'Doomsday' prompts jokes, arks and mass arrests in China

BEIJING — Much like in the rest of the world, the coming "doomsday" supposedly preordained by the Mayans to strike earth Friday at the end of a 5,125-year calendar has been something of a running joke in China.

The subject this week has been easily a top-10 trending topic on China’s Twitter-like service, Weibo, with users sharing hundreds of thousands of jokes, cartoons and other comments about the end of days.


One popular doomsday cartoon shared by Taiwanese alternative rock singer Ashin, showing a mock weather report predicting fire and brimstone for Friday, was forwarded more than 109,000 times and drew almost 25,000 comments.

Not everybody thinks the end of the world is funny, though. A poll conducted by Ipsos-Reuters in 21 countries earlier this year claimed that as much as 20 percent of China’s population believed that the Mayan calendar correctly predicted this month as the end of the world. That percentage was markedly higher than in the second country on the list, Turkey (at 13 percent), or in the United States (12 percent).

A farmer in China has created survival capsules equipped with power generators and food supplies. NBCNews.com's Jay Gray reports.

The government is taking one aspect of the doomsday talk seriously; it has reportedly rounded-up members of a religious group calling for the toppling of the Communist Party. 

The group, known as the “Almighty God,” has called for a "decisive battle" to slay the "big red dragon," a reference to the Book of Revelation and the organization’s name for the Chinese Communist Party.

Nearly 1,000 members of the sect have been arrested, The New York Times reported. NBC News could not independently verify the number of detentions, but Chinese state media also reported that authorities had detained around 1,000 members over some seven provinces, Reuters reported.

This is not the first time that China has dealt with a fast-moving Christian cult it deems a risk to party rule. In fact, according to the newspaper, “Almighty God” has its roots in a sect that claimed it had 300,000 adherents called "Lightning from the East," according to Time Magazine in 2001.

Lightning from the East propagated the belief that Jesus had returned to earth in the form of a 30-year old Chinese woman who had written a third testament of the Bible and promised salvation from the coming apocalypse for all who joined her.

AFP - Getty Images, file

Lu Zhenghai of Xinjiang said he wasn't necessarily worried about "doomsday," but he thought "something" bad would happen today. So he built this ark.

Money from fear
Many Chinese, meanwhile, have seen opportunities to cash in on the apocalyptic mania.

After watching the Hollywood disaster film "2012," in which China leads the way in building arks to save the rest of the world, Liu Qiyuan, a former furniture maker living just outside Beijing, began conceptualizing scaled-down arks that could be marketed to consumers equally concerned about the end of days.

With the help of 10 workers, Liu designed and built metal spheres covered in fiberglass and fitted with an on-board engine. Supposedly strong enough to handle a battering from a catastrophic tsunami or earthquake, the capsules are designed to house 14 survivors and enough food and water for five months at sea.

The cost of such peace of mind is $50,000 each. Even if the end of the world does not come Friday, Liu is optimistic that he will recoup his reported $288,000 investment by marketing his life capsules to China’s navy.

One man who has gone all-in on his disaster convictions is Lu Zhenghai from China’s far western province of Xinjiang. For the past two years, Lu has been working to build an ark measuring 65 feet and weighing around 80 tons that could comfortably hold 50 people and a two-year stock of food and medicine.

"I don’t believe in the doomsday, but I do believe something is going to happen on December 21st," Lu told NBC News, "I don’t know what could happen and where, but I want to be ready just in case."


Having left his job, cashed-in his savings and sold his apartment to help pay for this family refuge, Lu has been living at his parents’ home with his wife and daughter as he makes final preparations on the ark. The vessel has already cost over $240,000 to build.

Though Lu talks happily about progress on the ship, he seems far more excited to talk about the media attention and visitors his ark has been attracting.

"Hundreds of people have come to see my ark," Lu said, adding that a Hong Kong television station was planning to film the ark, presumably mere moments before disaster strikes the earth.

NBC News’ Yanzhou Liu contributed to this report.

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Discuss this post

Jump to discussion page: 1 2 3

Dec 21st will be the beginning of the end of the world.

  • 2 votes
#1 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 11:44 AM EST

Warren, Dec. 21, 2012 is the end of an era. Dec. 22, 2012 is the beginning of a new era. The Mayans never predicted any disasters or anything catastrophic. People make up their own BS and cashed in wherever they could including in Hollywood. The world has been ending since my Grandmother was a little girl for one reason or another. Sorry but I'm not phased at all.

  • 14 votes
#1.1 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 12:12 PM EST

The Mayans predicted that, if the world didn't end on Dec. 21st, then there would be a fiscal cliff a week later. They knew how to hedge their bets.

