Chinese Rabbitholes Collection

1. #1Cat-face Nanny 猫脸老太

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   Popularity: well-known "Cat-face Nanny" is a famous urban legend in a northeastern city - Harbin. During the period of 1995 to 1996, many citizens claimed to have seen an old woman with a cat face in the snow. The Cat-face Nanny is generally described as fierce, animalistic, and cannibalistic, although there have been no cases of people being attacked by her. Some people claim that the Cat-face Nanny was transformed from an elderly woman who was abused by her children, while others associate it with the activities of Japanese biochemical forces in northeast region. The tale was widely spread in northeast around 1996, and then was mentioned again on the Internet around 2009. After the relaxation of cultural censorship policies for supernatural topics, many literary and film works based on this story have appeared.

2. #21999 Earth Defense War 99年战争

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   Popularity: well-known This is a famous meme on Chinese Internet, it originated from a post on the social forum "Weibo". The poster claims that Earth was invaded by extraterrestrial civilizations in 1999, but human ultimately defeated the invaders. All personnel involved in the war were forced to sign confidentiality agreements, government had also kept the relevant files confidential. Perhaps the poster did not expect, this stupid conspiracy would soon receive support from a group of "veterans". Many 80s people use this conspiracy to troll millennial netizens.

3. #3Living Column 生桩

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   Popularity: niche "Living column" is a terrifying rumor. It is said that in some places, children are buried in the foundation when building bridges and houses, believing that this can make the building more stable. This rumor began to circulate in Qing Dynasty and became even more popular during the Republic of China period. It is likely a conspiratorial misunderstanding of construction accidents, or a metaphor for authoritarian tyranny. However, in history, there have been some tragedies caused by taking such rumors seriously. In 1933, Guangdong warlord Chen Jitang actually buried two children in concrete while building a bridge, believing in this rumour.

4. #4Hulan Swordsman 呼兰大侠

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   Popularity: well-known In 1986, a mysterious person broke into the staff dormitory of Harbin City Court and killed 11 people - including judges, law enforcement officers and their families - by cutting their throats with a dagger. This killer wrote his criminal motive on the wall with blood after committing the crime - "Eliminating Injustices", as well as his title - "Hulan Swordsman". Even more, during the police investigation, the "swordsman" returned to the scene and killed two detectives. In the following year, the "swordsman" continued to commit assaults against law enforcement officers. After each assault, he would write a line of provocative words with blood near the scene, but even so, the police still couldn't find him. In June 1987, after the last crime, "swordsman" disappeared. The number of people killed by him during this period may exceed 27. Due to his highly skilled killing techniques and strong anti investigation abilities, there are rumors that this person may be a special forces soldier who retired from the Korean War or Vietnam War. Some people also point out that the "swordsman" may not be just one person, but include many copycat criminals.

5. #5Red-clothed Boy 红衣男孩

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   Popularity: niche In 2009, a southwestern city Chongqing, a 13-year-old boy was found hanging at rented house. The boy was found wearing a red women's dress with a women's swimsuit underneath, and a lead weight was attached to his ankle. The boy's chest was stuffed with two clumps of cloth, creating the shape of breasts. When searching the room, the police found some candles and traces of wax on the boy's body. Sexual crimes are the first possibility that the police consider. However, the room was initially locked and there was no other way for people to enter or exit. After investigating the boy's family background, the police found the boy may have crossdressing fetish and sexual addiction. Parents of the boy are busy workers who rarely pay attention to the needs of their child, and in fact, the boy has already had some experience of self bondage and sexual asphyxia. Therefore, the police defined the boy's death as suicide or accident. However, some people claim that this case may be related to some witchcraft, believe the child is a sacrifice for some kind of ritual. In addition, some doubts in the case are also unsettling, such as the weight tied to the boy's ankle, which was tied up after the boy's hands were bound.

6. #6Dismemberment Body Case of Nanjing University 南大碎尸案

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   Popularity: well-known In 1996, a student named Diao Aiqing from Nanjing University was reported missing. Nine days later, parts of her dismembered body was found on a roadside not far from the campus, packed in a black travel bag. Two other travel bags were later discovered. After confirmation, Diao Aiqing's body was cut into a total of 2000 pieces, and some of them seemed to have been cooked, which made it difficult for the police to reconstruct the body well. The killer's method of dismembering the body was professional, made the police suspect that it was done by a professional medical worker or student. Diao Aiqing is a person who specializes in academics and had few friends in college before her death. Therefore, the police suspect that the perpetrator may have committed random murder or attempted to destroy the evidence by dismemberment due to manslaughter. Despite this, the police have been unable to find any traces left by the perpetrator. This case has been mentioned in many Chinese crime and horror novels. In 2008, a user posted a message on Diao Aiqing's memorial forum, saying "I really miss you, hope you're living well." The poster's identity aroused suspicion, especially when that account was inexplicably banned.

