When a City Suddenly Lost the Internet

The future of Online payment in China.  When a city suddenly lost the internet...

Nearly a month since the heavy rains in Zhengzhou China. After the rain stopped, the water, electricity and networks in many places could not be restored. In China, "When a city suddenly lost the internet" became a hot topic. Some Zhengzhou citizens said: "After the floods in Zhengzhou, a person who had water, electricity, and the Internet at the same time was extremely lucky." Others said that due to the suspension of online payment (e.g., Alipay, WeChat Pay) and they’ve not used cash for a long time, some residents have returned to "exchange of goods" The original stage of bartering.

According to a report by Tencent Finance, the author Du Qiang said that after the heavy rains, people not only couldn’t keep in touch with other one, but also rely on broadcasting speaker when there was no electricity and unstable internet. In China, Online payment is used to conduct daily transactions, many people are forced to "return" to the era of relying on cash and banknotes. Some people even need to "barter things" because they have no cash and nowhere to withdraw money.

Many China Mainland people's daily activity such as sending messages, calling cars, and dining, which can be easily solved by mobile phones in the past. From article on WeChat "Zhengzhou after the Disaster: When a City Suddenly Lost the Internet", the author wrote that who bought the food but failed to pay the cash had to pay out a few cigarettes.

The article also pointed out that many people only can stood beside a row of shared bicycles, but they could not scan the code, they could only search desperately to see if a shared bicycle with a broken lock. The taxi driver was surrounded by people asking, "Do you have cash? We’re not accept WeChat or Alipay."

When the internet was disconnected, many people go back to the era when there was no internet. In a restaurant, the waiter say that they can’t order take-out.  It stopped, and they turned it off manually. It means that there is no takeaway to come and pick the order within 40 minutes, and then the customer cancel the order, the meal is already done, and they need to bear the loss. So, they close it.