Mr Xu lives in Dandong, the city in China's northeast Liaoning province closest to the North Korea border.
He tells SBS Mandarin that "the locals do not speculate too much about a perspective nuclear war."
Listen to his full interview (in Mandarin) with SBS Mandarin in the audio player above. 
On 6 December, Jilin Daily, a local state-run communist party's newspaper, published a full page of advice on "general knowledge of nuclear weaponry and its prevention."
Jilin Daily's page that caused a flurry of discussion Source: Jilin Daily
The page included text and pictographs of how readers can protect themselves from a nuclear weapons attack or explosion, covering areas of precautions and similarities between war and nature disaster.
Although nowhere on the page was North Korea mentioned, many Chinese netizens drew conclusion from the increasing tension in the Korean Peninsula that the advice was an indication of a oncoming nuclear conflict.
Social media in China has seen a flood of discussions relating to the civil defence advice.
Users with some media knowledge put forward the theory that the publication was due to Jilin Daily's running out of content, while others say that it is nothing but a political satire in disguise.
Mr Xu tells SBS Mandarin that most Dandong locals worry more about "putting dinner on the table than a vague nuclear threat."
One comment "I cannot laugh as a crazy neighbour has nuclear weapons" received 750 likes. Source: Weibo
He says that four out of 10 in his close friend circle works in trade with North Korea, and the recent regulations tighten up by the UN has seen a decline in trade businesses in Dandong.
"Although UN's ban on North Korea's exporting of seafood does not affect us much, we are seeing less and less happening in bilateral trade, and my friend who was a long time staff at the China customs to North Korea has lost his job."
Speaking about a possible nuclear leak, Mr Xu says even though he has thought about the possibility, the concern is "remote" and locals "have faith that the country will do right by them in the unforeseeable future."
He also says that the number of North Korean workers in his city has dropped rapidly.
Study show South Korea is boosting its arms sales after threats from the North. Source: AAP
"The few who are here are not allowed to go out shopping alone and have to do so in pairs."
Born and raised in Dandong, Mr Xu confesses that he had never received any formal training on self-protection under a nuclear threat.
"There is the occasional matchbox sized articles on the local papers, but no one really take them very seriously."
"My children are focused on news about their favourite celebrities," says Mr Xu.
Beijing News has reported that the civil defence advice had been provided by the Jilin Province’s civil air defence authorities.