7. #7QQ Group of "Impurities" 不净观QQ群

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   Popularity: cult QQ was the most popular social platform in China from the beginning of the millennium to around 2019. One popular function of QQ is "QQ group", which refers to online chat rooms. Before the legal supervision of it was perfected, people's speech in QQ groups had always been quite free, which led some cults to use this function as their medium of preaching. "Contemplation of impurity" is a Buddhist concept that suggests that in order to overcome the obstacles of lust, people should change their way of viewing the human body - negating it, to be precise. To achieve this, people must engage in spiritual practice, which includes constantly reciting the names of various organs in the human body, as well as some more extreme methods such as self-skinning, consuming excrement, sleeping with corpse and skeleton, and so on. In 2020, some chat screenshots of QQ groups of "Impurities" from a few years ago began to spread on the internet, which included many horrible pictures about these Buddhists.

8. #8von Hagens Human Body Plasticization Factory 冯·哈根斯人体塑化厂

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   Popularity: mysterious Gunther von Hagens was a German anatomist. In 1993, he founded the Institute of Anatomy at Heidelberg University and invented bioplasticization technology. This technology can make animal corpses into long-lasting specimens by replacing the fat and connective tissue of the corpse with plastic components. In 1999, Hagens invested $15 million in Dalian City to build a bioplasticization factory and established a cooperative relationship with Dalian Medical University, earning him a honorary professorship. Perhaps for advertising purposes, Hagens had held many exhibitions on plasticized human corpses. Many of these corpses were placed in an unsightly posture and even dismantled to shape artistic images, which has been criticized by some as a desecration of human dignity. In addition, a considerable number of these bodies are of Asian descent. Hagens himself admits that most of them come from the Central Asian country Kyrgyzstan, as well as from Dalian. According to the law, corpses in funeral homes are not tradable property. After this incident was exposed, the funeral industry in Dalian suffered a great blow. Now the Hagens factory has moved out of Dalian. People will remember the contribution made by this businessman to the medical field.

9. #91986 Spring Festival Gala 86年春晚

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   Popularity: well-known The Spring Festival Gala was once the highest rated television program in China, broadcasted on New Year's Eve every year. There was a widely spread Mandela effect regarding the 1986 Spring Festival Gala. People generally believe that Luo Jing, a famous TV host at the time, attended the gala, but in fact, Luo had already passed away before that. In addition, the sound of the bell played during the New Year countdown was considered unpleasant and even eerie by many people, had even been criticized as "funeral bell". Except those, the gala that year was splendid, especially its comedy sketches, which have received a lot of discussion even today.

10. #10Dream of The Red Chamber, 1987 Version 87版红楼梦

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    Popularity: niche "Dream of the Red Chamber" is a famous romantic novel that emerged in Qing Dynasty. This novel itself is highly mysterious, as it contains rich metaphors and has many different versions. Due to its popularity and literary value, the novel is often adapted into movies and TV dramas. The 1987 remake of the TV series "Dream of the Red Chamber" restored the novel in a highly aesthetic style, is a relatively successful remake. However, there are rumors that this TV series has been cursed. Actor Chen Xiaoxu, who played the female lead Lin Daiyu in the drama, became mentally unstable after filming and passed away a few years later. Ma Guangru, who played Jia Rui, also died of alcoholism shortly after. Yue Yun, who played Wang Xifeng, committed suicide by jumping off a building due to emotional issues. Many actors who have participated in the drama have experienced tragic endings.

11. #11XXNDA

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    Popularity: mysterious "XXNDA" is a guy who actives on the online forum "Tieba". He is a visual arts creator, his early works often contain various bizarre, eerie, and bloody elements, such as the "little green series", "my beloved orange", etc. Besides his works, he often posts some riddles on his personal homepage. These riddles usually hide some hyperlinks, and the websites pointed to by the hyperlinks include some creative notes or personal residence photos of XXNDA. Now, XXNDA no longer publishes such contents and has begun to officially accept commercial orders. However, he never intended to explain the meaning of his early creations. A true artist.

12. #12Ripped Hun Sculpture 胡人开膛俑

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    Popularity: mysterious It is a funerary sculpture discovered in the tomb of a Tang Dynasty noble at Shannxi Province. The sculpture depicts the abdomen and chest cavity of a Hun (Sogdian) man being ripped open, revealing his internal organs. The academic community generally believes that this sculpture showcases the acrobatic skills of the Sogdians, as there is indeed a record in historical books of "Hun Ripping Show". The human anatomical structure displayed by the statue is quite precise, some scholars believe that the statue may also have been used for medical teaching purposes. In Tang Dynasty, Arab surgical techniques were spread in mainland China.

