Trending in Beijing: Glamour Grans and a QR Code Ban

The fun, the strange, and the what-on-earth-is-this? Trending in Beijing is a wrap-up of top stories in Beijing as told by the trending hashtags, local press, and general power of the internet.

Before she retired, 70-year-old Han Bin was an art sculptor. Now, she is an amateur model who, along with three other retired women, took off their masks to strut the streets of the city in elegant dress, celebrating Beijing’s return to normalcy. The quartet calls themselves Glamma Beijing, and they are as big a hit online as they are on the sidewalks, where people will frequently gawk and kneel to take a photo.

“When I get to be that age, I will inevitably end up staying inside, watching tv, and gossiping on Weibo,” remarked one commenter.

Perhaps fearing that a Samsung-esque blast could cause greater tragedy if it occurred near a gas station, Beijing has banned paying for fuel using a QR code on the gas pump, although customers can still use QR code payment if they go inside to pay.

Aside from cries of “safety first!” from the comment section, a number of netizens were understandably skeptical of the move. “I really don’t know what to say,” wrote one commenter. “The static from the human body is more likely to set off an accident than scanning a QR code.”

Local movie star Xie Yuan passes away

Award-winning actor and graduate of Beijing Film Academy, Xie Yuan died of a heart attack Tuesday at the age of 61. He was known for films such as The Chess Master and Born Coward as well as his role in the TV show Shanghai Family. Fans expressed their mourning, saying that his death was unexpected and that the actor had walked a good path

Images: Weibo