Joke of the Week
After dinner, I sat comfortably on the sofa and watched China Central Television’s 7pm Daily News broadcast. At the same time, a good friend was by my side, constantly telling me stories about how he earned millions of dollars a day, or how he once had a romance with a movie star. Several minutes later, I was so annoyed by the out-and-out lies I was being told that I decided some action had to be taken. I turned off the television and focused on my friend’s bragging.
—Jandan
Explanation: CCTV’s 7pm Daily News, or Xinwen Lianbo, is the most well-known mouthpiece news program in China. Chinese summarize the typical flow of the show like this: “In the first 10 minutes, show how busy party leaders are; next 10 minutes, show how happy the Chinese people’s lives are; last 10 minutes, show how bad foreign people’s lives are.“ A widespread joke about it says: ”I have a dream that one day I can live in Xinwen Lianbo.”
A mall in a city in China caught fire, and of the more than five hundred people inside, only 122 managed to escape. A foreigner asked a Chinese friend about it: “How many people lost their lives in the accident, then?” The Chinese replied: “Thirty-seven!” Startled by the answer, the foreigner said: “You must not know anything about basic arithmetic.” The Chinese replied: “You must know nothing about China!”
—Zhouyw
Explanation: Statistics issuing from official sources in China are always being questioned—especially when it comes to economics and casualties. One meme suggests that dozens of disasters, either natural or manmade, end up with an official death toll of exactly 37 (based on a search in Baidu). Internet users hence made the joke that there might be a secret rule that local Party officials will be dismissed if any more than 37 people die in an incident in their districts. In fact, there are many accidents in which more than 37 people were reported to have died—though the 37 meme, and mistrust in officialdom, persists.
