TWO YOUNG GIRLS in China have shocked the country by taking their own lives in a seeming attempt to travel through time.

The deaths have prompted fears about a recent craze for time-travel television soaps, which typically show a protagonist travelling back in time to the Qing Dynasty after befalling an accident – such as a car crash or being struck by lightening, Shanhaiist reports.

Local media reports that one of the girls, Xiaohua, was worried about being scolded by her parents after losing a household item, and planned to take her own life on 1 March. Her best friend Xiaomei, also 12, vowed to die with her and left a goodbye note, which read:

My good sister has lost the key and was afraid of being scolded. She wants to die, and I decided to die together with her. Please don’t worry too much. We weren’t born at the same time on the same day, but we want to [die] at the same time on the same day. In my life, I have two secret wishes. One is to time-travel back to Qing Dynasty and shoot a film with the emperor, and the other is to travel to outer space.

The two girls drowned in a pool near to their homes before their families could find them.

A recent survey reportedly found that 90 per cent of children at a Fuijan school believed that time travel was real, according to news.ifeng.com.

The tragic event had caused arguments about media influence, the role of educators and the responsibility of parents in China.