Adding to the number of savvy Chinese that can spot such a scam, Weibo user “Piggy Sister That Doesn’t Want To Grow Up” published pictures that show “a clear and brazen case of the broken vase scam”.

READ: What the Broken Vase Scam Is, and How to Avoid Being Duped

The photographs show a man with an injured leg in the middle of the road outside the Nanjing Red Cross Society Hospital on the morning of September 17. A three-wheeled vehicle idles beside him as pedestrians and cyclists simply pass the fallen man.

When a non-Chinese man wearing dark green clothes comes forward to give help, he is criticized for having fallen for the “broken vase” scam. Of this, the Weibo user said, “The laowai can never understand…”

Many local shop owners said the incident happened after 7am when a non-Chinese man was seen speaking to the victim. Then he left, according to a reporter.

“Reminded Me of My Mother”

The reporter was able to track down the would-be good samaritan, a 30-something expat from the USA named “Sam” (a pseudonym) who is currently working in Nanjing. Sam said seeing the victim reminded him of his own mother, who was recently involved in a traffic accident herself.

However, Sam said he became very doubtful when he saw bystanders gathering to laugh at him. One bystander waved a hand at him and shouted, “No, no, no!”

READ: Guangzhou Drunk Drivers Extorted in Staged Collisions

Sam was not able to communicate with the man, who would only cover his forehead with his left hand and sporadically let out a shrill cry of pain. Sam saw he couldn’t do anything, so left. He said he couldn’t understand why the bystanders were trying to get him to stop.

“Broken Vase” or No “Broken Vase”?

For this to be a “broken vase” scam, the con artist would try to blame the fraud victim (Sam) for the accident and attempt to extort money, which didn’t happen. However, local Nanjing residents were still suspicious because the incident happened just outside of a hospital.

The Yueya Lake police sub-station confirmed the incident was not a “broken vase” scam, but something else entirely.

The story is this: Police from the Yueya Lake sub-station responded to a burglary at 1pm at Zhonghe Bridge after a man fell from a second story apartment. This unidentified man was not confirmed to be a thief, and was taken to Nanjing Red Cross Society Hospital to treat his broken leg.

The police say the unnamed man blamed police for the fall, and wants them to pay his hospital bill. Upon being discharged, the man lay down in the middle of the road as a way to claim his rights.

Related:

• Foreigners Ripped Off After Being Lured Into Shanghai Karaoke Den
• Hong Kong Taxi Scam Targets Drunk Foreigners
• 81 year-old woman knocked down in Guangzhou, bystanders ignore her
• Wolf of Wall Street? These are the Wolves of Shenzhen
• Beware: WeChat (Weixin) random hookup results in scam in Dongguan

Photos: 163.com

The post American With Good Intentions Ridiculed For Helping Victim In China appeared first on The Nanfang.

It started in the morning of July 27 when two cars headed towards Pudong Airport were involved in a traffic collision. Five people in one of the vehicles were hurt, and another four were ejected from the car. One of those has sustained life-threatening injuries.

It just so happened that at the same time, some Air France staff were driving by the scene and got out of their vehicle.  The French airline staff provided medical aid and directed traffic with safety vests on.

The report emphasizes the airline personnel were not directly involved in the accident, but were simply passing by when they decided to get involved.

Related:

• Foreigner dives into river to rescue woman in Guangzhou
• Another laowai Good Samaritan injured while trying to break up dispute in Shenzhen
• Brazilian man beaten in Dongguan, passers-by watch
• Meizhou firefighters help an American tourist out of a tight squeeze
• China Has One Fewer Good Samaritan After Shenzhen Man Ends Up In Jail

Photos: iFeng, Guangzhou Daily

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Miss Liu had gone to a beer festival hosted by Windows of the World that night, and now found herself being molested by a man named Song. When Xiao Tu stepped in to rescue Liu from the sexual assault, it didn’t occur to Xiao that Song would get injured from the fracas; nor was he aware that Song was a security guard that works at Windows of the World.

