As recently as last year, Chinese state media was hailing guandan as the card game that “can get you a promotion in China”.
The country was holding open tournaments, and workers were encouraged to use it as a social and professional networking tool.
Guandan, or “throwing eggs”, is a four-person, two-team game of strategy. It has been around for decades, beginning in Jiangsu province, and was a favoured pastime of former leader Deng Xiaoping.
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But now it appears to have fallen out of favour with the highly interventionist ruling Communist party – being blamed for encouraging a “passive attitude” towards work, and encouraging the formation of cliques among party cadres.
A recent run of articles in the state-run Beijing Youth Daily described guandan as intoxicating and “decadent”, warning that it was “time to control the trend of ‘laying flat’ among all guandan players”. Laying flat (tangping in Chinese) is the term given to a social trend among young people who are rejecting high-pressure jobs for an easier lifestyle, which has alarmed authorities.
Lol. Pickleball stuff is getting more expensive than tennis equipment. It’s actually a good time to get into a real sport.
You can buy new tennis balls for like $1 each, while pickleballs are more. Think about that: tennis balls are rubber and fuzz, hard to make. Pickleballs are just plastic. Same with the racquets. Pickleball stuff is just plastic and maybe a rubber grip. Tennis racquets can be all kinds of expensive carbon fiber.
So what your saying is pickleball is a psyop designed to use up the plastic they can’t use in our soap and grocery bags anymore? Gotcha.
Help me China make them stop!
But for real everyone I know that plays it is a dork (in the nicest way possible). I’m glad people are getting outside and being social. I’d rather swing some battle maces or ride motorcycles.