Quirky China: poker-faced bungee jumper, young good samaritan gives out masks, and university teaches whistling course
- A man once afraid of heights has become famous with his poker-faced bungee jumps
- A university has prompted debate about its whistling course after a video emerged of a teacher showing his whistling technique
A university that offers a controversial whistling course is in the spotlight after a video of one of its teachers wowing his students with an award-winning whistling technique was posted online.
While many have criticised the university for recently offering the unconventional course, it has proved popular among students.
Cao Qingyue, who teaches an elective course called “whistling art” at the Qingdao University of Science and Technology in China’s eastern Shandong province, became an immediate internet hit with the skill that has reportedly won him multiple awards in international competitions.
In the video posted by one of his students, Cao was widely applauded for demonstrating a difficult technique that matched pitch-perfectly with the tune he was playing in the background to the class.
Cao said he wanted to teach the art of whistling to help students develop diverse musical tastes.
Poker-faced bungee jumper once afraid of heights
A man who was once afraid of heights has attracted a legion of fans intrigued with his poker-faced bungee jumps into the abyss.
The man, known only as Tian, from China’s northeastern Hebei province, has amassed an online following for his ability to keep a straight face while casually leaping from great heights.
Showing no signs of fear or discomfort, Tian keeps his eyes open and remains frown-free as he videos himself jumping.
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Chinese man calmly bungee jumps without emotion
Tian said he was not born to be calm under extreme pressure and was once afraid of heights, but after two years of military service as a paratrooper, he overcame his fear.
“I’m treating bungee jump as work. Doing freestyle jumps has become a habit, just like eating for most people,” Tian told local news media.
Girls’s good mask deed does not go unnoticed
A 12-year-old Chinese girl who spent her allowance buying masks for bus drivers to give to forgetful passengers has been hailed a darling online for her generous gesture.
On Sunday, Zhang Yucheng, bought 2,000 masks for bus drivers to hand to passengers who had forgotten to travel with their masks.
Zhang, from China’s central Anhui province, was inspired to hand out the masks in boxes to bus drivers after witnessing a kind gesture by a stranger to her father, who was stopped from boarding a bus because he’d forgotten his mask.
China mandates face masks on all public transport to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
“That act warmed my heart and it made me think there must be a lot of other people who forget to bring a mask. So, I gave those masks to the drivers and hope they will help more people,” Zhang told local media.