The police considered Xiao Tu to have used excessive force, and had him sent to jail on July 2 for 15 days, reports Southcn. For his part in the incident, Song was jailed for only five days.

Xiao Liu, the woman who was being assaulted, apparently tried to get Song to help free Xiao Tu from prison, but Song brought up his medical costs, loss of wages, and rehabilitation fees totaling several hundreds of thousands of yuan.

On the evening Xiao Tu was released from jail, July 16, a news conference was held. Zhang Xin, deputy head of the Nanshan sub-office told reporters that the circumstances of this case are special. Zhang said police properly treated Xiao Tu in full compliance of the law. It was after an investigation that police discovered that the man that was being detained was a good Samaritan who was not responsible for Song’s injuries. Police said they will compensate Xiao Tu for his bravery.

As encouraging as it is to hear good Samaritans being rewarded for their deeds, it may actually be too late for this “nice guy”. In an interview, Xiao Tu asserted his innocence, but said:

I have always considered myself to have done the right thing. However, the law is the law; the law thinks that I have intentionally hurt this man, but I had no choice.

Xiao Tu refused to settle this case out of court with Song because his principles wouldn’t allow him to admit he was wrong. As well, Xiao simply didn’t have the money Song was asking for.

However, Xiao Tu was very forthcoming in describing how the incident has changed him:

I have no regrets. But in jail I have come to the conclusion that the next time I encounter such a situation, I won’t volunteer myself to help. I will just call the police instead.

A country that sorely needs good Samaritans now has one fewer of them.

Photos: Dongguan Times, Nandu

The post China Has One Fewer Good Samaritan After Shenzhen Man Ends Up In Jail appeared first on The Nanfang.

Shanghaiist translated the original story into English from the Guangzhou News:

A female street cleaner fainted on Huancun road on Wednesday due to the sweltering heat. Many passersby ignored the unconscious woman until a small girl, walking by with her mother, insisting on stopping and shielding the woman from the sun with their umbrella until help could arrive.

A man surnamed Fok told reporters that once he heard the little girl shout “Mum, quick, help her!”, he was shamed into doing so himself.  He and several of his collegues carried the woman into some shade with another passerby telephoned for an ambulance.

It’s a touching story that drew attention partially because nearby Shenzhen had just introduced a Good Samaritan Law. The law aims to encourage people to help those in need, and this case warmed the cockles of the hearts of those who believe in helping the vulnerable.

The original photo of the girl helping the street cleaner.

The only problem? The whole thing was faked by the reporter from Guangzhou Daily.

A reporter from Xin Kuai Bao decided to investigate the story and spoke with the street cleaner, surnamed Tang. Tang said the picture published in the paper was taken at 12 noon on Tuesday (July 30). Tang said she was told to lie down three times so the reporter could test different camera angles. After after about an hour and half, the reporter took the picture that was published in the paper.

“They told me it was for an umbrella commercial.  How would I know… that it was for a newspaper? If I knew, I would never do it no matter how much they pay me!” Tang said.

The street cleaner was recruited for the role a day earlier. “I was cleaning the street on Zhucun Hulin Road around 3pm on July 29th when four adults came along; one of them was a skinny man wearing glasses.  He came up to me and asked if I could help them shoot a commercial. He told me that they think street cleaners have tough jobs and lives. They’d like to do a non-commercial advertisement for an umbrella brand, and they’d pay me RMB 100 for it. I agreed without thinking too much about it.”

Tang said she was paid RMB150 at the end for her “hard work.” Xin Kuai Bao also reported that the young girl was also paid RMB150, and that her “mother” was one of the four people who originally approached Tang a day earlier.

 (h/t @MissXQ)

The post The girl who helped fainted street cleaner? Yeah, that was all staged appeared first on The Nanfang.

