How to Not Travel Back in Time

Girls' Time Travel Attempt Leads To Suicide In China

Huff Post

Not sure about the accuracy of the story as it does state in the text that some people do not believe the events, but here goes:

The girls decided to end their lives after one of them lost a remote control to a door, China Daily reports, via People's Daily. Xiao Hua told her best friend and fellow classmate, Xiao Mei, that she was worried about coming clean to her parents. The names are reportedly pseudonyms.

One f the two girls reportedly left a suicide note explaining in was her life's dream to travel back to another part of history.

But here is the part that leads me t doubt the accuracy of the story

The chain of events has raised concerns about the influence of media on young children, and the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has placed restrictions on airing certain shows between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m., according to People's Daily.

There will be some who say that this is a planted story by the Chinese govt to enforce tighter restrictions on the Chinese media.

What say you ATS?

I dunno, it seems like the Western Media (like Huff Post) are making just as big a deal out of this as the China Daily!

I always thought the ban on time-travel movies and TV shows in China was a little odd, and this just continues the strangeness.

The link being made between the suicide and time travel is incredibly weak. The only evidence I can find for the fact that the girls were attempting to travel through time is this:

Xiao Mei wrote that Xiao Hua was killing herself because she was afraid of being scolded for losing the remote control and that they decided to die together because they were the best friends.

Xiao Mei also wrote that she had two dreams: She planned to travel back to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) to make a film of an emperor; and she wanted to visit outer space.

So the note said they were killing themselves because of the lost remote control, and that one of the girls had a dream of travelling back in time. I see nothing in any of the reports to indicate that time travel was a reason for the suicide. They're making a massive stretch!

reply to post by TheStev


I was not aware prior to this that they had such a ban at all.

But it doesnt surprise me at all either. I didnt see the name of the show either, it would be interesting to check it out or at least the plot lines of such a show.

Also thanks for commenting here, I thought it was another thread to arrive DOA here as mine usually do haha!

No problemo, I've never been able to start a successful thread, and often seem to kill the threads I participate in - so I totally know where you're coming from!

Here's the Hollywood Reporter article on the time-travel movie ban in China:

www.hollywoodreporter.com...

I couldn't see any reference to any particular show being broadcast in China, but the Christian Post article that the Huff Post reference includes this:

Time-travel dramas are a relatively new soap opera genre, in which women living in the present travel back in time to fall in love in the Qing Dynasty after having an accident, such as a car crash, being struck by lightning or falling off a building," the Shanghaiist reported.

Sauce: global.christianpost.com...

This is not the first time I've heard a story similar to this, I find it more than suspicious, this mentality is beyond not logical, it is illogical to the extreme, I have an archive of "time travel" related articles, archived from google, and I read a similar story a few years ago, years apart, the same story? Sounds too fishy to me.

It's almost as if, the Chinese government, in an attempt to limit the creativity of TV shows, is going to such an extreme by claiming it results in suicides? Yes I am saying the suicide notes may be fake. Looking at the source of the original article it seems to have little to no information, it could have easily been faked. It's just one possibility.

If the government did this, it too, would be very illogical, I feel for some reason they are afraid of anything different or creative, and see them as 'radical thinking', or 'evil', even a subject as harmless as time travel. One thing the Chinese need to outsource is creative ideas, because they lack them, they lack them because of their rigid educational system and government controlled media.

going back in time to find the remote before it was lost ,or searching for the day when her parents took away her childhood by making her fear losing the remote was such an horrendous crime that the punishment inflicted would instill the fear that it was worse than death itself. Journey well child for in death you may find that time is infinite and travelling to the future is a matter of patience .

the Govt doesnt want time travel shows because they believe they can keep people from thinking about what it was like before the Govt took control.

reply to post by Razimus


I am inclined to agree with you here.