  • 11 votes
#1.3 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 12:53 PM EST

Hale Bop is out of alignment and the new Nikes and Mango Koolaid are still in the works. Doomsday is a No Go, please wait for the proper timing.

  • 4 votes
#1.4 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 1:05 PM EST

All I have to say is damn, you have got to be one stupid mo fo to believe the world 'will end' because a Mayan calendar said so. If someone does, that person should absolutely lock themselves in a survival bunker and do everyone the favor of not coming out, even if they are wrong. :P

  • 8 votes
#1.5 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 2:47 PM EST

What I don't understand is this: If the world is going to end tomorrow, what good is an arc or anything else for that matter going to do? Are we now unable to comprehend the meaning of "the end"??

  • 11 votes
#1.6 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 2:53 PM EST

Yes for sure, and it is too small for any meaningful re-population of the world anyway. I guess the 30 cubit plan was lost.

  • 2 votes
#1.7 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 3:22 PM EST

It better end tomorrow or I'm going to have alot of unhappy family members Christmas morning :)

  • 14 votes
#1.8 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 4:24 PM EST

12% of the US? Really I knew we had some dumbasses, but I never expected the full blown retards to be more than 1% or so.

  • 13 votes
#1.9 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 4:52 PM EST

when dec22 comes and goes,there will be another doomsday date.i think galileo or someone like that had a date.this bs just adds to mans insanity.it subconciously affects you.a dark cloud possibly on the horizon.why cant we come up with something that creates hope or something positive to look foward to.too much fn doom and gloom.

  • 5 votes
#1.10 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 5:18 PM EST

Didn't they call Noah a fool ? Good luck Lu ! Maybe you'll wash up on the west coast of North America like all the debris from Japan.

  • 3 votes
#1.11 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 5:42 PM EST

It would make a lot more sense to just choose one day every year and call it Apocalypse Day. That way we can work it into our busy schedules. We could say our goodbyes, exchange Apocalypse cards, have Apocalypse parties, sing Apocalypse carols, and listen to Apocalypse music for an entire month beforehand.

  • 9 votes
#1.12 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 6:09 PM EST

You all do realize that it's past midnight, December 21st in China, don't you? As it is all over on the other side of the International Date Line. In fact, it's just another Friday morning in Asia, Australia, India, Pacific et. al.

Or, does Mayan Doomsday affect only the Western Hemisphere? Get a grip folks. It's a big planet, and the only thing that you have to fear is ignorance.

  • 5 votes
#1.13 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 6:34 PM EST

its keeps going like a swiss watch. and isnt it great these are happening in our times ?

more great things are gonna happen ..

but sometimes you see better from the bottom of the barrel first

    #1.14 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 6:55 PM EST

    The end of an era and the beginning of a new one.. Maybe Obama will declare martial law and void the US Constitution in an effort to make us safer.. We all know that Communist leaders can be trusted to do whats best for their subjects..

    • 3 votes
    #1.15 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 7:10 PM EST

    Stupidity knows no bounds. In one school district in Michigan, they shut down schools because of the impending "Apocalypse."

      #1.16 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 8:31 PM EST

      refugeek: We already do have an Apocalypse every year on the older Christian calendar: it's called Advent. Two of the older readings during this time Mt 24:15-44; Mt 3:1-12, are about the end of the world in the Gospel readings (because they are about St. John the Baptist, who talked about the end times), and the beginning of something new in the Old Testament Prophecies. These days people have forgotten Advent, and now sing Christmas Carols up to Christmas (I hate "Jingle Bell Rock"), but immediately after Christmas day they take down all the decorations. Back in the day, those decorations didn't go up until Christmas Eve, and they stayed up until "Twelfth Night," January 6th, and religious and folk carols were heard for those twelve days. More than annual traditions, it makes sense to think about the darkness before the coming of the light.

      Now that Christmas starts in September in some stores, people who miss Advent readings have turned to the "Mayan Prophecies" instead.

      • 1 vote
      #1.17 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 9:52 PM EST

      R Battle: To all prophecies, I think the story of Jonah applies. He warned Ninevah that it would be destroyed, and everybody repented, which meant they repaired their differences and became humble. Then the city was spared, and Jonah became angry that the city was spared because he had gone to all that trouble.

      The trouble with prophecies is that the people who go to all the trouble of making them often become angry when the prophecies are not fulfilled. It doesn't make the prophecies wrong; it only means that the world was spared.

      I'm not suggesting that people put on "sackcloth and ashes," but being charitable to the homeless is far better morally than digging out a bunker and stocking it with several years of food. What if all those who built survival shelters are the only ones who wouldn't survive a disaster?