13. #13Teeth Play 耍牙

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    Popularity: mysterious "Teeth Play" is an ancient acrobatic technique that first appeared in Zhejiang Province. The performer holds two to eight wild boar fangs in their mouth and uses their oral muscles and tongue to saltatorially manipulate them. This performance technique is almost lost today with no more than 10 skilled performers. This may be because practicing this technique can easily cause damage to the mouth and trigger oral cancer, many performers have died young.

14. #14Charlie IX 查理九世

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    Popularity: well-known Charlie IX is an adventure novel series published by the author "Leo Illusion" in 2010. The novel tells the story of the protagonist Mo Dodo, and his talking dog, Charlie IX, embarking on adventures in various magical and spine chilling secret realms. This series was very popular among children at the time, but was banned around 2017 for to being "too scary". Afterwards, there was a less terrifying facelift, but its sales were far inferior to the original version. Many fans of this series are disappointed with the banning, for Charlie IX is truly an excellent series.

15. #15Wang junyi 王俊伊

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    Popularity: niche On the Internet, Wang Junyi is a celebrity who graduated from a famous school and participated in two TV dramas and movies, but in reality, this person probably does not exist. As people checked the cast lists of the movies and TV shows he claimed to have participated in, they found that he was not among them, and his photos were also pointed out to have been forged using AI. Although the identity of this celebrity is questionable, there is no doubt that he has "successfully" endorsed advertisements for over a dozen companies. This whole thing can't even be considered a scam, after all, which celebrity wasn't forged?

16. #16Gu Cheng's Uxoricide 顾城杀妻案

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    Popularity: well-known Gu Cheng was born in 1956 and began writing in 1973. This handsome poet conquered the hearts of many people, including his wife Xie Ye (also a poet), with his dreamlike and fairytale-like works. In 1988, Gu Cheng and Xie Ye moved to Waiheke Island, New Zealand, where they lived a simple life. However, in 1993, Gu Cheng suddenly broke down, used an axe to chop Xie Ye to death in the garage. He then returned to the bedroom, wrote four confessional poems, then hung himself. Because their villa was isolated from the world, their deaths were discovered after a period of time, and no one knows the reason why Gu Cheng suddenly did this, but the poet's emotions have always been unstable. When they first arrived in New Zealand, Gu Cheng and Xie Ye raised 200 pet chickens. When the local government informed them that raising so many chickens was illegal, Gu Cheng personally killed all the chickens and sent all the chicken heads to the local police chief. Besides, Gu Cheng was a control-maniac, he did not allow Xie Ye to have contact with other men, while he himself had an affair with another woman named Li Ying. Gu Cheng's poems are still included in students' textbooks today because they are so heartbreakingly beautiful.

17. #17Novel House of Chongqing 重庆小说屋

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    Popularity: mysterious This house is located in the suburbs of Chongqing City and looks just like an ordinary abandoned house from the 1980s. However, the interior walls of the house, including the ceiling, are covered in black words and illustrations. These words are not illogical, but rather a complete martial arts novel. The house has been unoccupied for a long time, but from the perspective of writing and style, this novel is a work from around the 80s. Some people speculate based on the novel title on the door panel: "Kidnapping, When I Was in Ruian" that it may have been written by a kidnapped person who may have been imprisoned for a long time. Some people are also convinced that this novel was written by a mentally disturbed martial arts novel enthusiast, and they have all witnessed this guy entering and leaving the house.

18. #18Skeleton Puppets 骷髅幻戏图

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    Popularity: niche "Skeleton Puppets" is a painting work by Tang Dynasty painter Li Song. In the painting, a pedlar dressed skeleton is manipulating a small skeleton puppet with silk thread, entertain the child in front of it. Although it may seem strange, this painting actually has a positive connotation. In the Buddhist concept of the "Contemplation of Impurity", the flesh and skin of people always dissolve after death, while the bones can remain forever, thus skeletons were usually given the meaning of "eternity" in Tang Dynasty paintings. An eternal object, entertaining a child - it is a strange metaphor for "hope". This painting is currently preserved in the Palace Museum, and is one of China's national treasures.

