The Nanfang / Blog

Chinese Line Up Globally To Buy – And Then Sell – the iPhone 6

Posted: 09/22/2014 11:00 am
iPhone 6 lineup

Chinese customers waiting outside an Apple store in New York.

When it comes to Apple’s iPhone 6, there is nothing Chinese won’t do to get their hands on one including, but not limited to, queuing day and night, sleeping on the sidewalk, or renting out a girlfriend to raise money for the phone.

Instead of waiting in line with fully-charged Apple devices like other Apple fans in Melbourne, Australia, many Chinese were seen getting by with a uniquely Chinese pastime: mahjong, Tencent News reported. Squatting on small chairs, nothing seemed to disturb those eagerly waiting from shuffling their mahjong tiles.

Interestingly, the report acknowledged a lot of Chinese faces waiting in the queues worldwide. Almost everywhere the iPhone 6 is available, including the U.S., Hong Kong and Australia, a sizeable number of Chinese – young, old, men, and women – made up large portions of the lines. This of course fuels speculation that Chinese buyers are scalping the phones to clients in China, where the phone is unavailable, at a significantly higher price.

In a six-minute video by Casey Neistat, Chinese were documented selling their newly acquired phones to other interested buyers. He claimed the Chinese lining up for the phones in the city were organized and managed by Chinese mafia groups.

We don’t know if there is any truth to Casey’s claim; but, if there is, judging by the dedication Chinese buyers have shown so far for the phone, the mafia were doing a good job keeping them in line.

See the photos below for more evidence of the Chinese love of the iPhone 6:

iPhone 6 lineup

Chinese playing mahjong outside an Apple store in Melbourne, Australia.

iPhone 6 lineup

Chinese customers waiting in line in California.

iPhone 6 lineup

Several Chinese customers waiting outside an Apple store in New York broke out in a fight.

Scalpers selling iPhone 6 to other buyers in Hong Kong.

Photos: Tencent, Reuters and AFP

Haohao

Outrage As China’s National Mahjong Team Loses To… Japan

Posted: 07/18/2014 9:11 am

The Chinese might seem nonchalant about state affairs at times, but losing a mahjong competition to another sovereign nation is unthinkable. In back valleys, tea houses, and even swimming pools,you can hear the crisp sound of the shuffling and mixing of Mahjong tiles. It is probably one of the rare moments in China when crude language and a room full of cigarette smoke are entirely appropriate.

This explains why the news of China’s national team, called State Flower, losing in the fifth European Mahjong Tournament and finishing in 37th place out of 51 teams came as a shock to the country. Online users flooded the news comment sections and Sina Weibo to express their shock and anger.

Several mahjong players were seen floating on a river and playing the game.

Worse, the loss came to a combined team of Europe and Japan, China’s arch rival. Some blasted the crushing loss as “the most disappointing performance in the history of all competition”. Other comments were even more poignant by comparing it to a “national shame” and said it was even more shameful than the country’s national football team.

New Beijing Daily even published an article looking at why the national team lost the game and summarized three reasons below:

Reason 1: Talent drain: grannies choose dancing over Mahjong.

To be fair, for this international game, no players from Sichuan or middle-aged retired women or government officials were on the Chinese national team. Sichuan is the mecca of Mahjong where a random vest-wearing, foot-rubbing man picked up from a street in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, could easily win the game. In addition, not even one county head or government bureau chief was selected to the national team. Some from Sichuan, Hunan, Hubei and Heilongjiang provinces have even been caught playing Mahjong during working hours. Such diligent practice must have made them top-class Mahjong players.

Probably the most capable players who missed out were the dancing grannies, who used to be religious Mahjong players before square dancing became popular.

One Weibo user (马乾恒) commented: “Ask the winner of the Mahjong tournament to compete with several aunties from some random famers’ markets. You shall see those laowai will even lose their passports in the end. When an auntie plays Mahjong, if she wins, she will throw scorns at you. If she loses, she will drone you with endless yells. After several rounds, there is nothing for you but to lose.”

Reason 2: No prize money means no motivation.

One thing that might have depleted Chinese players’ morale is that the Mahjong tournament has no prize money in an effort to distinguish it from gambling, which is banned in China.

Weibo user 作家崔成浩 wrote, “This time, I have to defend the Chinese team. The result by no means reflects the true ability of the China team, which comes from the country where Mahjong is invented. The reason for the loss is there was no financial incentive. As a result, the Chinese players were not even interested. If you don’t believe me, organize a competition with large amounts of financial incentives, you will see who will win the game.”

Meanwhile, some joked that cursing and smoking are banned in the game, which might have caused emotional upheavals among Chinese players, affecting their performances.

Bao Zhupo, a movie character from Steven Chow’s comedy Kungfu.

Reason 3: Mahjong is not a testing subject in the gaokao, or national college entrance examination.

CCTV sports commentator Huang Jianxiang wrote on Weibo, “Mahjong should be included in the Gaokao.” Given the fact so many students can memorize the date of birth of ancient historical figures, playing Mahjong would not be a problem at all.

Photos: Internet; baikeNew Beijing Daily 

Haohao

Heyuan Murder Suspect Jumps from 7th Floor Window to Avoid Capture

Posted: 04/24/2014 4:55 pm

Heyuan jumper murder suspect air mattress building suicide attemptAfter the grisly stabbing that left a mahjong parlor manager dead on April 18, a massive manhunt was on to catch prime suspect Wu X Zhong that included a RMB 20,000 reward.

On the afternoon of April 23, Wu was tracked down to his Shilong Plaza apartment in Yuancheng District of the City of Heyuan, Guangdong. Trapped on the seventh floor with no way out, Wu threatened to jump. Police cordoned off the area, called firefighters, and arranged to have an air bag set up on the street below.

RELATED: Pregnant Woman Commits Suicide, Family Blames Hospital

The bureau chief of the Yuancheng police and his own friend Li tried to talk Wu down, but after an hour of negotiation, Wu jumped.

Wu landed on the air mattress below. He was taken into custody, and is facing criminal charges.

People threatening to jump from tall places are usually wanting to attract attention, and a good barometer of having gotten enough attention is if an air mattress gets set up underneath.

So, what do you know? They’re not just full of hot air.Heyuan jumper murder suspect air mattress building suicide attemptHeyuan jumper murder suspect air mattress building suicide attemptHeyuan jumper murder suspect air mattress building suicide attemptHeyuan jumper murder suspect air mattress building suicide attempt

Photos: Dongguan Network

Related:
Threatening to Jump, Woman in Zhongshan Falls Asleep During Suicide Attempt
Suicide Affecting Laowai Population, too: Foreigner Threatens to Jump from GZ Building
Guangdong Schoolgirl Attempts Suicide Because Teacher Disapproved of Hairdo
A 16 Year-Old Boy Under Pressure At School Jumps to His Death in Shenzhen

Haohao
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