Chinese Technology is Trying to Kill You!

Your expensive high speed railway will not save you.

That title is not a metaphor. It seems technology in China really is trying to kill us.

First there was the escalator in Beijing that went crazy and reversed direction last week, injuring more than thirty people and killing one teenager, whose parents are now arguing with MTR, the company that runs that line of the Beijing subway, over what their child’s life was worth. Several other escalators along Line 4 have been shut down since the accident. That may be for unrelated reasons, but as a daily Line 4 passenger, I’m not complaining. I prefer a hiking up a few flights of stairs if the alternative is plummeting to my death.

The Beijing escalator betrayal seemed like an isolated incident at first, but then I learned that another escalator in Shanghai had done the same thing last night. Luckily, it malfunctioned well after rush hour, and as such, only two people were injured and no one was killed.

So avoid the escalators and you’ll be safe, right? Nope. Trains, bridges, and even roads are also out to kill you, and the scariest thing is, they’re all brand new!

Just a few loose bolts, but it’s still good!

Qingdao Haiwan Bridge, photo from The Telegraph

There was the story of China’s newest and grandest bridge, the largest sea bridge in the world. It was meant to be a crowning achievement that helped the Party fete the 90th anniversary on July 1st in style, but rumors quickly spread on Weibo that the bridge hadn’t been properly finished, and after investigating CCTV and other Chinese state media reported that the bridge had loose bolt nuts, unfinished guard rails, and no lighting whatsoever. Those, apparently, are separate projects that will be completed at a later date, even though the bridge is open right now.

Safer on solid ground? Think again

Then today rumors spread (again on Sina Weibo) that China’s new Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail is also having problems. A reported one-hour stop due to “weather”, it turns out, may have lasted more like two hours, may have included the train tipping precariously to one side, and there are many who doubt the weather had much of anything to do with it. The topic has quickly become one of the Chinese internet’s most popular; Weibo messages from a Caijing reporter about the delay were retweeted tens of thousands of times and this video of an angry passenger arguing with a clearly in-over-her-head and very sad conductor on the train was the second hottest thing on Youku as of this afternoon. The details of this story are not yet clear, but it is obvious that not all is well with China’s newest, fastest and highest-profile high speed rail line.

Less popular but also visible online was the story of this Yunnan highway, which collapsed entirely in one spot despite the fact that it wasn’t yet two days old. Check out the picture below to get an idea of the disturbing extent of the collapse (more on news.qq.com).

news.qq.com