'Beijing Has No Refrigerators'? Taiwan Talk Show Guest Sparks Mass Mockery on Weibo

A Taiwanese talk show guest has become the latest target of mainland Chinese mockery after claiming that Beijing has no refrigerators. In a clip circulated by state media outlet China Daily, the guest reportedly said Beijing's summer reaches about 42°C, yet "there are no refrigerators in Beijing, no refrigerators in restaurants, and people don't drink cold beverages." He added that when he went to Beijing to pick up frozen goods, he found it very inconvenient.

The clip triggered an avalanche of amused reactions on Weibo. The hashtag #台湾节目嘉宾说北京没有冰箱引群嘲# (Taiwan show guest says Beijing has no refrigerators, draws mass ridicule) collected tens of thousands of interactions, with many users joking that mainlanders must be using "magic" to keep food fresh in the heat.

Why mainlanders find it hilarious

To mainland netizens, the claim is absurd on its face. Beijing is a modern metropolis where refrigerators, cold drinks, and air conditioning are taken for granted. The idea that a city of over 20 million people would somehow lack basic refrigeration—especially in summer—was widely seen as either a shocking lack of knowledge or deliberate sensationalism. One popular Weibo user, @玩车豆豆, wrote:

笑不活了！台湾节目嘉宾又闹笑话了，居然说北京没有冰箱，不喝冷饮、吃辣，馆长看完直接气笑➕捂脸🤣这怕不是穿越回上个世纪了吧？合着我们大夏天的靠魔法保鲜食物呗？好奇在台湾这节目的受众到底是谁啊？

"I can't stop laughing! A Taiwanese show guest made another joke, actually saying Beijing has no refrigerators, doesn't drink cold drinks, and eats spicy. The curator was so exasperated he laughed and covered his face. It's like they time-traveled from the last century! Are we supposed to rely on magic to keep food fresh in summer? I'm curious who the audience for this show in Taiwan actually is."

That post received 141 likes, 32 comments, and 5 reposts. Another user, @斜杠豆子, connected the moment to a famous earlier gaffe:

继大陆没有茶叶蛋，又来北京没有冰箱，统一不难，统智难啊

"After 'the mainland has no tea eggs,' now 'Beijing has no refrigerators.' Unification isn't hard—unifying wisdom is."

This post gained 89 likes, 5 comments, and 3 reposts.

Cross-strait context: a long-running meme

The "no refrigerators" comment joins an infamous tradition of Taiwan talk shows making wild claims about mainland life. The most well-known example is the 2011 claim that mainlanders could not afford tea eggs, which became a lasting symbol of perceived bias and ignorance in some Taiwanese media. Other gems have included claims about mainland railways and food shortages.

For mainland netizens, these moments are less about anger and more about comic relief. The China Daily post that launched the hashtag read:

【#台湾节目嘉宾说北京没有冰箱引群嘲#】台湾节目嘉宾：“北京没冰箱”，奇葩言论引发群嘲。

"Taiwan show guest: 'Beijing has no fridges.' The absurd claim invites mass ridicule."

That post alone drew 5,378 likes, 956 comments, and 128 reposts. The topic also reached No. 11 on Baidu's hot list with a heat score of 6,951,701.

As one netizen put it: the island may not be hard to unify, but getting everyone on the same page about refrigerators is a whole other challenge.