This week, two incidents in which Chinese local shop owners were punished in light of harsh covid rules went trending on Chinese social media.
The first incident happened on November 10 in a milk tea store in Zhaozhou, Daqing city, in Heilongjiang province. In a viral video, a man could be seen walking into the store, seeming to be a regular customer.
The shop assistant first welcomes the man (“huānyíng guānglín” 欢迎光临) and then, after the man informs about the price of their product, asks him to please scan his health code (“sǎomǎ” 扫码). The man then says: “Too late, I’m from the market regulation office.”
After two other men walk in, the shop is then closed down – with seal and all – due to an alleged ‘improper implementation of Covid prevention rules.’ The sudden punishment was due to the mere fact that the shop assistant welcomed the customer before telling him to scan his code (check this article for more info on China’s health codes).
As the incident received a lot of attention on Weibo, the local authorities stated that they were holding a meeting about the incident and going over the facts.
Meanwhile, people pointed out the hypocrisy in the enforcement of rules. Some sarcastically wrote: “Those two [officials] just walk into a public space without even scanning their codes! They should be caught, and held accountable for breaking the law.”
“The video clearly shows what happened, why do you still need to ‘go over the facts’?”
Not long after the incident had gone viral, it was followed up by an official response which acknowledged that the incident involved three local officials and led to the milk shop being closed for one day. The three officers in question have since been reprimanded. A hashtag related to the official response to the incident (#官方回应网传一奶茶店未先说扫码被封#) received over 250 million views on Weibo.
Not wearing a mask during nap
A second similar incident that also went viral took place in Heilongjiang province as well, in the city of Mudanjiang.
On November 11, an employee of a local clothing store reported that she was taking a break and took a nap inside store when the shop was inspected by local officials who immediately gave the business a “yellow card” (黄牌) warning because the employee in question was not wearing a mask.
A video of the incident, which circulated on social media, showed that the employee was awoken by the door bell and a person in regular clothes coming in, asking “hello, is anybody here?” The shop assistant then stood up and asked what they wanted. The man then asked why she was not wearing a mask. “I was sleeping,” she responds: “You woke me up and asked if anyone was here! I am not even wearing shoes. I was not prepared to welcome any customers.”
The yellow card, which is also displayed on the storefront, means a business has to first rectify its previous errors to avoid a ‘red card’, which implies a temporary closure.
The incident received a lot of attention on Chinese social media, where people were outraged about the excessive and senseless anti-epidemic measures.
The fact that the incident went viral seemingly did lead to a quick resolution: the show owners have since posted an update to this story, saying the issue has now been resolved and that the yellow tag has been taken off their shop. They thanked netizens for showing support.
On social media, the questions are lingering. “A yellow card? Do they thing they’re soccer match referees?”
“Strange things are happening this year,” others wrote.
Another popular comment said: “For the past few years, these little shops have already endured enough during the pandemic. Just let them be.”
By Manya Koetse , with contributions by Miranda Barnes
Get the story behind the hashtag. Subscribe to What’s on Weibo here to receive our newsletter and get access to our latest articles:
Spotted a mistake or want to add something? Please let us know in comments below or email us. First-time commenters, please be patient – we will have to manually approve your comment before it appears.
©2022 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.
The post Harsh Covid Measures for Local Shop Owners Go Viral on Chinese Social Media appeared first on What's on Weibo.