China is the largest consumer of television drama in the world, and TV series come up as trending topics on China’s social media every day. From costume dramas to soap operas, there is a new TV hit every month. What’s on Weibo discusses China’s most popular TV series of the summer of 2015.

Watching an average of 52 minutes of drama per day, Chinese viewers are the largest consumers of television drama (dianshiju 电视剧) in the world. Since the early 1990s, different genres of television drama have emerged in China. There are also countless subgenres, varying from ‘teen drama’ or ‘nostalgic family drama’ to ‘palace drama’ (Schneider 2012, 146; Koetse, forthcoming). Many of China’s dramas become trending topics on Wechat or Weibo every day; netizens discuss latest episodes, or express their discontent with how the series is evolving.

Different from television series or soap operas in many other countries, Chinese television dramas always end after a fixed amount of episodes, usually somewhere from 20 to 35 episodes. In doing so, it resembles the limited-run telenovela, a type of serial drama that is particularly popular in Latin America (Schneider 2012, 9).

After an earlier version of a What’s on Weibo overview of China’s most popular TV dramas, it is high time for an overview of the most watched and most discussed TV dramas of Mainland China in the summer of 2015, according to the Baidu charts.

1.“The Journey of Flower” 花千骨 (Hua Qian Gu）

  Costume Drama, 2015, Hunan TV.

The Journey of Flower is the number one TV hit of this moment, a love story evolving around Bai Zi Hua (played by Huo Jianhua) and Hua Qian Gu (actress Zhao Liying). The drama is based on the popular fantasy wuxia novel (仙侠奇缘之花千骨) by Fresh Guo Guo. When the three-minute short trailer was released online, it received more than 280 million views on Sina Weibo and became one of the hottest topics on China’s social media. The show is broadcasted from June 9, 2015 until August 31, 2015.

The Journey of Flower tells the story of the heroine Hu Qian Gu, a girl born under exceptional circumstances with a special scent and magical powers. Hu Qian Gu grows up in the outskirts of a village with just her sick father. At only 16, she becomes an orphan and is taken on by Bai Zihua, an immortal in charge of a magical realm, as his only disciple. Hu Qian Qu falls in love with her master, but doesn’t reveal her true feelings. The story revolves around their evolving love and the challenges Hu Qian Gu faces in fighting off her demons. To read recaps of every episode, you can follow this blog.

2. “Diamond Lover” 克拉恋人 (Kela Lianren)

Urban Romance, 2015, Zhejiang TV.

Diamond Lover tells the story of Mi Duo, an ambitious young woman who falls in love with diamond factory director Xiao Liang. Because Mi Duo and Xiao Liang are worlds apart, she does not want to confess her love to him. But her life changes drastically after a car accident. Mi Duo loses weight and has to go through surgery, making her more beautiful than before. She is recruited to work for the diamond factory as a designer, and as she finds her place in the workplace, she also finds love and has to make important decisions between inner and outer beauty, love and career, friends and lovers.

3. “The Lost Tomb”  盗墓笔记（Dao Mu Bi Ji）

Action Drama, 2015, iQIYI.

The Lost Tomb is an action and adventure drama, revolving around Wu Xie (played by Li Yifeng), who comes from a family of archeologists. When his parents are killed by tomb robbers while protecting national heritage, the young Wu Xie is send abroad for his own safety. But unavoidably, the young Wu gets interested in historical relics. By chance, he obtains records that contain the secrets of an old tomb, also revealing information relating to his family. With the help of his family’s notes and a team of helpers, Wu Xie sets out on a journey to find lost treasures and the people who killed his family.

4. “Best Get Going” 加油吧实习生 (Jiayou Ba Shixisheng)

Urban Drama, 2015, Jiangsu TV.

Best Get Going contains all elements of a contemporary urban drama: a group of post-90s generation friends is about to graduate from college, and they are all entering the job market by getting an internship. They suffer from their parent’s pressure, and struggle to make their own choices for their life, career and happiness.

5. “Tornado Girl” 旋风少女 (Xuan Feng Shao Nv）

Youth Inspirational Drama, 2015, Hunan TV.

6. “Hua Xu Yin ” 华胥引（Hua Xu Yin）

Fantasy Drama, 2015, Jiangxi TV

The Hua Yu Xin drama is a popular fantasy drama that revolves around various Chinese myths. Ye Zhen (actress Lin Yuan) is the princess of the State of Wei (1040-209 BC), who unknowingly falls in love with Mo Yan, who turns out to be a price of the enemy kingdom. But she remains true to her love, and even dies for him.  Afterwards, she is resurrected through the magic power of the pearl and then becomes a dreamweaver, creating dreams for people with her Hua Xu tune.

7. “My Baby” 我的宝贝（Wo De Bao Bei）

Urban Love Drama, 2015, Jiangsu TV.

This drama has become especially popular because it is about a couple where the wife is very strong, whereas the husband is somewhat weak. The wife Liu Ruonan gets pregnant by accident, and when she gives birth to a baby girl, husband Yuan Xiaofan becomes a full-time stay-at-home dad. Ultimately, My Baby is a story about love, conveying that marriage needs commitment, and that it takes two people to make a relationship work.

8. “The Monster Killer” 无心法师（Wu Xin Fa Shi）

Fantasy Drama, 2015, SOHU.

This drama is set during the Qing dynasty (around 1862-1874), and revolves around the immortal man Wu Xin, who is doomed to eternal poverty. He does not know where he comes from or where he will go, or whether he is human or a demon. He retires to the mountains with his lover, but by the Republican era, his beloved has died, and Wu Xin is so poor that he leaves his mountain and pretends to be a monster-hunting monk in order to survive (source). This show especially popular because it is full of fantasy and mystery.

9. “The Icy And Fiery Youth” 冰与火的青春（Bin Yu Huo De Qing Chun）

Youth Inspirational Drama, 2015, Hunan TV.

Similar to Best Get Going, this drama tells the story of a group of post 1980s generation friends, following them from campus to society. By overcoming many difficulties and frustrations, they become stronger and more mature. Finally they learn how to cherish what they have, and appreciate the happiness in their lives.

10. “Destined to love you” 偏偏喜欢你（Pian Pian Xi Huan Ni）

Inspirational Drama, 2015, Hunan TV.

This show is especially popular because it embody chinese national spirit.
This somewhat nationalistic drama tells the story of a girl called Qian Baobao, who becomes the teacher at a military academy by mistake. She gets involved in confusing situations in terms of love and her own identity. Eventually, she learns to conquer these difficulties and defeat her enemies.

By Manya Koetse
Follow @WhatsOnWeibo

References

– Koetse, Manya [forthcoming]. “From Woman Warrior to Good Wife – Confucian Influences on the Portrayal of Women in China’s Television Drama.” In Stefania Travagnin (ed), Religion and Media in China. New York: Routledge.
– Schneider, Florian. 2012. Visual Political Communication in Popular Chinese Television Series. Leiden and Boston: Koninklijke Brill NV.

About the Author: Manya Koetse is the editor of What’s on Weibo. She’s a Sinologist who splits her time between the Netherlands and China. She earned her bachelor’s degrees in Literary Studies, Japanese & China Studies and completed her MPhil in Asian Studies. Contact: manya@whatsonweibo.com, or follow on Twitter.

©2015 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.

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Plastic surgery news is no longer a novelty in China, where people who pursuit beauty are willing to spend thousands to millions for it. However, for one newly famous Weibo celebrity, the standard of beauty is outrageously different from the norm.

His name is   Vincent Lau (刘梓晨), he is 18 years old, and has over 261.000 followers on Weibo [edit: fanbase is growing quickly and went up to 263.500 within fifteen minutes]. Vincent, who claims to be a model in Beijing, has become famous on Sina Weibo by constantly showing off his wealth, naked photos, selfies, and before-after plastic surgery photos.

Vincent Lau posted some selfies after doing some ‘minor surgery’ and ‘face injections’.

Vincent Lau maintains he only did a little bit of plastic surgery on his chin, although its sharp “V” shape suggests the operation was actually quite drastic. Other parts of his body are supposedly all natural. Weibo users jokingly say that if Vincent Lau’s appearance is what ‘natural’ is, then no one in this world actually is natural.

Lau has become a controversial Weibo netizen, not only because he prides himself in being a ‘weirdo’, but also because he says the netizens who criticise him are low and inferior people.

Although netizens keep writing offensive comments, Lau says he is not angry about it. Instead, he is happy to be at the focus of attention.

Lau especially prides himself in being skinny: “If you were as skinny as I am,” he says: “you would feel like the world is at your feet.”

