Do you often shake your head in wonder at the things we see and hear on the news? Do you sometimes ponder what it would be like not having zonkras being born, or women catching toddlers from 10 floor falls? Me neither.

The Strange

1) Submissive Maids Serve in New Changsha Café

Maid Time, a new maid-themed café has opened in the Hunan’s capital of Changsha, with an 18-year-old average, female-only staff dressed in black and white French maid cosplay outfits.

The girls greet customers at the door with a subservient 'Is there anything I can do to serve you, master/husband?' and are expected to wear jeans or 'safety pants' (安全裤) under their prurient costumes, just in case the clientele temporarily forgets that any undressing can be done with eyes only. Attempting to extract any contact numbers from the teenage maids is also forbidden.

Unsurprisingly, Maid Time has its roots in Japan, where maid cafes first emerged, and has disseminated to China’s largest metropolises. It remains to be seen whether the culture for female submissiveness will catch on…

For more pictures, click here.

2) Monkey King Claims Lottery Ticket

You have to praise the winner of Chongqing’s China Sports Lottery. Not for landing the 177 million RMB ($27 million) jackpot, but for showing up in a Monkey King mask and white cap to pick his check up.

In what we imagine were muffled screeches, he confessed during a five minute interview that he hadn’t slept or eaten in anticipation of picking up his prize. Almost as an afterthought, the man decided that having displayed the wit of the monkey he portrayed, he would top it off by offering 5 million RMB to charity. Tip of the hat to you, sir.

3) ‘Zonkra’ Born in Xiamen Zoo

Most zebroids (cross between zebra and other equine) are the offspring of a zebra stallion. Last Sunday at Xiamen Haicang Wild Animal Park, however, a zebra mother gave birth to an offspring so rare they had to give it a special name: zonkra. The proud father, as the name suggests, was a donkey.

For a video, click here.

The Discussed

4) Woman Saves Toddler from 10th Floor Window Fall

Wu Juping, seen here with her own seven-month-old son, was walking down the street last Saturday afternoon in Hangzhou, when she noticed a baby dangling out the 10th floor of an apartment window. She had time to kick off her high-heels and reach out for the falling child. The toddler hit Wu’s left arm, fracturing it in multiple places, before dropping on the lawn. Wu woke up moments later in pain, and both were taken to the hospital.

Niu Niu, the two-year-old baby girl, suffering from internal bleeding, is in critical condition, while Wu will need to undergo operation to fix her arm and will require six months to recover from her injuries.

Responses on the net have outpoured in support of Wu Juping, with prayers going out to Niu Niu. Why the toddler was left unattended in a 10th floor apartment with a window open is cause for another debate. Hopefully, it’ll be a mistake the parents won’t live to regret.

5) Radiohead Joins Sina Weibo

Coming from a band who’s been outspoken in their support of Nobel Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, in addition to playing in the Tibetan Freedom Concert, the news is surprising, to say the least. But Radiohead did indeed open up their own Sina Weibo page.

The English band posted a laconic ‘testing the weibo’ on their new microblog account, which garnered over 4,000 excited comments and 60,000 new followers, many of which suspiciously have neither profile picture or followers.

Sina Weibo has placed a large marketing emphasis on promoting its microblog through celebrities. Tom Cruise and Bill Gates are among other Weibo users to suddenly develop the ability to read and write Chinese characters.

6) Beijing Escalator Goes on Reverse, Kills 1 and Injures 30

An accident at the Beijing Zoo subway station on Tuesday July 5th, saw one of the escalators suddenly free-fall into reverse, sending the rush hour commuters falling backwards on top of each other. Thirty were injured, three of them seriously, and a 13-year-old boy, who was on the way to the zoo with his father and his sister, died.

The escalator, produced by Otis, the leading manufacturer of escalators, had been checked for maintenance on June 22nd, and found to be in order. It was reported on July 6th the accident occurred due to “damage to spare parts that resulted in the drive chain slipping”. All injured passengers have been promised compensation for medical expenses, and the Beijing MTR has deactivated all Otis escalators on Line 4 for further inspection.

Related links:
Offbeat China: Bribes, Wives and more…
Offbeat China: Glass Bombs, Erotic Convos and more…
Offbeat China: Sadistic Nurses, Naked Sunbathing and more…

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