Chinese villages are inventing earthy yet innovative slogans to alert residents to the threat of the raging novel coronavirus as part of the efforts to arrest the spread of the epidemic in the country's rural areas.

Snappy and catchy slogans such as "mask or respirator, you've got to choose one" and "wearing no masks saves a penny, but lying in a hospital bed costs big money" offer a glimpse of the ingenuity of China's grassroots officials, who are trying to inform villagers of the newly released diagnostic and treatment plans and raise their awareness of the epidemic.

During this year's Lunar New Year holiday, the Chinese people are advised to wear masks, wash hands regularly and stay at home to avoid the spread of the virus.

Now village officials are translating fancy medical terms into plain and sometimes thigh-slapping language.

Paying visits to friends and relatives is a Chinese New Year tradition, but this year, villagers are warned against doing so by banners such as "visiting from door to door, pneumonia will knock on your door" and "no running around, and you'll be safe and sound."

Sometimes the admonition can go too far, as some villages hang banners reading "New Year's visits bode misfortune, gathering means courting death," or "party-goers are shameless, mahjong players are desperados."

"Many farmers don't have a clue what the medical terms mean and they prefer the straightforward language," said Ning Qiande, party chief of Longxia Village, Jianning County in southeast China's Fujian Province. "Now they realize how dangerous the epidemic is."

Research results suggest that the novel coronavirus outbreak is highly related to the trading of wild animals, according to experts of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and the public is strongly advised to quit the habit of eating wild game.

Through China's village banners, people are told "a bite of wild game today foretells demise tomorrow."

The nostalgic nature of the banners has made them an overnight sensation online. Banners fighting the epidemic have become a trending topic on China's social media platform Weibo with over 140 million views.

"These hardcore village banners might appear rustic and ruthless, but they are so caring," one comment read.