19. #19Jews Destroyed Song Dynasty 犹太亡宋论

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    This is a conspiracy theory suggests that the Jewish community in China during 13th century indirectly or directly led to the downfall of Song Dynasty. The origin of this statement comes from the record of the historical figure "Pu Shougeng". This person came to China in 1217 as a "blue hat Muslim" merchant. This merchant made a fortune by monopolizing China's spice trade, and was enfeoffed by Emperor Ningzong of Song, who gifted him a military fleet to assist him in combating piracy. However, during the Mongol conquest, this merchant betrayed Song Dynasty. He assisted the Mongolian army in breaking through several cities and turned over the fleet given to him by the emperor to attack the royal navy. Through such betrayal, Pu's clan received preferential treatment in Yuan Dynasty. But when Mongol Empire collapsed and Yuan Dynasty was replaced by Ming Dynasty, the first emperor of Ming, Zhu Yuanzhang, ordered the execution of most members of Pu's clan, and the rest were castrated as servants. The term "blue hat Muslims" may refer to Muslims or Jews, as China did not distinguish between these two ethnic groups at that time. The debate over Pu Shougeng mainly revolves around his ethnic group. Most scholars believe that Pu Shougeng's ancestors were Muslims living in Arab region, as they found a complete family genealogy that describes how Pu's family gradually migrated to China. But some scholars inferred from Pu's lifestyle records that he was Jewish. Due to Pu's bloodline being severed, people are unable to verify his lineage through DNA testing. The main reason for the downfall of Song Dynasty was the financial pressure brought by its huge bureaucratic structure, as well as the suppression and interference of the civil service group in the military.

20. #20PDD Sells "Girl's Meat Mince" 拼多多卖女童猫粮

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    Popularity: cult PDD is an online shopping platform established in 2015. This platform had an extremely low entry barrier during its initial launch, allowing anyone to trade their stuffs. In 2016, some people discovered that a store called "Lio-go Pet Food" on PDD displayed some disturbing pictures of minced meat on its shelves, with a caption claiming that these minced meats were from human girls. After the incident was exposed, the store was banned by the platform and the police began to investigate. There was no follow-up to the incident, except PDD paid a huge fine as a result.

21. #21Missing Dog 88:00 寻狗启示88:09

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    Popularity: cult This is an urban legend that has been circulating on a small scale. The relevant discussions describe this incident as "extremely disturbing", but I cannot find any complete description of the incident. I can only present the information I have collected so far below:

    1. Discussions about the incident began with a series of online images, they present some "missing dog notices" flyers posted on the streets. There are no photos of the missing dog on these flyers, but rather some irregular geometric shapes, illogical words that may be poetry, and a random timestamp, such as "88:00".
    2. People find these images unsettling because they associate the content with mental illness, criminal organizations, or cults. These pictures are exist, but it is said that only a small part of which we can see on the Internet now.
    3. These flyers may just be some kind of street art, or those pictures may just be forged. Since there is no information about the location of these flyers, I am unable to verify. The whole "incident" may just be a mysterious scam, with some folks trying to create a Internet lore similar to smile.jpg to troll others.
22. #22Uber Ghost Drivers 优步鬼司机

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    Popularity: niche Uber began developing its business in China in 2014, but failed in competition with local brand Didi in 2016 and thus abandoned the Sino-market. During the two years, the "Uber Ghost Drivers" incident sparked heated discussions. The incident mainly occurred in 2015, when some Uber users complained that they did not receive the ride hailing service after calling and paying for it. And when they checked the relevant information of these ride hailing drivers, they found that they all had twisted and terrifying faces. This incident was later found to be a scam. Some people register as drivers with false identity information and photos, then cheat Uber users of their money. In order to pass the real person facial recognition test during account registration, they distorted fake photos to create "expressions". This incident is suspected to be a vicious commercial competition done by Uber's opponents, as the use of such technological means to deceive ride hailing users' payments is simply unnecessary. Some conspiracy theorists also link this incident to the Internet lore of "alternate", they believe that these drivers do exist, but they are some kind of eldritch existence hide within human society.

23. #23Qiqihar Dungeon 齐齐哈尔地牢

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    Popularity: niche In the northeastern city Qiqihar, there is a bunker known locally as the "Big Black Bulge". The bunker was established in 1938 by the Japanese 516 unit, which was specialized in researching chemical weapons. The bunker has a huge and intricate underground tunnel network that connects barracks, chemical weapons laboratories, and chemical weapons warehouses. When Japan surrendered in 1945, bunker commander ordered the destruction of these chemical weapons, thus the Japanese soldiers directly dumped all the toxins into the nearby river. In 1967, local government cleared the bunker. In 1987, the government once again cleared the bunkers, destroyed some remaining chemical weapon samples, and attempted to renovate the bunkers into anti-aircraft shelters, but abandoned the plan two years later and blockaded the buildings. In 2009, the bunker reopened. It is said that some strange incidents occurred during the process of clearing the bunker. For example, people have discovered a well preserved dog wrapped in a vacuum bag that was used as an experimental subject, and some human outlines found in prison cells, reportedly prisoners directly dissolved by some chemical reagent.

