CHINA IS ASSHOE: Disbelief as Chinese paraglider sucked into freezing, high altitude vortex is punished. This story literally refreshed and vanished while I was making this post. But basically this guy was sucked up to a height of 28,000 feet before he was able to descend. Local authorities punished him for telling about it, and punished his flying partner for publishing the video, apparently for fear it made the community look bad. But they made it look worse.

A paragliding enthusiast surnamed Ou told Jiupai News that Peng, known by the nickname Lao Liu, has become a legend.

They were also shocked to learn that the local authorities had decided to punish Peng, banning him from flying for six months and asking him to submit a report.

The Gansu Provincial Aviation Sports Association published their decision on May 28.

They also banned Peng’s flying companion Gu Zhimin from flying for six months for “publishing the video without permission and causing bad influence”.

One angry online observer said: “How is publishing videos of a personal experience something punishable? And how can they reflect on an accident?”

“He survived being sucked into a sub-zero cloud vortex but not the official investigation,” said another.

Local authorities are an embarrassment around the world, but this takes the cake.