      Sure, they might avoid this year's disaster, but how about the NASA asteroid flybys that are predicted in the coming years?

      • 1 vote
      #1.19 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 10:06 PM EST

      This has been the most entertaining "post" of the day! Hale Bop Looners remembered. National Apocalypse Day....brought to you by Pat Robertson and the refugeek! And a big thanks to "aliveinsd" for bringing me to the realization that the world has already ended. Sorry I missed it!

        #1.20 - Fri Dec 21, 2012 2:10 AM EST

        Can someone please remove the comment by Rudigerhck198.. it's an affiliate link to beezid.com.. geez.

        • 1 vote
        #1.23 - Fri Dec 21, 2012 12:00 PM EST

        Just goes to show that the US doesn't have a monopoly on dumasses.

        Besides, the end won't ome until all those doomsdayers figure out they have waisted a huge amount of their life and money on a hole in the ground. They'll eventually go out and try to fulfill their own prophecies.

          #1.24 - Fri Dec 21, 2012 4:58 PM EST
          Reply

          Bwahahahahahahah.....

          • 2 votes
          Reply#2 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 11:47 AM EST

          All this talk about the end of the world ..... Armageddon tired of it.

          • 15 votes
          #2.1 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 3:27 PM EST

          GA Denver Bill

          BOHICA LOL

          • 2 votes
          #2.2 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 4:04 PM EST

          Denver, you get a rimshot

          • 1 vote
          #2.3 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 4:37 PM EST

          What's all this talk about apoxonyourlips? In memory of Rosanne Rosannadanna

            #2.4 - Fri Dec 21, 2012 5:01 PM EST
            Reply

            fear mongering, contact George Bush and Dick Cheney they are experts at it.

            • 10 votes
            Reply#3 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 11:53 AM EST

            Dude, just let it go. At this point, it's just sad.

            • 9 votes
            #3.1 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 4:53 PM EST

            Tyrone. Keep it up. It's like POW's "Never Forget." Sorry Spencer!

            • 1 vote
            #3.2 - Fri Dec 21, 2012 2:12 AM EST
            Reply

            12% of Americans believe the world is going to end tomorrow? We need better science education.

            • 18 votes
            Reply#4 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 12:03 PM EST

            Yea, so more people can by into this fact. It's all over folks.

            • 1 vote
            #4.1 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 3:58 PM EST

            To me that 12% number is scary, but not unbelievable (see "Preppers")!

            • 4 votes
            #4.2 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 4:17 PM EST

            What's wrong with "preppers"? Are you saying that people who develop a plan to protect their family in the event of a disaster are stupid? It seems to me that I saw a lot of pictures of people eating out of dumpsters after Sandy, because they weren't prepared. You cannot be prepared for every possible disaster, but a little prepping is better than eating garbage, standing in line for gas for 4 days, or dying from dehydration. Or you could just move to....wait @!$%# happens everywhere.

            • 5 votes
            #4.3 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 6:19 PM EST

            Where do they even get those statistics? I wasn't included and I am in America...

              #4.4 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 7:19 PM EST

              You got that right!! It may not be tomorrow but odds are that something is bound to happen sometime.. The dependant liberals who think the government will take care of everything are so full of the illusion it is sick.. They make fun of people who would have a few months of reserve food and a plan of their own.. The wisdom is that it is far better to have and not use as opposed to not have and need.. These are the same fools who would kill you and take what you have when they are starving.. Since the US government has used propaganda to make Militia a bad word even though the Constitution compels us to be organized as a civilian population.. They are also demonizing firearm owners as all killers or potential killers.. The latest is their snicker campaign against prepared people by calling them hoarders or potential terrorists.. We have some bases covered in the event of many unforeseen events that might interrupt the economy or daily life.. We could go into subsistence mode in a few hours and be OK.. How about you? Still thinking the Communist in chief has it all handled??

              • 2 votes
              #4.5 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 7:29 PM EST

              The dependant liberals who think the government will take care of everything are so full of the illusion it is sick

              It's not good to assume how others think. I'm sure there were plenty of liberals who were prepared. You need to stop seeing each other as liberals and republicans and start seeing each other as Americans.

              It's good your prepared for disaster but if it was the actual end of the world there would be nothing you could do. It's called the apocalypse not Hurricane Katrina or Sandy

              • 3 votes
              #4.6 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 9:38 PM EST

              Well, tomorrow may not be on the agenda, but there are some near orbits of asteroids in the next few decades according to NASA. There was one that they hadn't noticed on Dec. 12th that flew by closer than the moon, but it was only a small one, just enough to level a state or so.