Lau recently posted a before and after of his identity card on his Weibo account. “I haven’t done any major operations,” he says: “I have lost weight so my chin has become more pointed- it is also because I use synergy face masks (瘦脸面膜)”. The face masks (as featured in the image below) are said to make face features more pronounced.

The facemask that Vincent Lau supposedly used to make his chin more pronounced.

Lau’s identity card, showing his age and his before-and-after pictures.

“Gross, disgusting, cheap, shameless, ugly, ghost, scary, make me throw up…” These are the general opinions extracted from the comment box of Vincent’s Weibo personal account. Weibo user Miss Yuen is fed up with his extravagant high profile: “I want him to disappear from Weibo,” she says.

But if it is up to Vincent, he will be on Weibo for a long time to come: “You are all just jealous of how good I look.”

– by Jennifer Tang & Manya Koetse
Follow @WhatsOnWeibo

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When China’s first television commercial was aired, many viewers did not know what they were seeing. But it became a hype, and people wanted to buy the advertised product anyway.

Advertisement is everywhere in Chinese media today – TV stations,   Weibo, Tencent and streaming sites like Youku are making most of their money through advertisement. But somewhat over three decades ago, advertisement was not so commonplace in Communist China.

In the 1970s, China had thirty television stations, which were all funded by the (local) government. Commercials were not aired and were also considered taboo as it was part of capitalism and consumerism. But as China’s television industry bloomed after the Cultural Revolution and Mao’s death, the government could no longer carry the financial burden of all these TV stations. Commercialisation was the easiest solution to pay for their costs, and the first television commercials were introduced.

China’s very first TV commercial was aired on Shanghai Television on January 28, 1979, which happened to be the same day that Deng Xiaoping visited the United States. The commercial lasted for 90 seconds, and was for a product called Shengui Tonic Wine (参桂养容酒).

As the commercial first aired, many people did not know what to make of it. After all, most of them had never seen a commercial before. Was it a governmental announcement? An information film? Although they could not contextualize it, the commercial had great influence: suddenly everybody in Shanghai wanted to go out and buy Shengui Tonic Wine, even though it was very expensive.

“It was far more expensive than beer,” says Wang Zhicheng, who was a television producer at Shanghai TV in the 1970s: “The tonic wine was about 15 yuan (2.3 US dollars). Even somebody with a good job at the time only made 60 yuan per month (9.3 dollars).” The price did not stop people from buying it, and all liquor stores in Shanghai were soon sold out of Shengui Tonic Wine.

Unfortunately, the 1979 commercial has evaporated in China’s media archives. Chinese illustrators have tried to reconstruct its storyline in drawing. The commercial tells the simple story of a girl going into a shop with her parents to buy a bottle of tonic wine as a gift for her grandfather.

Much has changed since the late 1970s. China now has approximately 2560 television channels, and the TV industry is highly commercialized. It takes more than a TV commercial and a bottle of tonic wine to create a ‘trending topic’ nowadays.

– By Manya Koetse
Follow @WhatsOnWeibo

Sources

Miller, Randi S. 2011. “China’s First TV Ads.” The World of Chinese, Jan 11 http://www.theworldofchinese.com/2010/01/chinas-first-tv-ads/  [Sep 2, 2015]
Shirk, Susan. 2012. Changing Media, Changing China. Oxford: Oxford UP (see page 93-95).
Renminwang. 2008. “中国第一条电视广告是如何出笼的?” Renminwang, Dec 8 http://media.people.com.cn/GB/40606/8477387.html [28.8.15]
Tudou. 2009. 电视的记忆：我们的广告生活 [Television Memories: Our Commercial Life]. http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/jpvDuT6qQ-4 [28.8.15] Wang Zhicheng

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China’s top-rating reality TV show ‘Where Are We Going, Dad?’ has sparked heated online debates on sexual education, after a 4-year-old contestant peeped a little girl in the shower.

With viewer ratings of 75 million per episode, the reality show   Where Are We Going, Dad? (爸爸去哪儿) is one of China’s major TV hits. It features five fathers as they travel to rural places together with their children.

Chris Downs, a famous Canadian anchor in Taiwan, participated in the third season of Where Are We Going, Dad together with his daughter Poppy (夏天). Downs and Poppy then suddenly withdrew from the series after only a couple of episodes. According to Downs, he quit due to health issues.

When Downs was recently interviewed in a Chinese talk show, he talked about one scene when the son of another contestant peeped at his daughter while she was taking a shower. The interview caused commotion on Sina Weibo, as netizens wondered if the ‘peeping incident’ was the true reason why Chris Downs quit the show, sparking wider online debates on the sexual education of younger children.

The much talked about ‘voyeur’ is named Xuan Xuan (轩轩), the 4-year-old son of another contestant. Some Weibo netizens wonder why the young boy Xuan Xuan was not better educated by his parents, leading the topic to become trending (hashtag: #轩轩偷看夏天洗澡#).

Weibo user Miss Edward says: “I thought Xuan Xuan was cute and adorable at first. No one else peeped Poppy, only Xuan Xuan bent down and watched Poppy (..). All kids who lack sexual education will become like another Xuan Xuan, and will eventually become sleazy men when they grow up.”

While the criticisms from some Weibo netizens are harsh, there are also many who are more considerate and supporting. User Crystal says: “Xuan Xuan is only a sweet and innocent kid. Do not project your adult dirty mind onto a kid. That’s gross!”

Xuan Xuan’s mother Ran Yingying has stated that the whole issue is a misunderstanding. She explained that Xuan Xuan just looked at Poppy because he was curious and worried when he saw that Poppy was standing in the shower room all by herself.

Xuan Xuan’s mother has posted a happy photo of Poppy and her son, hoping to settle the controversy. Father Chris has also posted a message on his Weibo page, urging netizens not to blame children as they are innocent.

‘Where Are We Going, Dad?’ is aired every Friday on Hunan TV at 22.00.

– by Jennifer Tang
Follow @WhatsOnWeibo

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They are China’s super stars and have the largest online fan base in the world. What’s on Weibo has compiled a top 10 of people with the most followers on Sina Weibo.

The   Sina Weibo social media platform is often called the “Chinese Twitter”. Although Weibo is not really similar to Twitter, it does have the same ‘follower-followee’ system. Weibo users can become a ‘fan’ (粉丝) of another Weibo user, without having to be followed back. Being someone’s ‘fan’ means their posts will show up on your timeline, which you can like, share and comment on.

This is a list of celebrities from mainland China with the biggest fan base. In comparison: the celebrities with the most followers on Twitter are Katy Perry (75 million), Justin Bieber (67 million), and Barack Obama (63 million). The top two of China’s Weibo celebrities have over 78 and 77 million ‘followers': the largest online fanbase in the world.

1. Yao Chen 姚晨

78.168.835 followers.

Yao Chen (1976) is a Chinese actress and Weibo celebrity, who was mentioned as the 83rd most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine. She is also called ‘China’s answer to Angelina Jolie’ (Telegraph).

Yao Chen is not necessarily China’s number one actress, but she was one of the first celebrities to share her personal life on Weibo since 2009, and interact with her fans. On Weibo, she talks about her everyday life, family, news-related issues, work, and fashion. She posts personal pictures every day. The combination of her popularity due to acting work, combined with her frequent Weibo updates and closeness to her fans, have made Yao Chen the number one Weibo celebrity.

2. Chen Kun 陈坤

77.979.847 followers.

Chinese actor and singer Chen Kun (1979, Chongqing) is known for his roles in, amongst others, Painted Skin and Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. Chen Kun is not only popular because of his acting work, but also for his looks – he is known to have a large gay fanbase. 

3. Zhao Wei 赵薇

73.311.919 followers.

Vicky Zhao (1976) is a Chinese film star, singer, entrepreneur and director. She is also known for her work as ambassador for various brands, which has added to her wealth.

Zhao Wei is the world’s wealthiest working actress. Together with actresses  Zhang Ziyi, Zhou Xun and Xu Jinglei, she belongs to China’s ‘Four Dan Actresses’ (四大花旦): the four greatest actresses of mainland China.

Zhao Wei regularly updates her Weibo, where she posts about her work as an actress, her photoshoots, and her ambassador work for good causes. In the recent pictures below, she visits a hospital for children with leukaemia.

4. Xie Na 谢娜

72.962.003 followers.

Xie Na (1981), also nicknamed ‘Nana’, is a popular singer, actress and designer. She is also the co-host of ‘Happy Camp‘ (快乐大本管), one of China’s most popular variety TV shows. She is the colleague of He Jiong, the number 5 in this list.

Xie Na stars in many popular Chinese films and television series. She has also released several albums, founded a personal clothing line, and published two books.