The little girl in Guangzhou, image courtesy of Shanghaiist

Yesterday (August 1) was a big day for this country as its first Good Samaritan law was passed in Shenzhen. Even though the law only applies in that particular city, one must look for signs from around the nation as to whether altruistic behaviour is becoming more common and whether it still needs to be enforced.

Shanghaiist reported yesterday the heartwarming story of a little girl in Guangzhou who came to the rescue of a street cleaner who had fainted due to the heat:

A female street cleaner fainted on Huancun road on Wednesday due to the sweltering heat. Many passersby ignored the unconscious woman until a small girl, walking by with her mother, insisting on stopping and shielding the woman from the sun with their umbrella until help could arrive.

A man surnamed Fok told reporters that once he heard the little girl shout “Mum, quick, help her!”, he was shamed into doing so himself. He and several of his colleagues carried the woman into some shade while another passerby telephoned for an ambulance.

And a story from Nanfang Daily about a bus driver who came to the rescue of a nearby car crash victim showed that it’s not only those who are too young to be versed in the ways of the world who dare to be Good Samaritans.

The paper reported yesterday that the driver, Mr. He, stopped the bus on Kaifa Road in Huangpu District after seeing a motorcyclists trapped under a car after a collision. He explained to the passengers what was going on, parked the vehicle and helped rescue the motorcyclist.

But as always, there was at least one particularly disturbing story.

Guangzhou Daily reported on its microblog that a man in his 70s collapsed on Walking Street in Chongqing. One young person tried to go up to help, but he was talked out of it by members of his family, according to an eyewitness account.

The old man’s corpse in Chongqing, image courtesy of Tianya

The elderly man was dead by the time paramedics were called to the scene.

The post Shenzhen Good Samaritan Law inspiring some, but not all, to do good appeared first on The Nanfang.

In thanks, Xu Shuolin successfully sued Peng for over 45,000 RMB in medical expenses, claiming he had caused the fall and she had broken bones.

Many Chinese blame this case for people’s reluctance to come to the aid of strangers.

The most notorious case of people failing to act altruistically was that of Wang Yue in 2011. The toddler was wandering alone in a Foshan market area when she was run over by two trucks in quick succession and left for dead by 19 passers-by.

This image of Wang Yue on her deathbed went around the world.

After she died in hospital several days later, many people blamed the judge in the Peng Yu incident, which took place over 1,000 km away, for her death.

Since then, Good Samaritans have been ostentatiously rewarded, and several such cases have involved foreigners putting locals to shame with their altruism.

And on August 1, the Shenzhen People’s Congress will finally implement the nation’s first Good Samaritan law. The Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Good Samaritans’ Right Protection Regulation was quickly nicknamed the “Good Person’s Law” and in 700 characters and 10 bullet points it outlines how altruists will be protected in the city, Xinhua reports.

Included in the regulations is the stipulation that people who receive help should collect evidence to prove that their rescuer had done anything wrong; that Good Samaritans can seek help from legal aid organizations if they face threats of lawsuits; and that Good Samaritans will face no consequences if their attempts to help are unsuccessful.

Netizens have described the regulations as vague and incomplete but its defenders have said this is a huge step in the right direction. It has been a long time coming as the first draft regulations were published in Shenzhen in late 2011.

Oh, and as for the original Peng Yu case in Nanjing in 2006? Bloomberg reported last year that evidence suggesting Peng did cause the accident had been hidden for four years.

It’s a funny old world.

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The fire department in Meizhou, in Guangdong Province, was mobilized to help one American man pull a ring off his finger. This, only days after a foreigner collapsed on the Guangzhou metro and was given CPR from a concerned metro attendant.

It all happened on Thursday (March 14), when an American couple were touring Guangdong. The man’s finger began to swell, apparently for no reason, and his ring became unmovable. In quite some pain, he went to a hardware shop for help, then went to the hospital, but nobody was able to get the ring off successfully.

