The death of “China’s first extreme height challenger” Wu Yongning has become a trending topic on Weibo over the past two days. Some blame his fans for his death.
Over the past two days, the death of a Chinese high-altitude stunt performer has become a major topic of discussion on Chinese social media. Rumors about the death of the young man, named Wu Yongning (吴咏宁), started when he had not updated his Weibo account (@极限-咏宁, ±38000 fans) since November 8. He then posted a video of him hanging on the rooftop of a high building in Changsha. That video has been viewed nearly 9 million times.
On Friday, the performer’s girlfriend posted on her Weibo: “It is December 8 today; a month since you left this world.” Chinese media reported today that Wu Yongning died after a slip during one his high-altitude challenges. One Weibo report about his death received around 37000 comments on Saturday and over 17000 shares.
Many commenters criticize Wu, even after his death, for “not taking life seriously.” Some also attack his fans for watching and liking his videos which encouraged him to continue stunting – ultimately leading to his death.
“Since seeing his first video, I knew the chances of him dying were high. I hope nobody will do the same,” one netizen wrote.
Wu Yongning was born in 1991 in Changsha, Hunan. He called himself “China’s first extreme height challenger” (“国内极限高空运动挑战第一人”) since he regularly began posting videos of his stunts in early 2017. Similar kinds of death-defying stunts have become more popular across the world over recent years.
When posting his final video on Weibo on November 8, Wu did warn his fans: “This is dangerous, please do not imitate me.”
Despite all criticism, there are also many people on Weibo who hope Wu will “rest in peace.” One commenter says: “I hope you can continue to do what you love to do up there in heaven.”