              • 2 votes
              #4.7 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 10:11 PM EST

              Elizabeth. I am getting the feeling from these "unnoticed" asteroids that we may get an unpleasant suprise before we can successfully destroy the planet on our own......

                #4.8 - Fri Dec 21, 2012 2:19 AM EST
                Reply

                Much ado about NOTHING!!!! Really people? The end of the world? I don't think so.

                My bad if it's true.

                • 4 votes
                Reply#5 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 12:10 PM EST

                Man, I am going to be SO embarrassed if the world ends tomorrow.

                All that time spent Christmas shopping, and vacation time still unused... how much would that suck?

                • 18 votes
                Reply#6 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 12:21 PM EST

                The end of the play "The Stone Guest," which was made into Mozart's opera "Don Juan," the servant yells, "my wages, my wages," and follows Don Juan to hell to try to get his wages. It was a reference to St. Paul, "The wages of sin is death." A similar reference is in the movie, "The Wages of Fear" about the transport of TNT.

                If the world did end tomorrow (and I'm not being serious), you would have a very long vacation, with plenty of time. Who knows though what the Christmas presents would be used for.

                  #6.1 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 10:18 PM EST
                  Reply

                  I'd be very disappointed if you could escape a pre-ordained end of the world scenario by hopping onto an ark or into a life capsule. A proper Doomsday will hunt you down and get you no matter where you are. I'll not tolerate incompetence from the End of the World. If it can't even do it's job right, the Doomsday was barely worth predicting.

                  • 10 votes
                  Reply#7 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 12:27 PM EST

                  The odds of a massive flood are remote but it could happen.. A low speed asteroid of big enough size landing in the Atlantic or Pacific at the right angle could cause a several thousand foot tidal wave that could travel around the planet several times.. A higher speed one could vaporize many square miles of ocean causing an acid rain that would fall around the entire planet for weeks.. I bet obama and his family spend the night either in the bunker under the White House or with one foot on the floor ready to run to the elevator..

                    #7.1 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 7:39 PM EST

                    Funny Bizzer. As to Pres. Obama: his kids are probably in school in the morning, and he is probably working. You can post from your parents' basement, as usual; if you want to call it a bunker for a little more excitement, that's OK.

                    • 1 vote
                    #7.2 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 10:21 PM EST
                    Reply

                    How stupid is that? There's no shortage of stupidity on this planet. Those people that believe the world will end tomorrow will wake up Saturday morning feeling like the complete idiots they really are! Fools!

                    • 5 votes
                    Reply#8 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 12:56 PM EST

                    No, it will be a day of gnashing teeth when they realize that they will have to pay back their debts.

                    • 1 vote
                    #8.1 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 10:23 PM EST
                    Reply

                    Can it be true that one in eight in the United States is a certifiable idiot? The article suggests 12% of Americans believe some disaster of great proportion will happen on the 21st. Something has to be done to shore up science education in this country before the fools and "believers" multiply and place more magical thinkers in office. That is likely to be our end rather than cataclysmic natural events.

                    PS. Human caused events do not qualify as they are more from a desire to "self-fulfill" the idiotic prophesies.

                    • 10 votes
                    Reply#9 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 1:18 PM EST

                    Can it be true that one in eight in the United States is a certifiable idiot?

                    Oh it's true. It's called Honey BooBoo's audience.

                    • 13 votes
                    #9.1 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 3:09 PM EST

                    Hey, look at the percentage of people who believe in a mythical being that will grant them paradise after death if you believe in him in the US. It's not so hard to believe there are a decent percentage of the same type of people who believe this current nonsense.

                    It's all about FAITH, BELIEF and TOTAL SUSPENSION OF LOGIC.

                    • 5 votes
                    #9.2 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 5:39 PM EST
                    Reply

                    Did it ever occur to anyone that the end of the world came for the guy working on the calendar and he never finished the darned thing???

                    • 11 votes
                    Reply#10 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 2:22 PM EST

                    Wouldn't you know that the U.S. would be in the top three looney nations after the Chinese and Turks?

                    • 2 votes
                    Reply#11 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 2:40 PM EST

                    You can excuse the Chinese and Turkish numbers because their are so many uneducated peasants in those countries, but what is our excuse?

                    • 3 votes
                    #11.1 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 4:20 PM EST

                    The Chinese have always been a little cheeky. Notice I didn't say chinky? And the Turks? What can be said about the Turks?

                    • 1 vote
                    #11.2 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 5:01 PM EST

                    You can excuse the Chinese and Turkish numbers because their are so many uneducated peasants in those countries, but what is our excuse?

                    uneducated peasants.

                    its not like china and turkey have a monopoly on uneducated peasants.

