*The Viral Week That Was is our weekly round-up of the previous week’s trending memes, humor, rumor, gossip, and everything else Chinese netizens are chatting about. Think of this as a nicotine patch to help ease yourself into the working week after suckling on the smokey teat of the weekend.

A very warm welcome back to both our readers and clear skies (but mostly clear skies). Coming up on today’s Viral Week, we bring you novel steamed buns, phone use leading to death, national ice sculptures, and college violence. But first…

BIG SCREEN PORN (NSFW)

It is a well established fact that the bigger the screen, the more enjoyable the content is.

So when a mall employee in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, accidentally transferred his (or her) personal pornography collection onto the big screen outside, we can assume it caused a peak in enjoyment levels.

The mall has since come out to apologize for this five minute masturbation advertizement, although those in the vicinity were less outraged and more amused by the whole event.

LOOK AT THOSE BUNS

With Chinese New Year coming up round the corner, it may be time to start thinking about gifts to bring the family.

While red envelope are always welcome, something more special would not be a bad alternative. And Wang Puzhang from Weinan, Shaanxi province, may have just the thing in store.

From the age of 17, Wang has dedicated the last 38 years of his life to making patterned steamed buns.

When he was younger, Wang’s family could not afford all the flour needed for his experiments so he was forced to use clay instead. His customers are normally made up of those wishing to try his creations for special occasions.

If you’re thinking about  trying some out for yourself, a completed set would cost around 120 RMB.

DROWNING IN TECHNOLOGY

The death of a four year-old has been a hot button issue amongst the Chinese recently, mostly due to the levels of neglect needed for it to happen.

It all happened in Xianyang, Shaanxi province, when a mother took her son to the local pool.

As the son was playing in the water, the mother took out her phone to pass the time. Her son began to struggle in the deeper area behind her, but unfortunately, the mother’s eyes never left the screen in front of her.

Eventually, she decided to stop swiping left and look for her son (in the wrong direction). After having no success, the mother informed the pool employees and it took them another thirty minutes before they found her son’s body.

According to security footage, the boy struggled for three minutes before drowning at a depth of 1.1 meters.

ICE COMPETITION

Speaking of water, the 36th National Ice Sculpture Competition kicked off in Harbin this weekend.

LOSING FACE

A debate during class at Shanghai University of Sport made a turn for the worse, when a male postgraduate student decided to rectify his in-class embarrassment by physically assaulting a female classmate.

[Shanghaiist]

While the internet-savvy public cried out for the boy’s blood (figuratively), the university released a statement saying that the girl had been sent to the hospital and was not injured. The student later went to the hospital to apologize, while the university is said to be conducting its own investigation into the matter.

Cover image from bswj.net