24. #24The Similarity Between Linear B and Oracle Bone Script 线形文字B与甲骨文的相似

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    Popularity: niche Oracle bone script is the earliest written form in China. It is a type of pictographic script that was carved on animal bones or wooden pieces and was used around 1300 BC to 1000 BC. Linear B is a pictographic script used by the Mycenaean civilization in ancient Greece, usually carved on clay or stone slabs, and was used between 2000 BC to 650 BC. Today's Chinese characters have evolved continuously from oracle bone script, making it relatively easy to decipher. Linear B however, was deciphered by Michael Ventris and John Chadwick in 1952, almost half a century after its excavation. By comparing the grammar and alphabet of Linear B and oracle bone script, scholars have found that the two are similar in many aspects. This has led to or propelled a series of subsequent theories, including the undiscovered early connections between China and the West, the Indo-European origins of the Sino ethnic, and even the collective unconscious prototype of humanity as a whole. However, these similarities cannot yet serve as conclusive evidence for any of the aforementioned theories.

    In fact, people had already discovered the similarities between oracle bone script and Egyptian hieroglyphs earlier. After all, the essence of pictographic writing is to record the original appearance of an object. Who can still draw it as a square after seeing the sun?

25. #25Lu Zhengli 陆正力

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    Popularity: mysterious In 2008, the Beijing police discovered a highly decomposed female body in a grassy area near the Capital International Airport. The body was wearing a vest and shorts, with knife wounds on its body, indicating that it was murdered. The DNA of the female corpse does not match the DNA of all the missing persons in Beijing, and there is no object on her body that can prove the identity of the murderer. The only clue is the tattoo on the woman's arm, which consists of three variant Chinese characters resembling a person's name "Lu Zhengli". There are about hundreds of Lu Zhenglies in capital, the police investigated some of them, but found nothing. At this moment, a police officer from Guangdong suddenly discovered that these three variant characters have different pronunciations in Cantonese, which is "Lu Leding". However, the capital has hundreds of Lu Ledings too. After conducting another investigation, the police still found nothing. Finally, the police found out through consulting relevant information from the Ministry of Education that these three characters are used by the Zhuang ethnic group, pronounced as "Lu Zhenge", and should be the name of the deceased person herself. However, due to the lack of other clues, the police are still unable to locate the perpetrator.

26. #26Zhu Yu 朱昱

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    Popularity: mysterious Zhu Yu is a famous - or rather infamous - performance artist. His works usually revolve around themes of cannibalism and necrophilia. In 1995, he released his debut work "Foundations of All Epistemologies". He "borrowed"five corpses from his university's medical school, took out their brains, crushed them, bottled them, and sold them on shelves. In 1999, he displayed another piece of his work "Pocket Theology" in a residential building in Beijing - a dead arm holding a rope. In 2000, he created "Infatuation with Injury" - transplanting a piece of skin from his abdomen into a pork. His two most controversial works were completed in 2000 and 2002. One of them is called "Cannibalize" - Zhu Yu personally cooked and ate a aborted female fetus in front of the public. The other one - "Sacrifice" - Zhu Yu fed him and a prostitute's child - a four month old fetus that had been aborted - to a dog. It's hard to say whether this artist is testing the bottom line of humanity or just pervert, but he did disgust the majority of his audience, which can be considered an artistic success.

27. #27Hoarse 嘲哳

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    Popularity: cult "Hoarse" (嘲哳) - The English translation of this word can never bear the weight of its original meaning. "Hoarse" is a web visual novel released around 2006. According to the screenshots we can find now, the cover of the novel is a blurred images of a group of "paper figures" used in Chinese funerals. According to its players, the text content of the game is entirely in ancient Chinese, describing hallucinations in the eyes of a mentally ill patient. In 2008, the government began implementing media censorship in preparation for the Olympic Games, this visual novel and a group of similar avant-garde art works on the internet were banned at that time until 2024, clues about this work will appear on the Internet again. Interested people began to engage in a "cyber archaeology" in an attempt to bring this work to light. But as of now (September 2024), apart from some memories of veteran players, this work remains a mystery.

28. #28Avatar Performance 僮身

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    Popularity: well-known Avatar Performance (僮身) is a folk performance in Fujian Province, usually performed on the last day of the Spring Festival. Performers are usually men aged 20 to 50, who will be placed on a sedan chair filled with sharp knives, dancing while continuously whipping their backs with a spiked flail. The man who engage in this self-injurious performance will be considered as avatar of bodhisattvas and worshipped by people. This performance is a combination of Buddhist beliefs and shamanic remains in Hakka culture. Although locals generally claim that this event was to pay tribute to a famous Ming dynasty general Qi Jiguang, it's history dates back to earlier times. Similar folk performances can also be found in other Hakka cultural regions, such as Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Taiwan. Although this performance is quite bloody and prone to casualties, as one of the important folk customs of Hakka culture, authorities and academia have been committed to documenting and protecting it. At the same time, in order to ensure the safety of performers' lives, those sharp knives and spiked flails have been replaced by flowers and colorful ropes.

