China's 'Throwing Egg' Game Addiction Make Officials Warn About "Poison Bomb" (image @ fcgofficial.com)
A “throw eggs” card game has gripped the Chinese population. The addiction to the game was severe that the official has to warn about the draining of productivity. State media referred the game as a “poison bomb” that “corrupt the work style of officials”.
The game known as Guandan’s was played since the 1960s in the eastern provinces of Anhui and Jiangsu. However, its popularity skyrocketed in recent years, becoming a national sensation.
According to local media, over 140 million people are hooked on the game’s combination of strategic acumen and social fun. “When we play, we do it while drinking tea, chatting and playing all at the same time,” said 60-year-old Tang Songyuan, as quoted by media. Tang was addicted to the game very much that he opened a clubhouse.
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His 20th-floor space offers its hundred members the chance to “throw eggs” to their hearts’ content, with some playing rooms overlooking the city’s shimmering business district.
The game requires two teams of two against each other. Each team had to race to shed their cards by throwing various combinations referred to as “bombs” (a homonym of egg) on the table.
“It’s a very healthy game that everyone can take part in together,” said Qiu Zining, a middle-aged woman who joined Tang’s Hangzhou club a month ago.
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However, not everyone is enthralled with the game. Earlier this month, a state-backed Beijing Youth Daily warned that the “addiction to ‘throwing eggs’ has become a social phenomenon deserving of attention and vigilance”. Other Beijing-backed media condemned the game as “decadent” and “escapist” — a drain on productivity at a time when the country’s stalling economic recovery needs all the help it can get.
This is not the first time Beijing voiced criticism against leisure activities. Few years back, China had issued similar criticisms about the phenomenon of “lying flat”, referring to young people rejecting the rat race of urban living for a simpler, less professionally ambitious life.
President Xi Jinping called the youth to “eat bitterness”, an expression meaning to endure hardship, as youth unemployment became a key drag on China’s economy.
