Web China: Netizens make wishes as end of Mayan calendar nears (4)

However, there are people are taking the prophecy much more seriously.

Panic buying of candles swept two counties in Sichuan Province, while a man named Lu Zhenghai in west China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region spent his life savings to build an ark for 20 people in order to survive flooding on the day.

In southern Jiangsu Province, a 54-year-old university professor surnamed Jiang mortgaged her house for 104 million yuan (about 16.7 million U.S. Dollars) and donated it together with her savings to charity, saying she wanted to do something meaningful before the end of the world, according to reports from Modern Express, a local newspaper.

According to reports, credulous middle-aged women like Jiang and retired people across the country have been scammed, with swindlers encouraging them to buy good-luck tokens at sky-high prices or donate all savings to survive the doomsday.

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