                      #11.3 - Fri Dec 21, 2012 8:29 AM EST
                      Reply

                      Oh how I bet that pisses American Christians off to find out that jesus is a 30 year old chinese woman.ROTFLMFAO

                      • 9 votes
                      Reply#12 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 2:52 PM EST

                      Tomorrow is Friday, and a payday at that. I will be so pissed. Everyone knows that the world will end on a Monday, it just makes more sense.

                      • 4 votes
                      Reply#13 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 2:54 PM EST

                      It's a good thing that Chinese people aren't superstitious - snort!

                      • 2 votes
                      Reply#14 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 3:06 PM EST

                      Fcking idiots.

                        Reply#15 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 3:10 PM EST

                        The guy built an ark in the mountainous desert area of China? I guess he is expecting a lot of flooding if it gets that high.

                        • 2 votes
                        Reply#16 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 3:17 PM EST

                        tomorrow we will be in alignment with the center of the universe,so maybe we will all get to see the eye of God or maybe not

                        • 2 votes
                        Reply#17 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 4:04 PM EST

                        That's not God, it's Sauron!

                        • 4 votes
                        #17.1 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 4:22 PM EST

                        I think I read somewhere that we will be dipping below the galactic plane, and it may make our magnetic poles shift. We'll see if the internet is still up and running in the morning.

                          #17.2 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 7:31 PM EST

                          There is not actually any astrological alignment tomorrow. While the Myans were great astronomers they did not have the technology to know where the exact center of the galaxy was. Or the universe for the matter.

                          • 1 vote
                          #17.3 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 7:36 PM EST

                          It happens every year on the winter solstice; just happens to coincide, EVERY YEAR. Look at the NASA site, which explains this.

                          Please do not stare at the sun; even in winter at the lower angle, it will quickly make you blind, and then you will miss out on some very beautiful stuff.

                          • 1 vote
                          #17.4 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 10:28 PM EST
                          Reply

                          That this much time gets wasted discussing fairy tales is amazingly pathetic.

                          • 1 vote
                          Reply#18 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 4:06 PM EST

                          Yet you find time to comment....

                          • 11 votes
                          #18.1 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 4:15 PM EST

                          Indeed!

                          • 4 votes
                          #18.2 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 4:22 PM EST

                          if the sane people dont comment sometimes it would be all idiots.That would be allright for some people they wouldnt feel threatened by another opinion.

                          • 4 votes
                          #18.3 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 4:24 PM EST
                          Reply

                          It gets worse. Even if we survive Friday's end of the world there is another ten days later. My calendar goes only to 2012.12.31.

                          Prove you survived two end of the worlds and get a free churro.

                          • 7 votes
                          Reply#19 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 4:07 PM EST

                          I'm laughing too, what a load of crap,wish I had ten bucks for every bozo priest,charlatan, wise man,thruout history that predicted the end of the world. And ''Taiwanese alternative rock singer Ashin''? Now that sounds like doomsday to me.

                          • 1 vote
                          Reply#20 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 4:21 PM EST

                          Dang a lot of fruit loops out there!

                            Reply#21 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 4:37 PM EST

                            Gotta say, when you hear enough about any subject you have to think about it. That is what all the freaks want us to do.....at least think about it. The problem is that these jerks don't realize the effect they have on the young people of this nation. We just dealt with Newtown and now this s***. Come on America, grow up and start acting like the country we are suppose to be, not some halfa** second rate nation of idiots.

                            • 1 vote
                            Reply#22 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 4:41 PM EST

                            Was the movie Idiocracy a documentary?

                            • 5 votes
                            Reply#23 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 4:41 PM EST

                            YES!

                            • 3 votes
                            #23.1 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 4:48 PM EST
                            Reply

                            This is almost as good as all the Y2K prophecies.

                            • 2 votes
                            Reply#24 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 4:42 PM EST

                            AlpineQ. My mom road that Y2K thing into the ground. Her church got her on this whole freak out program with cash stashing and cases of dried spuds in the pantry. My feeling was if i had to live off of dried spuds and "potted meats" i would rather "huck" myself off of the Palisades at SquallyWood as they say in the Alpine Venacular!

                              #24.1 - Fri Dec 21, 2012 2:33 AM EST
                              Reply

                              I'm prepping for Egg Nogg and a Christmas ham with all the trimmings and giving thanks to Him for all his blessings this year.

                              • 4 votes
                              Reply#25 - Thu Dec 20, 2012 4:44 PM EST
                              Reply
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