As the air pollution becomes too severe, China’s Beijing Municipality issued its highest-level red alert on Monday last week. Pollution of this magnitude has also sparked all kinds of jokes and ridicule on the Internet.
Because of the red alert, the Beijing city government advises high schools, elementary schools and kindergartens to suspend classes and calls on businesses to practice flextime. Except for electric vehicles, cars with even license plate numbers are ordered off the streets on odd dates and those with odd numbers are banned on even dates. Heavy-duty motorcycles are prohibited.
Chinese democracy movement leader Wang Dan, writing on his Facebook page, quoted a joke that has gone viral in Chinese forums. “A man visited Beijing and asked me, ‘Why are you Beijing people so proud of yourselves?’ Without saying a word, I took a deep breath and stared at him with a smile. He did not think it was a big deal and copied what I just did. He took a deep breath and…passed away at the age of 36.”
Photo: AFP
照片：法新社
A netizen responded, “When Shanghai was hit by smog there was another clever piece of dark humor: ‘The longest distance in the world is when we stand together on a Shanghai street: I hold your hand but cannot make out your face.’”
In the meantime, searches for things like face masks and air purifiers have increased on Chinese online shopping Web sites, and condoms are also among the sought-after products. The government-run China Daily newspaper explains, “People want their children to grow up in a good environment, so they do not want to get pregnant when the air quality is so bad.”
(Liberty Times, translated by Ethan Zhan)
Photo: AP
照片：美聯社
空氣污染太嚴重，中國北京市上週一發佈最高預警紅色警戒。而如此空污在網上也流傳出各式毒舌笑話。
因應紅色預警，北京政府建議中小學、幼兒園停課，企業實施彈性上班制；除了電動車，汽車將實施單數日雙號車牌禁行、雙號日單號車牌禁行，重型車輛禁止上路等。
中國民運領袖王丹在臉書裡特別引用中國論壇上流傳的段子：「有個人到北京，問我：『你們北京人憑什麼那麼牛逼？』我默默的深吸了一口氣，笑著看了看他。他不服，硬要學我，也深吸了一口氣......享年三十六歲。」
有網友表示：「之前上海霧霾，也有個很妙的黑色幽默：世界上最遠的距離，是一起站在上海的街頭，我牽著你的手，卻看不清你的臉。」
與此同時，中國購物網站的商品搜尋中，口罩、空氣清淨機等搜尋比例也跟著攀升。但值得注意的是，保險套也在這波搜尋量上升之中。中國官媒《中國日報》對此狀況解釋稱：「民眾因為想讓小孩處於好環境生長，所以不想在空氣品質差時懷孕。」
（自由時報報導）
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