The whole thing does seem a bit fishy.
I am interested though in the older article yu mentioned, just to cross reference the two.

also, I am VERY interested in perhaps perusing your little archive there, if you would be so inclined

reply to post by youdidntseeme


I found the article, here it is, for the record I believe this article to be related, as a Chinese government hoax in an attempt to scare the Chinese people into accepting whatever they are told, a form of control. If the Government doesn't like a "western" idea, used in a popular sci-fi show, they simply claim it promotes the worst possible thing, suicide, when nothing could be further from the truth.

news.xinhuanet.com...

Chinese parents worry about children's time-traveling fantasies

Many Chinese parents say that time travel-themed books and TV series are extremely appealing to their children, but there is a growing concern about their influence on children's mental health. Some children are reported to have mentioned their time travel fantasies in class essays and even on exam papers. Parents say that children not only read and write time travel stories, but also discuss them with their peers and even try to find ways to actually travel through time. As harmless as these time traveling fantasies may sound to children, parents have been frightened to discover "time travel guides" on the Internet. Such guides often instruct prospective time travellers to "run into a car, swallow some gold, jump off cliffs or take excessive amounts of sleeping pills," according to a China Youth Daily report on Monday. "They are talking about death!" says Liu Liang, father of a teenage girl. Liu says that the time traveling theme makes potentially deadly advice "sound interesting and mythical".

But these supposedly humorous bits of advice had resulted in real-life tragedy. A 12-year-old girl in Beijing who jumped off a building last year left behind a letter complaining about her school life and disclosed her wish to travel back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.), according to a newspaper report.

So, this article talks about an older article, about 2 years ago a 12 year old girl supposedly jumped off a building to "travel back in time", so the suicide note supposedly said.

Interesting in both cases, the girls were 12 years old. They make the connection of fantasies being bad for the youth because they are depressed, if anything fantasies are good for depressed youth, what makes a kid happier than a comic book, superhero, game, book, where they can find some happiness?

It all smells like communist propaganda to me.

Originally posted by BohemianBrim
the Govt doesnt want time travel shows because they believe they can keep people from thinking about what it was like before the Govt took control.

What?? The People's Republic has always existed. Off to the gulag with you

shanghaiist.com...

March 2012

12-year-old girls hoping to 'time travel' commit suicide in Fujian

Her best friend Xiaomei decided to die together with her, leaving a suicide note which reads: In my life, I have two secret wishes. One is to time-travel back to Qing Dynasty and shoot a film with the emperor, and the other is to travel to outer space.

news.xinhuanet.com...

April 25th 2011

Chinese parents worry about children's time-traveling fantasies

A 12-year-old girl in Beijing who jumped off a building last year left behind a letter complaining about her school life and disclosed her wish to travel back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.), according to a newspaper report.

So, the Chinese government claiming it is 'disrespectful' to even pretend to change history, go to the extreme of banning even the idea of time-travel, what they don't understand is you can't ban an idea. They are pretty controlling, even attempting to control people's imaginations, of a world without a communist regime perhaps?

Both girls were 12, both incidents involved suicide notes mentioning wanting to go back to an earlier Dynasty, an earlier regime, perhaps a better one, which is of course, anti-government, which is illegal in China. The articles are 1 year apart, but the deaths are 2 years apart. I believe the stories are as authentic as one found in a tabloid, clearly intended to scare parents from allowing their children to imagine a better world.

Wow, I can't believe how similar the two stories are.

Right down to the fact that the notes don't actually say that the wish to time travel was the least bit related to the decision to take their lives.

Let me give an example - I'm pretty depressed, and suicide is something that has crossed my mind. If I did leave a note, I'd probably include something about one of my life dreams being to travel into space (much like the girl in the OP). Does that mean that Star Wars is to blame for my death? It sure as hell doesn't mean that I think if I top myself then I'll get to fly an X-Wing with the Rebel Alliance. Although that would be a pretty awesome afterlife!

I know nobody in this thread is claiming that is the case, I'm arguing against the Chinese Government here