Before getting married to Chinese singer Zhang Jie, Xie Na was in a 6-year relationship with her colleague Liu Ye, who is on number 7 of this list.

5. He Jiong 何炅

69.567.457 followers.

He Jiong has been the host of China’s popular Happy Camp TV show for over ten years. He is also a singer, actor and an Arabic teacher in Beijing Foreign Studies University.

‘Happy Camp’ (快乐大本馆) is a prime time variety show aired by Hunan TV. It is one of China’s most popular TV shows. With a viewership of tens of millions, it often holds the first place in China’s total viewing rating.

6. Guo Degang 郭德纲

62.386.148 followers.

Guo Degang is a Chinese comedian (1973) and known for his ‘xiangsheng‘ (相声), a traditional Chinese comedic performance in the form of a dialogue between two performers.

One of Guo Degang’s Weibo posts caused controversy in 2013, when the comedian posted a poem about karma the day after Beijing TV director Wang Xiaodong passed away.

Guo Degang recently posted on Weibo about stepping into the wine business.

7. Liu Ye 刘烨

48.189.408 followers.

Liu Ye (1978) is a famous Chinese actor, who is known for taking on difficult roles. He played a young homosexual man in Lan Yu and starred opposite Meryl Streep in the Hollywood film Dark Matter.

The actor is currently a contestant in China’s popular reality show ‘Where Are We Going, Dad?‘, which is now a recurring topic in his Weibo posts.

8. Han Han 韩寒

41.933.102 followers.

Famous Chinese blogger, best-selling writer and race-car driver Han Han (1982) is one of the most influential people on Weibo, and was even named one of the most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2010.

Han Han does not post daily updates on his Weibo, but he is known for addressing sensitive topics. Not long ago, he shared his thoughts on China not allowing single women to freeze their eggs.

9. Jia Nailiang 贾乃亮

41.310.313 followers.

Jia Nailiang (1984, Harbin) is an actor who has starred in TV series since he was a child. He has starred in over 30 TV series in the past 10 years. He is married to award-winning actress Li Xiaolu.

10. Fan Bingbing 范冰冰

38.591.597 followers.

Fan Bingbing (1981) is one of China’s most famous fashion icons and actresses, known for, amongst others, Lost in Beijing, Chongqing Blues and X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Fan Bingbing is the 4th highest-paid actress in the world.

By Manya Koetse
Follow @WhatsOnWeibo

About the Author: Manya Koetse is the editor of What’s on Weibo. She’s a Sinologist who splits her time between the Netherlands and China. She earned her bachelor’s degrees in Literary Studies, Japanese & China Studies and completed her MPhil in Asian Studies. Contact: manya@whatsonweibo.com, or follow on Twitter.

©2015 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.

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China’s first soap opera caused a sensation across the nation. Sales of TV sets surged, and streets were empty when it aired. ‘Yearnings’ was the talk of the town, a 1990 hot topic.

It was October 1990, exactly 25 years ago, when China’s first domestically-produced television opera Yearnings (渴望 Kewang) was broadcasted by a local Beijing television station. At least 550 million in China watched Yearnings, making it “the largest audience in any single country for any television program” (Wang & Singhal 1992, 177).

“With viewer rates of up to 98%, Yearnings virtually emptied the streets.”

When Yearnings aired, many people in China already owned a television set. From 1980 to 1990, the number of household television sets in China had increased from 5 to 160 million, with over 56% of Chinese families owning at least one device (Wang & Singhal 1992, 177).

Yearnings made history with its staggering viewer rates: some cities claiming the program had viewer rates of up to 98% of the market share, virtually “emptying the streets” (Hu 2009, 969).

It was not the first serial drama that was aired in China, as foreign series had already reached the mainland since 1981. Historical dramas and modern-day dramas (like New Star in 1986) were also broadcasted before. But Yearnings was the first to concentrate on love stories and relationships between people and families, making it what you could call China’s first real ‘soap opera’ (Latham, 63).

“The show dealt with various sensitives issues, such as unwanted pregnancy, abortion, adoption and divorce.”

Yearnings covers a time span from the Cultural Revolution to the time of the economic reforms in the 1990s, and tells the story of two Beijing families: the Liu’s and the Wang’s. With the Wang’s being sophisticated intellectuals, and the Liu’s being traditional workers, the families are from completely different backgrounds but are brought together because of the unlikely marriage of the Liu daughter (Huifang) to the Wang son (Husheng).

The show had a total of fifty episodes, during which several storylines explore the relation between these two families. The shows deals with various sensitive issues, such as unwanted pregnancy, abortion, adoption and divorce.

Throughout Yearnings, there is tension between the intellectual Wang family and traditional Liu family. This tension is especially noticeable when Huifang finds an abandoned baby girl one day, and decides to adopt it against the will of her husband. He does not know that the abandoned baby is actually the illegitimate child of his own sister, the snobbish Wang daughter, who left her baby after an unwanted pregnancy.

Although Huifang and Husheng later conceive a child of their own, their marriage fails and they divorce. As a single mother, Huifang goes through many hardships. The climax of the story comes when the Wang daughter, after fifteen years, finally goes on a search for the child she once abandoned. In a complicated storyline, she discovers that her ex-sister-in-law Huifang is the one who took care of her daughter all these years. Despite her broken heart, Huifang decides to return her much-beloved daughter to birth mother in the final episode.

Focusing on the hopes and dreams of ordinary Chinese people, the success of Yearnings was unprecedented, and it formed the beginning of Chinese television drama as we know it today.

This video shows the final episode of Yearnings. Huifang’s adopted daughter Xiao Fang discovers she will be returned to her biological mother (at 16.30) and cries. Huifang has weak health, and lies in bed. Later we see how Xiao Fang falls into the arms of her biological mother Yaru (at 23:24), who has been searching for her all these years. When Yaru asks her: “Who has sent you here?”, Xiao Fang replies: “It was my mother, she told me you were good people,” – turning Huifang into the ultimate figure of love and self-sacrifice. We later see how Xiao Fang keeps on taking care of the sick Huifang, while also seeing her birth mother, saying she misses “both of her mothers”. 

– By Manya Koetse
Follow @WhatsOnWeibo

Sources:

Hu Mingrong. 2009 (2005). “Yearnings, Aspirations”, in: Edward L. Davis (ed), Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture, 969. Routledge: London & NY.

Latham, Kevin. 2007. Pop Culture China! Media, Arts, and Lifestyle. Oxford: ABC Clio.

Wang, Min and Arvind Singhal. 1992. “Kewang, A Chinese Television Soap Opera With A  Message.” Gazette 49: 177-192.

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The latest song by Chinese pop band Jiuyue Qiji (玖月奇迹), Cai Cai Cai, is taking over China with its “brainwashing melody”.

The moment you have heard it, its bound to get stuck in your head. China’s latest megahit “Cai Cai Cai” has taken over the trending topic charts on social media platform   Sina Weibo.

Much like “My Skateboard Shoes” (我的滑板鞋), the song that went viral in 2014, “Cai Cai Cai” (“Step, Step, Step”, 踩踩踩) is one of those songs that is annoying and addictive at the same time. The song came out in September and quickly went viral.

Like other catchy tunes, the song comes with some easy-to-learn dance steps, showing somewhat of a resemblance to leader of all annoying catchy songs: Gangnam Style. Unsurprisingly, the Chinese song has also become popular in South Korea.

“Step Step Step” and its video have set alight a stream of funny videos where people imitate the dance or and make their own versions of it, with the video’s settings shifting from treadmill gyms to bedroom scenes.

One of the reasons why the song became trending is also because many people do not understand how it became trending. As many netizens wonder how such a ‘bad’ song could grow so big, they are making the topic even bigger: the Weibo topic “The whole nation is crazy over ‘Cai Cai Cai’” (“#全民疯玩神曲踩踩踩#”) has now been viewed over 240 million times.

To know what all the rage is about, check out the video below on Tencent or YouTube.

– By Manya Koetse
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Popular actress and model ‘Angelababy’ underwent medical examination to prove that she has not had plastic surgery, leading to heated discussions on Chinese social media.

Chinese popular actress and model Yang Ying, who is better known as ‘Angelababy’, has been publicly pressured by a plastic surgeon to undergo medical tests to prove that her beauty is natural and not from plastic surgery.

On October 15, Angelababy had numerous tests at the Chinese Academy of Medical Science, including X-rays. The surgeon examined her forehead, eyes, nose, as well as the inside of her mouth. The examination happened in front of her lawyer, two notaries and some reporters and photographers, leading the pictures to appear on Weibo.

