Submerged beneath a manmade lake in China lies a forgotten city, dubbed by experts as “China’s Atlantis”. The underwater city, known as the Lion City or Shi Cheng, is hidden 40 metres beneath the surface of Qiandao Lake in eastern China. In 2001, officials discovered – or rediscovered – that the metropolis had been perfectly preserved after years underwater, and by 2017 had opened it up as a diving site for tourists. But what is the history of the Lion City, and how did it end up underwater? Shi Cheng is thought to have been built during the Eastern Han Dynasty between 25AD and 200AD. It was once a political and economic hub in the eastern province of Zhejiang, with a regional seat of power located in the city. The city walls, believed to date back to the 16th century, had five entrance gates, as opposed to the traditional four in old Chinese cities, and its wide streets contain 265 archways featuring stonework of dragons, phoenixes and (you guessed it) lions. However, in 1959, the Chinese government decided to build a hydroelectric power plant in the area and, somewhat shockingly, decided to flood the city to do it. This didn’t just amount to getting rid of a historical artefact. More than 300,000 people needed to be rehoused for the project, which ultimately birthed Qiandao Lake. A surprising side effect to this was that the city remains as a time capsule to the period when it was flooded. Since the water used to submerge it did not contain anything corrosive, and was not conducive to marine life, the remains are in perfect condition. And even though it was still functioning as a city until the mid-20th century, the Lion City has still not been completely mapped out. Now, divers are slowly working through each building, structure, archway, road and house to eventually put together a full picture of what it would have looked like. Until then, it will remain at least party shrouded in mystery, as China’s very own Atlantis. How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel Sign up to our free indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Days after Jason Aldean went viral over a song about small town America that many commentators have interpreted as containing lyrics which amount to dog-whistle racism, the singer was mired in fresh controversy. Somewhat appropriately it was over another alleged scandal in a small town, in which a Twitter user claimed he failed to tip in a burrito restaurant in Charleston, West Virginia, having supposedly ordered 65 burritos ten minutes before the joint closed. Now, the internet wants to know if it actually happened. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter On July 20, 2023, a user posted: “Remember when @Jason_Aldean came to small town Charleston, WV, ordered 65 burritos from a local joint ten minutes before close and didn't tip anyone? Then his team reached out after the story went viral and the employees got let go? Try that in a small town." A screenshot of the tweet was widely shared on TikTok, Reddit, and other websites, three days after the Country Music Television (CMT) network pulled Aldean's new music video for his song, 'Try That in a Small Town.' Find out more about the racism scandal engulfing the song here. According to fact-checkers at Snopes, the controversy goes back to a 2017 news story by TMZ, which claimed the singer had ordered 60 burritos and a quesadilla at a restaurant called Black Sheep, which totaled around $500. “We found no concrete information on whether the order was placed for takeout and was picked up by one of Aldean's crew members, or if the entire crew sat down at the restaurant. However, the former appeared to likely have been the case, as we have so far found no photographic or video evidence of the crew eating at the restaurant,” reported the fact checkers. The tweet’s claim that the order for Aldean's crew was made "ten minutes before close" wasn’t mentioned in the original story by TMZ. Arep for Aldean said an "appropriate tip" had been left for the order back in 2017, adding: “Jason had absolutely no contact with the restaurant or any of its employees.” Meanwhile it looks like the tweet’s claim that “employees” were fired by Black Sheep because the story went viral is partially true. The original reporting from TMZ mentioned that one employee who was fired, after apparently tweeting about the order for Aldean's crew. The apparent tweets posted by the employee, which are no longer available, appeared in a second report by TMZ. One of them read: “@Jason Aldean can suck my a-- for not tipping Black Sheep, after ordering 60 burritos.” So to sum up: nobody can quite tell if the story is totally true. Aldean may not have been personally involved, but it looks like there was a big old burrito order for him and his crew, and there was definitely some controversy around the tip. We’ll have to leave the rest to your imagination. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

HOPKINS, S.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 25, 2023--

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A former employee of Twitter/X has spoken about the working conditions under Elon Musk, claiming that it was the ‘hardest experience of her life’. The social media platform’s head of trust and safety, Ella Irwin, resigned from the company in June, confirming the decision to Reuters. Her decision to leave the company came after Musk doubled down on his stance on trans issues, confirming he would be lobbying legislators to “criminalise making severe, irreversible changes to children below the age of consent” through gender-affirming surgery, and that “nobody knows who they are as a child”. Writing in June, Irwin said that it had become clear “there was no longer alignment” between her “nonnegotiable principles” and the policies of Twitter/X. Now, Irwin has spoken further about her decision and criticised the “terrible” decisions made by Musk. Irwin released a statement to NBC News, saying: “It absolutely was the hardest experience that I've gone through in my career. Speaking about Musk’s decision making, Irwin said: “There's more emotion behind his decisions than I would have maybe expected before I met him. “I think that contributes to some of the impulsiveness… I think there were a lot of situations in which I would have handled things very differently.” Reflecting on Musk’s leadership, Irwin added: “There were things that I wouldn't have tweeted in the middle of the night, [and] there were certainly things that could have been stated better.” It comes after Kanye West accused Musk of taking advantage of his clout in a bid to boost the “struggling” platform’s numbers. West is used to causing outrage on Twitter/X, having been banned from the platform in the past. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings