Internet addiction has started to become a big problem in China, and perhaps no better example of this is the story of Li Meng. A Chinese man who has been at an internet café nearly nonstop for the past 6 years.
Meng is such a fixture there that the owners of the internet café say that they don't even notice him anymore. For 6 years he has quietly and devotedly sat at the café and played hour after hour of video computer games there.
"He never speaks. In fact we were all amazed that when New Year rolled around, he didn't even return home. We gave him some dumplings, at least," says the café's owner.
Meng stays at the café practically 24 hours a day, leaving only to get food. When he is tired, he will sleep there, and occasionally he will venture out to take a bath somewhere. Otherwise, it is nothing but video gaming the entire time.
The Chinese website Xinhua didn't report which game he was playing, but was able to say the following:
"As he talked to our reporter, his gaze was locked to the computer screen, the plastic bag containing his dinner open by his side. He has a monthly income of RMB2,000, of which 500 is paid as a fee to the café every month."
The owner of the internet café suspects that his income might be even higher than that due to Meng's diamond-studded joystick, but is unsure because Meng's income is derived from his video games. Chances are high that he is either playing Warcraft or Starcraft (which is wildly popular in Asia). Both games have a large following and online markets set up where a player can sell virtual gold they've collected, or their entire account.
Internet addiction has become increasingly problematic in Asia over the past few years, and is already an accepted psychiatric disorder in China, Taiwan, and Korea. There are also now camps in China that parents send their addicted children to in hopes of ridding them of this 'disease.'
America is not immune either. It is believed that the producer of the viral Kony 2012 video, Jason Russell, suffered a psychotic breakdown due to extreme internet exposure. To what extent people are becoming addicted to the internet is up for debate, but one things is for certain: Li Meng could not possibly care less.
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