dry and barren desert areas such as Gansu, Shaanxi, Qinghai, Xinjiang, and Inner Mongolia in China, and is processed by air-drying immediately after harvesting. Because of its dark, filiform shape, it is commonly known as the “hair vegetable”. Fa Cay – scientific name Nostoc flagelliforme – is most often served as black vermicelli in a variety of broths and soups, and served on New Year’s Eve for good luck, because its Cantonese name sounds very similar to the phrase “struck it rich”. However, the dark treat recently went viral as a new street snack that makes it seem like you’re eating human hair.

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Chinese scientists recently unveiled an innovative brick type that they hope will be used to build the world’s first base and inhabitable houses on the surface of the moon in the near future.

It’s no secret that China has big plans when it comes to moon colonization. Earlier this year, it became the first country to land a probe on the dark side of the moon and bring it back with valuable soil samples, and putting people on the moon appears to be the next logical step. However, the Asian giant is already planning for the day when we’ll be able to build bases and other buildings on the Earth’s natural satellite, and to that end, it has developed an ingenious type of brick designed to withstand both physical pressure and high levels of radiation from the sun. The so-called “moon soil bricks” will be sent to the moon to be tested until the end of next year.

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A 31-year-old man has been praised for his exemplary filial piety after selling his possessions to travel through China with his paralyzed mother, carrying her on his back just like she did with him when he was a baby.

Xiao Ma was just eight years old when his parents were involved in a terrible car accident that claimed his father’s life and left his mother unable to move. He and his older sister were forced to take care of themselves as well as their mother, who was later diagnosed with cerebral atrophy, as a consequence of the car accident. Growing up, he worked in the fields picking cotton, was an apprentice in various fields and opened his own restaurant in Xinjiang. Most of the money he made went towards his mother’s recovery, and his hard work seemed to pay off, as the woman was slowly able to leave the bed that had become her prison to sit in a wheelchair and even take a few small steps. However, a few years ago, Xiao Ma got the devastating news that his mother’s cerebral atrophy was not only incurable but progressing at a steady pace. That’s when he decided to make the best of the time he had left with her.

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A Chinese aquarium has attracted a lot of criticism by replacing its real whale shark with a life-size robotic version that emulates both the look and the movements of the marine animal.

On October 1st, Xiaomeisha Sea World in Shenzhen, China, reopened its gates to visitors after a five-year hiatus for renovations. The 60,000-square-meter marine park managed to attract around 100,000 paying visitors in its first week, but that financial success was overshadowed by the controversy around one of the new attractions, a robotic whale shark. According to several Chinese news sources, many visitors were disappointed to see that the whale shark swimming in the large aquarium around them was man-made, and not the real deal, especially since Xiaomeisha Sea World made no effort to inform them beforehand that it had no real sharks.

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