Since the summer of 2024, the “Yan Card” game has been popular among elementary school students in mainland China. Recently, a man in Jixi, Heilongjiang Province, burned tens of thousands of yuan worth of “Yan Cards” belonging to his child in an attempt to prevent his child from getting addicted to the game, sparking discussions among netizens.
According to reports from mainland media on September 1, Mr. Yang from Jixi, Heilongjiang, burnt all of his child’s “Yan Cards” because he was worried that his son collecting a large number of cards might lead him astray and make wrong decisions.
Initially, Mr. Yang did not object to his child playing with “Yan Cards,” but he later discovered that many children were resorting to stealing and robbing to get these cards. In order to prevent his child from going down the wrong path, he decided to burn all of the “Yan Cards” his child had collected.
In the video recorded by Mr. Yang, bags of “Yan Cards” can be seen being continuously thrown into the fire, piling up like small mountains.
Some netizens estimated that considering the number and variety of “Yan Cards” burnt in the fire, Mr. Yang’s son might have lost tens of thousands of yuan worth of cards.
Others questioned, “Would anyone keep tens of thousands of ‘Yan Cards’?”
Some netizens also made comparisons and jokes about the situation, likening it to a modern version of Lin Zexu’s “Humen Opium Burning”.
There were parents who expressed their views, saying, “Although I don’t like ‘Yan Cards,’ my child stopped playing with Ultraman figures because of the cards. Ultraman is more harmful. So I don’t object to my child playing with ‘Yan Cards.'”
Some netizens believed that most parents were too rough and lacked communication skills. They expressed concerns that such actions might push their children further away.
The term “Yan Cards” refers to folding the covers of discarded cigarette packs into cards. These cards usually have brand names on them, and the more expensive the cigarettes, the more “valuable” the “Yan Cards” are considered. For example, one lotus “Yan Card” can be exchanged for three regular ones, or a “Dachongjiu” card can be exchanged for ten ordinary “Yan Cards” or sold for 10 yuan.
The gameplay of “Yan Cards” is similar to that of playing cards in the 1960s and 1970s. The players place the cards on the ground and use their palms to fan or slam the ground. Whoever successfully flips the card over wins and gets to keep the opponent’s “Yan Card.”
It has been reported that since the summer of 2024, elementary school students across mainland China have been embracing the trend of playing “Yan Cards.”
On July 4, in a community in southern Sichuan, six boys broke into a local business’s home to steal over 60,000 yuan worth of high-end cigarettes to acquire rare “Yan Cards, only to discard the cigarettes after taking the cards.
However, some netizens pointed out, “The problem is not the ‘Yan Cards,’ but the lack of proper education. Even without ‘Yan Cards,’ there will be other games, and some electronic games can be even more harmful.”