Finally, they turned to a group of firefighters. By now, the man’s finger was seriously swollen and the skin was beginning to fester. The firefighters had a close look at the situation, then pulled out some tools to secure his finger in place and cut through the ring to release it. After some nervous moments, it worked.

The American visitor wanted to pay for the rescue, but the firefighters all said no. He then gave them the thumbs up and said “thank you” in Chinese.

The post Meizhou firefighters help an American tourist out of a tight squeeze appeared first on The Nanfang.

But here’s a case which shows things are not as dire as they seem: a heroine by the name of Zhang Jie helped rescue a foreigner, who collapsed in the Guangzhou metro on February 9.  The foreigner, named James, collapsed at Liede Station on Line 5.

The station’s closed circuit television shows James and his partner walking onto the main metro concourse. He doesn’t get far as he pulls up and falls backwards, landing heavily on the concourse. That’s when an attendant arrived.

Beijing Cream tells us more:

A subway attendant, Zhang Jie, supported James’s head while her colleague rubbed his chest. He remained unresponsive for a minute, at which point, while waiting for rescue personnel to arrive, Ms. Zhang began performing CPR. She said he remained unresponsive until after her third attempt, when he let out a breath of air.

A few minutes later, James was breathing on his own. He was sent to hospital, where he made a full recovery.

James is all back to normal now, but no word on what caused him to collapse.

It’s nice that, occasionally, stories do have happy endings.

The post Foreigner who collapsed in the Guangzhou metro rescued by Chinese heroine appeared first on The Nanfang.

The driver told media he had driven about 100 metres when he noticed the passenger had forgotten his wallet after getting out at around 11 p.m. He immediately handed it into the company who eventually returned it to the man around 11:30 a.m on Nov. 26.

On receiving the wallet, the unidentified foreigner expressed gratitude, but the driver said he was only doing what he was supposed to do.

A European in Suzhou had a similar piece of good fortune this year, according to Mingcheng News.

The wallet that was returned to the European in Suzhou

Earlier this year, literary wunderkind Han Han wrote of how the honesty he had seen a cab driver in Taiwan display showed that Taiwan and Hong Kong were protecting Chinese culture.

Since then, several stories of cab drivers returning valuable items have emerged on the mainland, suggesting a positive trend and setting a good example to the rest of society.

The post Laowai leaves over 20,000 RMB in cab in Guangzhou, has it all returned appeared first on The Nanfang.

A Dongguan resident identified as Miss Zhu was carrying her handbag as she crossed the road at 7:30 in the evening when an assailant approached her from behind and attempted to steal it. The Brazilian, identified as Mozen, put his umbrella between the man and the handbag to prevent the robbery, and he was quickly set upon by three men with sticks and belts.

Miss Zhu turned around and saw the foreigner being beaten and it was explained to her that Mozen had helped prevent her bag from being stolen. According to a passerby named Mr. Tang, 20 people watched the beating take place without intervening.

The men continued to beat Mozen until his head was bleeding severely and then fled. Miss Zhu and Mr Tang then approached Mozen, asking if they could help. Together they took him to hospital.

As well as the estimated 20 witnesses who failed to intervene, there were two zhianting, or public security stands, within 30 meters. The officers at the public security stand defended their non-intervention by explaining that preventing fights was not their role.

Chinese netizens have been quick to condemn the passersby for failing to intervene. One Sina Weibo user with the name of Ping Bei exclaimed, “these people are an embarrassment to China.” Another commenter by the name of Dream1Hunsha said, “I just hope China gets exterminated soon.”

Non-intervention has become a hot topic in China since October last year when 2 year-old Wang Yue was left for dead by passersby after being run over by two trucks. Tentative steps have been made to encourage Good Samaritans, such as when a Uruguayan woman was awarded 3000 yuan (US$476) for rescuing a drowning woman in Hangzhou.

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