Police warn of injury risks as pole scaling craze turns to farce requiring delivery riders, families and passersby to save people taking part
2-MIN READ2-MIN ListenFran Luin BeijingPublished: 2:00pm, 22 Apr 2026Updated: 2:01pm, 22 Apr 2026A Chinese woman who tried to copy a recently viral lamp post climbing challenge got herself stuck and had to call the police to rescue her.
The woman, surnamed Song, from eastern China’s Jiangsu province, was out for an after-dinner walk when she decided to take on the challenge.
The self-rescue challenge requires people to cross their legs around a lamp post, remain in a sitting position then try to free themselves.
As easy as this may sound, many people have been shocked to discover that they could not uncross their legs.
The challenge descended into farce when people were forced to seek the help of families, passers-by, food delivery riders and the police to extricate themselves.
In Song’s case, she found herself more tightly stuck to the lamp post the more she struggled to free herself.