29. #29Black Bamboo Valley 黑竹沟

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    Popularity: niche Black Bamboo Valley locates deep in the dense forests of Sichuan Province, it is a swamp shrouded in mist all year round. This area has been considered a restricted zone since ancient times, many locals and animals have disappeared completely after getting lost here. In 1950, KMT general Hu Zongnan's army entered this area, all 30 personnels went missing. In 1955, a military surveying team entered the swamp and also went missing. In 1997, two scientists are missing. In 2014, a four person tour group entered the area, and one of them got separated from the group, one month later, his body was found. The reason why this place is so abnormal is likely due to its turbulent magnetic field. Scientists speculate that there is a large amount of magnetite buried underground here, making navigation methods that rely on geomagnetic fields unusable. The magnetic field disorder here also creates a magical phenomenon: whenever there is a thunderstorm, the valley echoes with vague cries and the sound of weapons colliding. Given that this is an ancient battlefield from the Three Kingdoms period, it is likely that underground magnetite was used as a natural magnetic tape to record the sounds of those battles occurred here.

30. #30Changhua Elevator Missing Case 彰化电梯失踪案

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    Popularity: niche The case occurred in Changhua, Taiwan in 2008. A woman named Liu Huijun entered a building, walked into the elevator with her daughter and suddenly took off her and her daughter's coat and shoes. After exiting the elevator, the two individuals just disappeared. The police carefully searched the interior of the building and a large area nearby, but did not find any trace of the two. The relationship between the woman and her husband is not good, and she has been subjected to violence by her husband. The reason why she took her daughter away from home that day was also due to her husband's anger, but people don't know why she brought her daughter to this building.

31. #31Billboard Corpse Case 郑州广告牌藏尸案

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    Popularity: mysterious The case occurred in Zhengzhou, Henan in 2015. A highly decomposed female body was found behind a McDonald's billboard in a famous commercial square in the area - Erqi Square. The body belongs to the female painter Liu Yuan who went missing a month ago, she had lived in the Friendship Building where the billboard was located before her death. The police believe that the incident may have been an accidental fall or suicide, although there are no relevant eyewitness records.

32. #32Dig Hostage Incident 通化"挖人质"案

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    Popularity: mysterious In 2009, a woman in Tonghua, Jilin suddenly received a text message from her missing husband, composed of several fragmented Chinese characters that read like "Dig Hostage". After locating the mobile phone that sent the message, the police found the buried body of the woman's husband on a mountain. The murderer - the man's creditor - was soon arrested. However, strangely enough, he did not admit that he sent the text message to the man's wife. The forensic expert believes that the man did try to text his wife when he was buried alive, but was failed. After his death, the body swelled and pressed the send button, delivering the death message to his lover.

33. #33Do Not Point At The Moon 指月亮割耳朵

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    Popularity: well-known This is a custom and folk legend of Hakka people in Fujian Province - if you point a finger at the moon, your ear will be cut off by it. This legend may come from the Hakka people's animistic worship of the moon. In pre-Qin era, the ethnic group of Hua Xia had a tradition of worshiping the "Taiyin Starlord" - Moon Goddess. However, with the popularization of Confucianism in China, "Taiyin" transformed from a concrete deity to an abstract concept. However, as a branch that preserves the original Han culture, Hakka people still worship these specific deities. They believe that pointing fingers at the moon is a blasphemy against the goddess, so they use such legends to intimidate those who do not understand its mysteries - mainly children. And of course, no one would actually cut your ears If you do so.

34. #34Nuclear Bundling Strategy 核捆绑战略

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    Popularity: niche In 2003, a post on China.com claimed that China had proposed a nuclear bundling plan in response to a possible nuclear war. It claims that once China is targeted for nuclear strike, an automated system will launch all the inventory in China's nuclear arsenal to all major countries, regardless of whether their relationship with China is friendly or not, to ensure a world-class nuclear war will inevitably break out and no one will benefit from it. This post has not received official recognition or denial, and many people believe it is a conspiracy theory, but in fact, most nuclear armed countries in the world have similar strategic mechanisms, such as the United States' M.A.D. Mechanisms and the "Perimeter" system of the Soviet Union/Russia.

35. #35Chenwei 谶纬

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    Popularity: well-known Chenwei (谶纬) is a divination method in Taoism, which is essentially a cryptographic system based on Chinese characters. It compiles Chinese characters into a complex matrix chart and assigns mystical meanings to them based on their position in the chart. In Han Dynasty, Chenwei was very popular. Except for the distinctive founding emperor Liu Bang himself, all subsequent emperors would conduct Chenwei before ascending to the throne in an attempt to predict the fate of the empire. The traditional "birth date and eight characters" are also a type of Chenwei. Fortune teller will calculate eight Chinese characters based on each person's birthday and specific time, and deduce their fate based on these characters.

36. #36"Door Mark" Incident

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    Popularity: mysterious This incident was recorded by a Qing dynasty novelist Li Yu in his work "Gossips of Earthworm Temple", cannot be ruled out that it is a fabricated story. The story goes that in the Ming Dynasty, some symbols suddenly appeared on the doors of various households in a city - some were crosses, some were circles, some were painted with red, and some were painted with white. This city soon encountered war. All the households with circles on their doors were slaughtered, while those with crosses were burned down, but those marked in red survived. Although no specific location was mentioned, researchers believe that the story may be describing the actions of Li Zicheng, the leader of the peasant rebellion in the late Ming Dynasty - this cruel warlord's bandit army always plundered the cities they captured.

37. #37010-67679910

    Keys: 010-67679910

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    Popularity: niche 010-67679910 was a famous "haunted hotline" at the beginning of millennium. It was rumored that dialing this number could hear the cries of women and babies. Now this number has become a dead number. Maybe those ghosts are retired, idk.

38. #38Rural Mini Plane 乡村小飞机

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    Popularity: well-known "Rural mini plane" is a series of unidentified flying object sightings reported around 1980s and 1990s. Such sightings have occurred in various parts of China, but mainly in rural areas. Witnesses claimed to have seen some "low altitude flying objects in the shape of airplanes", typically ranging in size from 30 to 50 centimeters. Some witnesses even "saw pilot in the cockpit". This is the most famous UFO sighting event in China, there are currently the following scientific explanations for it:

    1. visual illusion - In the 1980s, airplanes were not yet common in rural areas of China, people may have mistaken airplanes in the sky for being close to themselves.
    2. muscae volitantes - some patients with floaters may mistake the retinal shadows they see for some kind of flying object.
    3. Mandela effect - Although the related eyewitness reports occurred in the last century, discussion about this incident mainly took place on online forums around 2010. The 1990s was the peak period of development for China's mass media and aviation industry, during which programs and advertisements related to aviation were frequently broadcasted on radio and television. With such collective memories, perhaps someone shared their childhood hallucinations on the forum, leading to the emergence of such so-called "eyewitness events" like an avalanche.
    4. insects or wild animals - Some people may mistake flying insects or animals, such as dragonflies, mayflies, birds and bats, for artificial flying objects. Apart from these mainstream explanations, conspiracy theories about this event are also constantly emerging:
    5. spy aircraft - Some people believe that these "small planes" were spy flying objects dropped by the United States or the Soviet Union within Chinese territory.
    6. lilliput or alien civilization - Some people believe that these planes were piloted by aliens or "pocket people". A rather childish idea.
39. #39Riders' Hallucinations

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40. #40彁

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    Popularity: niche "彁" is a so-called "ghost Chinese character", which is a new Chinese character generated by a Unicode encoding error. It has no practical meaning, but often appears in garbled text on computers. There are a total of 12 similar ghost Chinese characters. In 2023, themed art works of "Chinese character simulation horror" began to appear, and these ghost Chinese characters that should not have existed will be used as raw materials to create a terrifying atmosphere.

41. #41Obsolescent Humanity 被淘汰的人性

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    Popularity: cult A documentary series created by a certain Tieba user modeled after "Most Disturbed Person". The series was not widely spread and was quickly banned.

42. #42Multimedia City 多美体城

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    Popularity: mysterious http://mc-xjtu.us/ - This webpage contains some illogical language that blends Chinese and English, and includes multiple links to various images based on Chinese characters and Taoist graphics that appear to be architectural design drawings. The website designer seems to be showcasing his/her grand plan - to build a "multimedia city" to solve land resource crisis. Some interpreters associate this webpage with transhumanism and New Age cults.

43. #43Tianjin Daily Building 天津日报大厦

    Keys: Tianjin Daily Building

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    Popularity: niche The Tianjin Daily Building was built in 1997, can be regarded as a landmark building in the city. However, the 14th floor of this building has never had any lights on. The door leading from the stairwell to the 14th floor is sealed, and the building's elevator does not stop on this floor. It is said that during the construction of the building, a female worker slipped and fell into the concrete, becoming part of the 14th floor, and her ghost began to haunt the building from then on. Before the closure of the 14th floor, the newspaper had a departments on that floor. The employees of that department have reported that they always feel uneasy at work, and many employees have fallen ill as a result. Two security guards claimed that they once saw the ghost of the woman with their own eyes while patrolling on the 14th floor at night. Although the newspaper has clarified that these incidents are all fabricated, and the reason why the lights on the 14th floor are not turned on is because that floor is a darkroom for developing photos, but now this floor has indeed been closed, the truth is still unknown.

44. #44Liwan Plaza 荔湾广场

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    Popularity: well-known Liwan Plaza was built in 1996 and is a famous commercial square in Guangzhou. It is said that during the initial construction, people discovered the location of the square was actually an ancient tomb, and eight chained coffins were excavated from it. Due to its location in the busiest area of Guangzhou, business at Liwan Plaza was exceptionally booming. Soon however, various horrifying events began to happen here. The first developer of the square was found responsible for a fire and imprisoned. The second developer was murdered and had his abdominal cavity completely cut open. The third developer fell from the building and died, and was pierced by steel bars when landing. In addition, this square also frequently experiences suicide and abandoned infant cases. Some superstitious people say that all of this is because of the eight coffins that were dug out in the first place. Now, after all the tragedies, the square is still bustling, and there are still merchants who covet this bustling and take risks to take over this real estate...

45. #45Yau Ma Tei Station Incident 油麻地站事件

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    Popularity: niche The incident occurred at the Yau Ma Tei MTR station in Hong Kong, 1981. One afternoon, as a subway departing from Central Hong Kong was about to enter the station, the train driver and passengers on the platform saw a girl in a white school uniform, about sixteen or seventeen years old, jumping onto the subway track. The driver immediately applied emergency brake, but the train slid a long distance under the action of inertia. During this period, both the driver and passengers on board clearly felt that the subway had "crushed over something". However, when people subsequently came to inspect near the subway tracks, no bloodstains or bodies were found. Due to the sudden incident, no one could see the girl's appearance clearly. This case became a mystery in Hong Kong and remains unsolved to this day. —— Refutation —— Yau Ma Tei Station belongs to the MTR Tsuen Wan Line, which was opened in 1982. The incident occurred in 1981, which is not feasible in terms of time.

46. #46Leaping Deer 跃动的小鹿

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    Popularity: mysterious "Leaping Deer" is a Chinese Internet meme, which is originated from a discussion on the Zhihu forum. A poster shared a Korean movie she watched called "Leaping Deer" on the forum. The plot of the movie is roughly about a couple stranded on a deserted island. At first, the two work together to survive, but as the hope of rescue is shattered, the male protagonist becomes increasingly agitated and eventually kills the female protagonist. The poster stated that the narrative style of the movie is quite stream of consciousness, and the camera language also has the characteristics of avant-garde films. The post has received a lot of discussion, with many people claiming to have watched this movie or movies with similar plots, but unable to find resources for the movie. As the news continued to spread, rumors about this perhaps non-existent movie began to circulate online, such as "this movie was not widely spread because it was too sensational and bloody", "this movie contained some political metaphors and was banned by the Korean side", and so on.

47. #47Seven Fairy Maidens Case 静海七仙女案

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    Popularity: niche The incident occurred at Jinghai No.1 Highschool in Tianjin, 1998. A school student - girl A - had thoughts of suicide due to a breakup and express her intense to her roommate girl B. B then agreed to commit suicide by taking poison with A and instigated A to poison five other girls in the same dormitory. However, that night, after A tricked his roommate into taking poison then killed herself, B did nothing but watch them die. In the end, only B survived among the seven girls in the dormitory. B slept with six corpses for that night, and the next day, she woke up as if nothing had happened and went to class.

48. #488000 Yuan Per Month Part-time Job 8000元兼职案

    Keys: 8000 yuan Part-time Job Incident

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    Popularity: mysterious In 2014, a woman claimed on her social media that an unknown person had contacted her and offered to pay her 8000 yuan per month, provided that she was willing to install cameras in every corner of her house. The woman agreed to the request and filmed the entire process of workers installing cameras at her home. However, after that, her social media account no longer updated. The police have conducted an investigation into the incident and located the room in the video, but have not found any cameras or the woman. According to the landlord, the room was vacant a long time ago.

49. #49Awaken Fansub 觉醒字幕组

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    Popularity: niche Awaken Fansub is an online non-governmental organization active from 2010 to 2020. It is committed to translating content from YouTube or other platforms and transferring it to Chinese Internet. Their translated contents are mostly related to various crimes, mysticism, fringe theories, and UFO sightings in the Western world. In 2018 the organization was ordered to rectify by the authorities and is still operating today.

50. #50The Way of Heaven, or Satan's Synagogue

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