The pictures evoked heated debate amongst Weibo netizens. A similar issue became a much discussed topic when Chinese actress Fan Bingbing proved she did not have cosmetic surgery on her face.

The story behind Angelababy’s strange facial examination dates back to 2012, when Beijing beauty clinic Ruili accused her of cosmetically altering her face, saying that her plastic surgery failed and her chin was extremely unnatural.

Angelababy denied the accusation, and sued the clinic for RMB 500,000 (78,600 US$). Because the case has gone back and forth, a Beijing judge suggested to have her face examined by a medical professional to verify her case.

The surgeon reported that no cosmetic surgery had been performed on her face. There were no cut marks on her eyelids, nor around her eyes or mouth. None of her facial bones had any signs of incisions.

The announcement set off an instant firestorm of debate on social media, where the topic #angelababy undergoes a facial assessment# (#angelababy做面部鉴定#) rocketed up to the most discussed topic on Weibo, with Angelababy’s supporters and detractors going into fierce discussions.

One of her supporters, Weibo user Biling, said that the critics were just jealous of Angelababy’s beauty, and will always criticise her no matter what she does: “She did not have any cosmetic surgery. Appearance is bound to change from teenager to an adult. Everyone will look different.”

One criticizer, Miss Xiao Xiao, insists that Angelababy has undergone plastic surgery, and that she bribed the surgeons to say otherwise.

Even Angelababy’s husband, famous Chinese actor Huang Xiaoming, commented on social media, saying that his newlywed wife actually looks quite ugly without make up, and that he fully believed her beauty is natural.

– by Jennifer Tang
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An issue involving Lego and Ai Wei Wei has caused controversy this week. The Danish toy manufacturer told the Chinese artist that he could not use Lego bricks for “political work”. China’s state news media respond with a remarkable article, telling Chinese dissidents not to overplay their hand.

It was all the talk on Twitter for the past few days: Ai Wei Wei accused Lego of “censorship and discrimination” after they refused to deliver Lego for the upcoming exhibition of his art project in Australia. Lego reportedly said it did not want its bricks used for a political statement.

After the news made its rounds on Twitter and Instagram, thousands of people offered Ai their Lego bricks. The Beijing-based artist has now announced the set-up of Lego collection points in different cities for his upcoming art projects.

Artist and activist Ai Wei Wei (艾未未) is known for controversial art that critiques censorship by the Chinese government. He used Lego for an exhibition in the U.S. last year, that included portraits of activists and dissidents.

Ai Wei Wei’s Lego project, portraying 176 different political activists and dissidents. (Image: Smithsonian)

As many Chinese media have reported on the issue (including Guancha, Phoenix News and Sina News), Weibo netizens have also started to comment on it.

Lego China has not addressed the issue on its official Weibo account.

“Ai Wei Wei used Lego for his political work, and in doing so, was cheered on by his Western supporters.”

Lego has a strong presence in China. The brand is popular for multiple reasons. Unlike many China-made toys, that often make headlines for safety hazards, Lego is a safe and trusted brand. It is also popular because of its educational value. In many of China’s one-child-policy families, parents are more than willing to spend money on the best toys for their only child.

The Chinese name of Lego is ‘Legao‘ (乐高), its characters meaning ‘happy heights’.

Chinese state-owned media outlet Global Times has responded to the issue with an “opinion piece” by commentator Shan Renping (单仁平). The same article was also published by Sina News and People’s Daily as a regular news article (link).

“This is an interesting conflict,” the article says: “Ai Wei Wei used Lego for his political work, and in doing so, was cheered on by his Western supporters. But the Lego company, following the general principle of Western multinational corporations, refused to be connected to Ai’s political work. They want to keep their business commercial, and avoid any involvement in political disputes.”

“Chinese people have to get used to these kind of situations.”

The Global Times article describes how Ai Wei Wei used Lego for his portrayal of 176 “political offenders” (政治犯) and “political exiles” (政治流亡者). It mentions how his work also includes the portrait of activist Liu Xiaobo, who is still detained in China, and how Western supporters are sending Lego to the controversial artist to encourage him.

“As China rises, it is developing profitable relations with more and more Western multinational companies, as well as close ties with many governments. They are at the center of China’s foreign relations,” the article says. It continues to explain that China’s relation to the world is complex, as there are different political influences and forces from outside that clash with Chinese principles.

“Lego’s refusal of Ai Wei Wei is an appropriate decision,” the article says: “But there are also companies with more ideological interests, such as Google. Chinese people will have to get used to these kinds of situations in the future, and that they might escalate.”

“When China was poor and weak, the West was not interested in Chinese dissidents. Now that China is rising, they suddenly are.”

The article shows little sympathy for Ai’s supporters: “When China was poor and weak, the West was not interested in Chinese dissidents. Now that China is rising, with more power and good prospects, Chinese dissidents have suddenly won the favour of the West.”

The article warns China’s political activists that they should be careful about what they do. Western governments or companies might cheer them on now, but will not risk their profitable relations with China to support a dissident. “Today’s issue is no breaking point yet,” the article states: “But dissidents should carefully watch changes in the relations between China and the West. They should not overplay their hand, or they could become an “nuisance” to the West. They have to understand that the West enjoys seeing them challenge the Chinese system, but will not necessarily support them if doing so affects its relations with China.”

“How funny to see Global Times writing about ‘dissidents’”

Some Weibo users seem surprised with the sudden seemingly open discussion of Ai’s work, saying: “Apparently, more and more people now know Ai Wei Wei, and Global Times has no other choice than to bring this story and to make everyone think the same about it.”

Another netizen called Ajinjin says: “How funny to see Global Times talking about ‘dissidents’ and such – only they can do that.”

Some other netizens express their annoyance with the West: “They say that China doesn’t have human rights and is not free, but do you think yellow and black people have human rights in the US? That they have perfect laws? First look at yourself before you look at another!”

“Don’t abuse children’s toys like this!”

Many Weibo users express their support for Lego’s decision. Netizen Howard Xue says: “Lego does not want their toys, designed for kids, to be used for political purposes by some provocative criminal. Mr. Ai has some famous works (such as a picture of him with his middle finger on Tiananmen, him posing with four naked women, (..) etc.), that are not suitable for children. Let the children be!”. Another user agrees: “Don’t abuse children’s toys like this!”

Other users just think Ai Wei Wei is acting childish, saying: “Ai Wei Wei’s mental age is only six years old.”

Contrary to what Lego intended with its refusal of Ai Wei Wei, the brand has now become associated with political issues anyway. “It became political, as expected,” one netizen says: “Lego, that is your karma for refusing.”

The Ai Wei Wei conflict is unlikely to influence Lego’s sales in China. If it does affect sales in America or Europe, Lego would have no immediate reason to panic: the company still is the world’s best-selling toymaker.

Because of Lego’s growing popularity in China and other countries, it has not been able to meet demands. The company is currently dealing with worldwide Lego shortages.

In the unlikely case of an actual Lego crisis, the Danish company will still have an eager customer waiting for them in Beijing.
Ai Wei Wei, apparently, is not done building yet.

By Manya Koetse
Follow @WhatsOnWeibo

About the Author: Manya Koetse is the editor of What’s on Weibo. She’s a Sinologist who splits her time between the Netherlands and China. She earned her bachelor’s degrees in Literary Studies, Japanese & China Studies and completed her MPhil in Asian Studies. Contact: manya@whatsonweibo.com, or follow on Twitter.

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China’s Internet is full of catchphrases, in-jokes and other memes. While many are just for fun, others have a deeper meaning to them. China’s online memes can sometimes be a powerful tool to say what cannot be said.

“Jia Junpeng, your mum wants you to come home for dinner (贾君鹏你妈妈喊你回家吃饭)!” I remember hearing this sentence while I was still at university in the China Studies program. It was 2009, and the phrase had suddenly become the biggest thing on China’s Internet.

“I am not coming home for dinner, tell mum I am eating at the internet cafe.”

The sentence had popped up on a popular online forum one afternoon. It was a message board dedicated to the World of Warcraft game. Although it was not uncommon for people to post topics unrelated to the game, the sentence apparently stood out. When one other Internet user decided to create an account as ‘Jia Junpeng’, saying: “I’m not coming home for dinner, tell mum I am eating at the internet cafe”, other comments soon followed. Within a couple of hours, the sentence had attracted over 20,000 replies. There were people posing as Jia Junpeng’s brother, mother, uncle or teacher. An online craze followed of people making images and parodies of the thing.

“Jia Junpeng, your mum asks you to come home for dinner!!”

Chinese Internet cafes (网吧) were booming at the time. Some kids spend days on end playing online games and surfing the Internet. People imagined a story around the original message: it might have been an aunt who went online because her nephew did not come home, telling ‘Jia Junpeng’ that his mom wants him home for supper. It became a catchphrase because it struck a chord for people in a time of a rapidly changing society, where the rise of Internet made the generational gap even bigger. It had become less normal for families to eat together. Did mothers now have to go online to ask their children to come home?

Marketers used the hype to attract attention to their products. The sentence ‘Jia Junpeng, your mum asks you to come home for dinner’ was used by different companies in various ways. China Mobile changed the sentence to: “Jia Junpeng, your mum asks you to come and buy a phone card”. Restaurant chains used the sentence to promote their food (“Jia Junpeng, your mum asks you to come and eat our dumplings”), and a chain of English schools adjusted the sentence to: “Jia Junpeng, you mum asks you to come and learn English”.

Virtually all Chinese social media platforms suddenly had people named ‘Jia Junpeng’s brother’ or ‘Jia Junpeng’s mother’.

China Mobile ad and English school ad advertising with: “Jia Junpeng, your mum asks you to come and learn English / buy a phone card!”
 
China’s online memes

‘Memes’ are online phenomena that are rapidly shared and altered amongst netizens. A ‘meme’ can be anything: a video, an image or a catchphrase. It initially becomes popular because it triggers people. They then make their own jokes about it and creatively change the original text or image- in the end, the meme starts leading its own life. The majority of China’s memes are humorous and although many of them do not have a political meaning, some do. Those that are political, are mostly humorous, too.

The year 2009 was a crucial year for China’s social media landscape. Following the social unrest in Urumqi, the Chinese government closed down many social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter. Sina Weibo was introduced as a new platform, working together with authorities to block “sensitive” content (Sullivan 2012, 775). In the years following Weibo’s launch, Chinese memes grew big. China’s web users soon discovered they could express their (political) opinion in creative ways without being blocked by censors.

Although online memes exist all over the world, Chinese memes are different from their western counterparts because the Chinese language is ideal for the creative use of characters. Words that are otherwise censored might get twisted and altered by the use of different characters. Chinese readers will still understand its true meaning, but censors will not look for it until it goes viral. Not only textual memes are popular in China, images are also widespread; they are also difficult to track for censors and cannot be blocked through keyword search functions.

“The grass mud horse became ‘an outcry against the very policies that forced it to become a secret symbol'”

Artist Ai Weiwei was one of the leading figures who made memes political. One of China’s most famous meme is the 3-character phrase ‘cao ni ma’ (草泥马), literally meaning ‘grass mud horse’, but pronounced in the same way as the vulgar “f*ck your mother” (which is written with three different characters). The ‘grass mud horse’ became some sort of mythical creature that resembled an alpaca. Everyone knew that it was actually a big middle finger to the authorities; it was netizen’s way of showing censors that they could avoid them through creativity. Ai Weiwei ‘adopted’ the ‘cao ni ma’ grass mud horse, spreading images of himself riding it, or holding it in front of his private parts.

The grass mud horse became “an outcry against the very policies that forced it to become a secret symbol”, An Xiao Mina (2014, 361) writes.

The ‘grass mud horse’ (aka the ‘f*ck you horse’) and Ai Weiwei.

Memes are big all over the world. In China, memes carry a special meaning because of the highly censored Internet environment they emerge from. An Xiao Mina (2014) speaks of a “meme culture” that has provided a new sort of outlet for public discussion (362). With the creative use of visuals and language, they often speak a thousand words.

“With the creative use of visuals and language, China’s memes often speak a thousand words. ”

2011 and 2012 were important years for political memes. Chinese blogger Michael Anti has called the years from 2009-2012 the “golden years” of the Chinese internet because of the relative online freedom. Many memes have come up during these years.
 
From sunglasses to soy sauce: classic memes

There are a couple that are worth mentioning in a political context. There was the 2012 meme on the topic of Chen Guangcheng, the Chinese civil rights activist who was placed under house arrest by Chinese authorities. Chen is blind and always wears sunglasses. As a protest against his detainment, netizens collectively posted pictures of themselves wearing sunglasses.

Chen Guangcheng and his sunglasses took China’s Internet by storm (image source: The Atlantic).

Another example is the official investigation of Ai Weiwei in 2011 because of a picture where he posed naked with four women. According to the government, it was “dissemination of pornography”. Netizens were furious because the context of Ai Weiwei’s investigation was political and not about ‘pornography’. They responded by posting naked pictures of themselves online to prove that nudity is not pornography, as a protest.

In 2014, when China launched another ‘anti-pornography campaign‘, many netizens mocked it. Was the campaign really directed at ‘vulgar content’, or was it just another excuse to ‘clean up’ the internet? The Chinese word for ‘pornographic’ is ‘huang‘ (黄), which also means ‘yellow’. Many netizens responded to the campaign by posting pictures that were just a block of yellow color, accompanied by texts such as: “I am posting yellow (‘porn’), whatcha’ gonna do now?”

“I’m going to buy some soy sauce”

“I’m going to buy some soy sauce” (我打酱油) is another classic meme. A journalist was interviewing people on the street one day in 2008. When he asked a passer-by some questions, the man replied: “I’m just going to buy soy sauce.” The phrase later became synonymous with “It’s none of my business” – an excuse for speakers who want to avoid voicing their opinion on complicated or sensitive issues (Michels 2014, 128).

The passer-by from the original interview in 2008 who said: “I’m going to buy soy sauce” (source video: link).

“It has nothing to do with me, I am buying soy sauce.”
 
The power of the meme

The power of memes in China lies in its various features. It uses in-jokes, images and creative language that make them difficult to tackle for censors. They are seen, shared and altered by an enormous online population because of the speed of spreading. Their message is often short and powerful, holding a thousand words within one image or catchphrase.

One of the most powerful features of memes is their elusiveness: where did it come from? Who started it? Who shared it, when? When a meme grows big, the whole Internet population gets involved. In China, the Internet population currently holds over 668 million people. Even if only a small fraction of people actively shares memes, it is almost impossible to track their path and pinpoint one person.

“China’s bloggers are not innovative because of governmental censorship, they are innovative in spite of it.”

Bloggers will find many ways to get their message across. As Michael Anti has stated: “China’s bloggers are not innovative because of governmental censorship, they are innovative in spite of it.” In this way, social media can help bloggers to slowly change China’s internet into a more open and free environment. Memes are part of this upward direction.

As for Jia Junpeng, I am not the only one who has not forgotten him. Earlier this year, his name became trending again, after one netizen posted the resume and picture of the ‘real Jia Junpeng’ on the World of Warcraft web forum. Jia Junpeng, whose English name is Philip Jia, supposedly is a young man who studied at Columbia University and has now returned to China to look for work. When one user named ‘Jia Junpeng’s grandmother’ posted: “Jia, it’s Mother’s Day this weekend, come home for dinner,” it attracted over 230,000 comments.

As Beijing announced the end of China’s one-child policy this month, some netizens remembered Jia again, saying: “Jia Junpeng, your wife wants you to come home to make a second baby.” Some things, understandably, just never get old.

– By Manya Koetse
Follow @WhatsOnWeibo

References

Michels, Veronique. 2014. China Online: Netspeak and Wordplay used by over 700 million Chinese Internet Users. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing.

Mina, An Xiao. 2014. “Batman, Pandaman and the Blind Man: A Case Study in Social Change Memes and Internet Censorship in China.” Journal of Visual Culture, 13(3): 359–375. http://doi.org/10.1177/1470412914546576

Sullivan, J. 2012. “A Tale of Two Microblogs in China.” Media, Culture & Society, 34: 773–783. http://doi.org/10.1177/0163443712448951

Featured image: graffiti saying: “Jia Junpeng, your mum wants you to come home for dinner”, as published by Sina News.

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The news that an ordinary Chinese high school girl from Hangzhou was accepted by Harvard University created a stir amongst Chinese netizens on Sina Weibo this week. Thousands of Weibo users criticized the Chinese media for hiding information from the public when it turned out that the girl is actually a US citizen from a wealthy family.

Reports of an ordinary girl named Guo Wenjing from Hangzhou getting an early admission to Harvard University became big news on Chinese social media this week. The news created commotion amongst Chinese netizens for various reasons: first for the fact that a Hangzhou high school student was admitted to Harvard, and then for the fact that the story was partially untrue.

According to Qianjiang Evening News (钱江晚报), Guo Wenjing gained an early admission to Harvard with her talent in programming, and excellence in various fields. In 2014 and 2015, she won gold two times at the Olympiad in Informatics in the US. She was invited by MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) to participate in a programming tournament and won the second prize. Apart from her academic achievements, Guo has also taken up sailing and skiing. In addition, she attended summer schools of well-known universities such as Harvard and Berkeley.

A number of major state media, including CCTV News (央视新闻) and People.com (人民网), posted about Guo’s admission on their Weibo account. They quoted the secretary of Harvard in China, who praised Guo: “Her computer skills are as excellent as any top American female programmer of her age, she got full marks in five subjects in the AP [Advanced Placement] exams, she speaks fluent English, and she is beautiful. She is almost perfect!”

Guo’s admission caught the attention of netizens, and the topic “High school girl’s early admission to Harvard” (#高三女孩被哈佛提前录取#) soon became trending on Sina Weibo. Thousands of users commented on the topic. Some complimented Guo on her achievements, calling her “the pride of China”, while others pointed out that China once again was sending its top talents abroad, and that Guo would “get a green card and then contribute to building up a better US”.

However, the next day, netizens exposed how Chinese major media outlets had left out some important information about Guo. Shibugui, the president of the Global Leaders Lab, revealed on his Weibo that Guo actually is an American citizen and that both of her parents graduated from MIT. Her father is the chairman of a publicly held company. He writes: “The media did not mention her nationality, and made her look like Cinderella. They sensationalized the news.”

The topic then became trending again, this time under the hashtag of “Harvard girl’s truth” (#哈佛女孩真相#), receiving a lot of attention on Weibo.

“It’s a good thing that the Chinese media is trying to publish positive things, but please let them do thorough research because Chinese netizens are smart,” says Weibo user Echo.

The majority of Weibo users believe that Guo is an excellent student with great talents, but say that her success should not be glamorized. A user called “Dragon to the Sky” says that family background has a huge influence on one’s education: “I don’t think we can learn from her case. She was born in the US and raised by PhD parents. Her parents are probably more intelligent than our teachers. For ordinary Chinese, we have to fight for better education resources through continuous exams and competitions. So, CCTV and People.com, what are you trying to say by posting this news? ”

“When will Chinese media stop twisting the truth to make news?” user “JL” says: “They always make up these positive cases, it’s been enough! It seems like they want to encourage children from poor families to study harder, but the reality is that children from ordinary families don’t have the opportunity to attend summer school at Harvard. Do you think children can have hobbies like sailing and skiing just by working hard? Are you kidding me?”

Dongfeng Paiman, former reporter of Hangzhou Newspaper Group, adds: “The media made a shameless attempt to represent an American girl whose parents are PhDs as a beautiful straight-A student from an ordinary Chinese family. They hope to stimulate all Chinese parents who have big dreams for their children.”

“What they are saying seems correct,” a mother on Weibo replies: “I saved the news on my phone immediately after I read it. I wanted to share it with my son later, but my husband had already told him ahead of me. All Chinese parents would be excited over this. It’s a great example to encourage our kids!”

As Chinese netizens are fed up with untrue reports from the media, some of them try to figure out the best way to deal with this situation. User “Orz” asks: “The questions is, if it is a crime for Chinese netizens to post and repost untrue information, then what are the consequences for these public media accounts when they post these things on Weibo?”

User Chen Haiyan says: “Those who write false news should be detained for half a month. Only by that can we keep the internet clean and clear.”

By Yiying Fan
Follow @WhatsOnWeibo

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Only two weeks after China’s Ministry of Culture joined Sina Weibo, the account has become a hot topic. The online presence of the Ministry has sparked controversy, with many netizens ridiculing its media censorship. State media outlet People’s Daily stood up to defend the Ministry, and made an unexpected remark.

On October 15, at 15:00, the   official Weibo account of the Ministry of Culture went live. Their first message got 150.000 comments, and was shared by Weibo’s netizens over 90.000 times. Until the morning of October 24, with only a handful of account updates, the Ministry already had over 255.000 followers.

Although the Ministry’s account page immediately attracted a lot of traffic, much of the visitors were ‘disaster tourists’ who only came to the platform to vent their frustration and to see what was going on.

Many users of Sina Weibo ridiculed the Ministry for opening up a Weibo account and criticised their policies, such as the prohibition of entertaining war-themed TV dramas. Netizens also made jokes about the Ministry’s online censorship, as most comments were immediately deleted by the site administrator.

State media outlet People’s Daily wrote about the Ministry’s Weibo account on October 23. Through their official WeChat account, People’s Daily posted that the Ministry of Culture had become the scapegoat of Weibo – taking the blame for actions and guidelines that are actually implemented by the State Administration for Press, Publications, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT).

The SAPPRFT is China’s media watchdog, an executive branch under China’s State Council responsible for supervising state-owned enterprises engaged in the television, radio, and film industries. The SAPPRFT censors films or series. They recently announced a limit on TV dramas that sensationalise the history of war, which is something netizens referred to in their criticism of the Ministry of Culture.

Unexpectedly, People’s Daily also addressed the strong censorship on the Ministry’s Weibo page. They stated that it was not right for the Ministry of Culture to “blindly delete” netizens’ comments, as it would only lead to more criticism and an increasingly negative public opinion.

One day later, on October 24, the Ministry of Culture has responded on their Weibo page: “As newcomers, the editors have been somewhat thoughtless,” they write: “We thank you for all your suggestions and opinions. Since we also had the courage to open up an account, we should also face the confrontation and need to improve. We hope you all understand and forgive us. We invite your criticism, and will not delete it. Let’s make this Weibo better!”

By now, the Weibo page has over 264.800 followers. Although it is gaining more fans, they have not stopped ridiculing the Ministry. “Not censoring posts?”, one netizen responds: “Ha! Ha! Ha!”

– By Manya Koetse
Follow @WhatsOnWeibo

Sources:

Ministry of Culture Weibo page: http://www.weibo.com/wenhuabu0?noscale_head=1#_0

Guancha article about People’s Daily on Ministry of Culture Weibo Account: http://www.guancha.cn/culture/2015_10_24_338720.shtml

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It is a romantic dream for most women to see their lover kneeling down with a diamond ring and a bunch of beautiful roses. For one Guangzhou woman, however, this dream turned out somewhat different.

A young man named Feng proposed to his pregnant girlfriend with over 50 packs of diapers on Tuesday in Guangzhou, China. With the help of his friends, Feng arranged the diapers in the shape of a giant heart alongside the Pearl River, joined by a big banner saying: “Will You Marry Me?”

He then gave his girlfriend another bag of diapers, carried by a drone, with a diamond ring inside. His girlfriend, who seemed surprised and touched by the gesture, said yes.

The spectacular scene attracted the attention of many bypassers and was photographed and uploaded to Weibo, leading the topic to become trending under the hashtag of “Diaper Proposal” (#纸尿裤求婚#).

The proposal was inspired by Taiwanese celebrity couple Alyssa Chia and Xiu Jie Kai, who announced the birth of their baby daughter through social media this summer. They later shared a video titled “Mothers who lack sleep” (缺睡妈妈), illustrating the exhaustion of working and stay-at-home mums who have to wake up at all hours of the night to take care of their crying baby and change their diapers. The video was sponsored by ‘Libero’ diapers.

Taiwanese actors Xiu Jie Kai previously said he would take up daddy duties such as changing diapers and bottle-feeding to reduce the burden on his wife.

Unsurprisingly, the same brand of diapers used in the video shared by Alyssa Chia and Xiu Jie Kai, were also used for the proposal in Guangzhou. “From now on, your happiness and the baby’s happiness are my responsibility. I will take care of our baby at night time and make sure you have sufficient sleeping time every day,” Feng said during his proposal. The intention behind his creative proposal was the promise to his girlfriend that he would be a good father, and that he would make sure that his girlfriend would not turn into a ‘tired mummy’.

Many of the Weibo comments for Feng’s creative proposal are positive. Many netizens give their thumbs up. Weibo netizen @Mr___Saturday commented that the way one proposes is actually not important; what counts is the sincere love of Feng for his girlfriend.

Some users see the commercial value of the hyped proposal: “This is just excellent marketing for Libero Diapers,” Tony says.

– by Jennifer Tang
Follow @WhatsOnWeibo

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The horrific Paris attacks on Friday 13/11 have become a trending topic all over the world. On China’s Sina Weibo, netizens are responding with shock to the stunning wave of violence in the capital of France. The topic is also drawing criticism from Chinese bloggers for the way Europe is handling terrorism.

The hashtags “Paris Shootings” ( #巴黎枪击#) and “Paris Terrorist Attack” (#巴黎恐怖袭击#) are trending on Weibo. As news of the horrific events in the capital of France widely spread on social media in Europe around ten o’clock on Friday evening, it was also quickly picked up by Chinese media and netizens during the early hours of Saturday morning. Like on other social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook or Reddit, netizens on Sina Weibo are also posting the latest news on the Paris situation.

Many users are posting images in support of Paris or emoticons of candles, with many saying they are “praying for Paris”.

According to latest news reports, there are at least 39 dead in separate shootings and explosions around central Paris and an estimated 100 dead in the concert venue Bataclan (巴塔克兰), where people were held hostage for hours. There is a total of at least 128 people killed and 180 people injured.

According to eyewitnesses, the two men who opened fire at Bataclan had shouted “Allah Akhbar” before entering the building. A state of emergency has been declared across France, and its borders were closed.

“You cannot go to Europe now. France is in chaos.”

Sina Weibo sent out news alerts on the Paris attacks to its mobile users. “Waking up early in the morning with the news of Paris terror attacks, leaving at least 40 innocent people dead, I realize how fickle life is,” one Weibo user says. “Paris won’t sleep tonight,” one female user says.

There are also people who go online with the question if any of the victims are from China. “I heard there were Chinese nationals in the concert venue,” a netizen named Tea77 says. Others also worry for their safety if traveling to Europe: “I won’t go to Europe anymore,” one user says: “It’s too scary.” He is not the only one. Another user named Qiqi says: “You cannot go to Europe now. France is in chaos, and with the wave of refugees in Germany..”

“Again, a meticulously planned shooting – Paris has changed into a battlefield,” one netizen says. A woman named Autumnnan says: “It’s hard to believe that a massacre like this can happen in 2015 Paris.”

“The Islamic belief has an inherent problem, and it needs to undergo a change.”

On Saturday, within half a day after the terrible attacks, another topic goes trending: “Interpreting the Paris attacks” (#解读巴黎恐怖袭击#), questioning the motives behind the killings in Paris.

Opinion leader/researcher Hu Yanglin (244667 followers) writes: “Terrorists have no humanity, and must be severely condemned and punished. But, no matter if it’s France or another country, we have to reflect on religion and some extremist religious ideas. Everyone condemns it, but you cannot discriminate the whole religion (..). Freedom and equality is a basic human right, and not just the right of some social group. As for countries, they have to respect the sovereignty of other countries, and cannot destroy others for personal gain”.

One netizen named ‘Spectator 45448′ responds: “In Europe, pacificism prevails. There is no principle to oppose war and battle Muslim terrorism, and they have tolerated the spread of Muslims in France. I believe France has to revise its policies, and has to strongly control the dissemination of violent Muslim religion.”

“There should be no religion in this world, let alone Islam,” another netizen says: “A couple of hundred years ago, you would be hanged and burned by some religious groups if you said the world is round. Religion makes ignorant people more stupid, and it makes heinous people more evil. We can only progress if people stop believing in religion.”

Many people on Weibo are talking about the subject of religious extremism and Islam. A Weibo user named Zuojia Beifeng says: “The Islamic belief has an inherent problem, and it needs to undergo a change, like Christianity did in Europe after the Middle Ages. If not, Arabic society will not progress.”

“Europe and America have done wrong themselves! The invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq has triggered terrorism from Muslim countries.”

On Saturday ‘isis’ was the number one searched keyword on Sina Weibo. The CCTV news on the Paris attacks was shared 45000 times, attracting countless of comments from China’s netizens. While the majority of Weibo comments right after the events in Paris mostly were those sending sympathy to the people of France, there are also many comments on Saturday expressing anti-Western sentiments.

“If something like this happens in Europe or America, it’s called terrorism and needs to be condemned. But if it happens in Russia or China, they call it ‘rebellion’ or ‘uprising’, it’s a double standard,” one person writes.

Another popular comment (liked 3100 times) by a blogger says: “Europe and America have done wrong themselves! The invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq has triggered terrorism from Muslim countries. And now they’re destroying Syria, making the refugees flow into Europe. And yet they keep on sending troops, making the situation in Syria worse. Together with America, they bring about more terrorism, and Europe has to prepare to welcome more refugees, deepening the crisis.”

Other netizens also do not show much sympathy for France: “You act for yourself and suffer the consequences, why should we pray for you?” some say. Others respond that they will only pray for their fellow Chinese countrymen who are in Paris. “Why should we light candles for them?” one person says: “If China is in trouble, will they do that for us?”

There are also many who express their sympathies: “Be strong, Paris! These terrorists are crazy, otherwise they would not kill innocent people with their hail of bullets. We all want to live in peace. I just hope this will not happen again.”

The Embassy of France in Beijing has not yet responded to the attacks on its Weibo account.

– By Manya Koetse

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©2015 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.

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A landslide has caused 22 buildings to be buried in Shenzhen, south of China. There are two workers’ dorms amongst the buried buildings, Chinese media report. The number of casualties is still unknown.

On the morning of Sunday December 20th, around 11.40, a massive landslide hit a Chinese industrial park on the outskirts of Shenzhen, Guangdong,   SCMP reports. According to Sina News, the landslide caused some buildings to collapse, while others were buried. The number of casualties is still unknown, but it is said that most workers were evacuated before the landslide. Police is currently removing people from the area, as there is the danger of the nearby natural gas plant exploding. In one family house, four people have been buried by the slide. BBC reports that some 1500 firemen are at the scene.

According to CCTV News, 7 people were rescued from a collapsed building, and 41 are still unaccounted for. Over 900 people have been evacuated.

These images were issues by Sina Weibo breaking news:

Latest pictures by Shenzhen Evening News show buildings on the verge of collapsing:

On Weibo, the topic became trending under the hashtag of “Shenzhen landslide” (#深圳山体滑坡#). Netizens express their worries, with many people stating they hope there will be no casualties. Many are also asking for more information on how the landslide could occur. One Weibo netizen writes: “It is not rainy season, nor is there a typhoon. It is not high season for land slides; is this the result of natural occurences, or human activity?”

“What a disaster! Nature is upset!” one user responds. Another user says: “This place is very near my work, and I had to work this Sunday. I heard the firetrucks all morning and really hope everyone is okay.”

– By Manya Koetse
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©2015 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.

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News of the mass sex assaults during New Year’s in Cologne and others cities has shocked people across Europe. Chinese media extensively covered the attacks and their aftermath, leading to many reactions on Weibo and other social media platforms in China.

On New Year’s Eve, an estimated thousand men assaulted, raped and robbed dozens of women around Cologne’s train station. The men were   said to have a North African and Arab appearance. News of the mass sexual assault made the headlines days after it took place. Similar incidents, on a smaller scale, have also been reported in Hamburg, Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Düsseldorf.

The Cologne police initially filed a report saying that New Year’s Eve had “passed off peacefully”. It was later reported that city police had identified suspects who harassed women on the night of December 31st, but that they did not want to publicize it because of its “politically awkward” nature, since some were asylum seekers (Deutsche Welle). On January 11, it also became known that Swedish police covered up mass sex assaults by mostly migrant youths at a music festival earlier in 2015.

As reports on the New Year attacks are still coming in, Cologne police stated on Saturday that the number of reported violence cases in the city had reached 379. On Monday it had risen to 516.

The sex attacks have launched a heated public debate in Germany over immigration and refugees, pressuring Merkel, who has instituted the country’s open-door migrant policy. Women’s rights activists, Islam critics and left-wing counter-protesters demonstrated in Cologne on Saturday. Clashes with the riot police led to a number of arrests.

On China’s social media platform Sina Weibo, news account Weitianxia reported on Saturday that 31 suspects linked to the mass assaults are currently under investigation and that more than half of them are refugees (德国调查31名科隆大规模性侵案嫌犯 其中过半数为难民).

“This group of men apparently is strong and vigorous enough to rape women, but not to fight for their own country,” one netizen responds to the news. Another one says: “You’ve led the wolf into the house.”

A female netizen called Lin Maomao writes: “I have lived in Germany for so long (..), and I am quite pleased with the public security and morals in this country. Hearing about the public robberies and assaults in Cologne, I feel that every nationality is in charge of its own image. Don’t talk about political correctness – respect and discrimination are responses to one’s own behaviour.”

Swiss model and artist Milo Moire, who protested near the Cologne cathedral on January 8, was also discussed on Weibo. Moire held up a banner saying “Respect us! We are no fair game, even when we are naked!”

“I really admire this woman’s courage,” says an account named ‘Impressions of Germany‘ on Weibo: “She moved people by enduring the cold like this for ten minutes. If German’s politicians would follow in her footsteps, they could really have the power to influence people.”

Sun Jin, a ‘Germany expert’ and professor at Beijing Normal University (9445 followers), writes on his Weibo account: “The Cologne sexual harassment of New Year’s Eve has made people see that there is actually no freedom of speech in Germany. According to reports, German criminology expert Pfeiffer agreed to a television interview about the matter, and was told by the public television director that he was not allowed to talk about refugees, or else they would immediately be cut off. Previously, the Cologne police chief tried to conceal that the suspects were refugees who had just arrived in Germany. In Germany, it is a political taboo to speak about foreigners committing crimes – whoever criticizes it is right-wing.”

One netizen comments on this post: “Sweden has done elaborate studies on how the crime rate amongst East Asian immigrants is lower than those of their own people, and that those of Muslim immigrants is much higher than the average. Similarly, in Germany, the percentage of Muslims in prisons is relatively very high. Why the hell should other foreigners be made the scapegoat for them? It is only right to report people’s ethnicity and religion!”

“How about we don’t call them “refugees” but call them “the honored Arabic guests invited by Merkel” – would that be ok?” another netizen responds.

On different other message boards, netizens are also discussing the events in Cologne. People generally react with disbelief to the sex attacks and their aftermath: “Germany is doing good by giving them shelter, why would they commit crimes there? Isn’t this a conspiracy theory to expel them?” one netizen on Baidu wonders. Others seem to have little sympathy for the Germans, and say: “You have made your bed, now lie on it.”

Writer Zhan Hao (807941 followers) writes: “Merkel is facing tough challenges, with some serious back pressure. Now Merkel can only hope that Germany will not have a terrorist attack like in Paris, otherwise it will be difficult for her to stay in office.”

– By Manya Koetse
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©2016 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.

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Being famous in China is one of the last wishes of an 8-year-old American boy with terminal cancer. Under the hashtag of “D-STRONG”, Chinese netizens are making his dream come true.

The 8-year-old Dorian Murray from Rhode Island, USA, was diagnosed with cancer four years ago. Now that the cancer has spread throughout his body, his treatments have come to an end.

According to China News Service, Murray told his father that he wanted to be famous in China before going to heaven, “because they have that bridge,” he said, referring to the Great Wall.

His parents posted on the special Facebook page for Dorian with the message that they were “reaching out to anyone who may know someone in China or other countries who would be willing to send a picture to Dorian with a #D-STRONG sign.”

His message was shared on Weixin and Weibo, and soon became trending. Thousands of Chinese netizens have been posting pictures for Dorian over the past week. News about the #D-STRONG# hashtag has not only made the headlines in Chinese media; American and European media, from CNN to BBC, have also written about Dorian and how Chinese netizens are realizing his wish.

On Weibo, the D-STRONG topic has now gotten over 130 million views. Over 100,000 Weibo users have shown their support for Dorian through comments, pictures and drawings.

“#D-STRONG# Dear Dorian, Hope u can see this,” one woman writes on Weibo, posting a picture of herself on the Great Wall.

One female netizen writes in English: “#D-STRONG# hi Dorian.you don’t know me, but I do know you. you are famous in China! actually the bridge in the pic isn’t the real Great Wall in Beijing, it’s a vacation area in a small city in Jiangxi province. I am with cancer like you. Be strong, Dorian! We are together!！[心]”

Even world famous pianist Lang Lang showed his support for Dorian on Weibo:

And many others:

There are also netizens who express their hope that netizens could also pay more attention to the children in China: “Please also consider the poor kids in our own country,” she says: “Think about the left-behind children* who have no parents to care for them, and not enough to eat, or to wear, and no education. I hope you can also pay attention to them.” (*left-behind children are those children that are left behind in rural areas by their parents who are migrant workers, and do not have the means to take their children with them.)

Most netizens just want to let Dorian know one thing: “You are famous in China.”

Dorian’s parents have responded on Dorian’s Facebook page: “We are so amazed, and completly in awe of the response to Dorian’s request. So many photos and videos have come pouring in…..I have no words!! All I can say is, THANK YOU. ‪#‎dstrong‬ is no longer just a hashtag, it is a movement!”

– By Manya Koetse
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©2016 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.

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Pictures and a video of Dutch men emptying boxes of milk powder over Chinese tourists in Amsterdam have become trending on Chinese social media networks Weixin and Weibo. Many netizens are angry with the men for insulting Chinese people. A commission has been set up to take legal actions against them.  

Chinese media report that two Dutch young men have recently attacked Chinese people with milk powder on the streets in Amsterdam. According to   Sina Weibo News, a Chinese netizen wrote on January 25 that two men in Amsterdam were looking out for Chinese people to pass by in the streets of Amsterdam, asking them if they wanted milk powder and then emptying a box of milk powder on them.

According to Sina Weibo News, the attacks took place because Dutch people are not happy with Chinese people buying up milk powder in Amsterdam.

The attacks occurred at different locations in Amsterdam, amongst others at the beginning of the Zeedijk, which is also known as Amsterdam’s ‘China Town’, and at the Stadhouderskade near the Heineken Brewery, which are both popular tourist places.

In the video, you can hear young men asking Asian-looking tourists if they want to buy some Nutrilon milk powder for twenty euros. They then proceed to throw milk powder over the tourists. “In the Netherlands, they are open about drugs and prostitution, and there is a free market, what’s the problem with buying milk powder?” one Weibo netizen wonders. “Only losers would take out their own frustration on other people like that,” another user responds. “They are only wasting milk powder like this!” one other Weibo netizen writes.

The two boys, who are named Rome Terbeek en Kenzo Hanter, have apologized for their actions in another video after their ‘prank’ caused controversy on social media in the Netherlands. In the video they say: “Hereby we would like to apologize for the prank we did in Amsterdam. We don’t have anything against Chinese or foreigners, but that is what it is made to look like now. We thought it would be a funny video and never thought it would turn out this way.” Their apology was also covered by Chinese media.

Although the prank allegedly had no connection with Chinese buying up milk powder, Chinese media do connect this issue to earlier incidents where the ‘panic buying’ of milk powder has led to aggression, such as in last November in Rotterdam, where two Chinese got into a fight over milk powder (screenshot below).

The boys have apologized, but the video and pictures have already become a much-discussed trending topic on Weibo under different hashtags, one being “Chinese splashed with milk powder” (#华人被泼奶粉#). Most Chinese netizens think the news has a direct connection to China’s milk powder problem, and many people are angry at the young men for insulting and bullying Chinese people this way and scold them on Weibo: “You fuckers really have a problem!” or “These fuckers really deserve a beating”, and “We should spill something over these son-of-a-bitches!” and “I only have a middle finger for you two!”

Chinese state media Xinhua and Tencent News report that the Chinese embassy hopes that legal measures will be taken against the two boys. The Chinese embassy in The Hague has stated on 27 January: “We are shocked that this nasty incident has happened in the Netherlands. We hope that the Dutch side will legally deal with this incident and that they will take the necessary measures to avoid such a thing happening again” (“我们对在荷兰发生这样的恶劣事件感到震惊，希望荷方依法处理并采取必要措施，避免此类事件再次发生”).

According to Xinhua News, Chinese media has been in touch with Dutch criminal lawyers, who think that the conduct of the two Dutch men could be classified as slander, discrimination, and bringing intentional harm to others. The Chinese community in the Netherlands has held a meeting and has decided to set up the “Dutch Overseas Chinese Rights Commission” (“荷兰华侨华人维权委员会”). They have asked the victims of the incident to come forward, as the Commission will help them in taking legal action against the men.

“This might have been just a street prank,” one netizen says: “but the issue of milk powder is a very sensitive one for Chinese people. It is just as insulting as it would be for a Muslim to be confronted with a pig’s head.”

Some examples of Chinese (state) media covering this news:
– Global Times
– Phoenix News
– Epoch Times
– China Youth
– China Bridge
– Sina News
– China News Service
– Sohu News

Screenshot of China Bridge News, naming the two boys and quoting a social media comment of a netizen who calls himself Geert Wilders (a well-known Dutch politician) and who says: “Guys guys, why would you do this? You know Nutrilon doesn’t care about this, they make loads of money.”  He also says: “Why would you bully Chinese people? They are very well integrated in the Netherlands! They are always very calm, why don’t you dare to bully people of other nationalities?” 

– By Manya Koetse
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©2016 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.

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A recent poll by Shanghai Daily asking readers about their concerns when visiting the upcoming Shanghai Disneyland Park shows that 26% of the people worry about the potential misbehavior of other visitors. Their skepticism signals that Shanghai Disneyland might not become the happiest place on earth.

Shanghai Disneyland is the most-anticipated theme park of 2016. A recent   poll about the theme park, conducted by Shanghai Daily, asked readers what they were most concerned about when visiting the upcoming Disney Resort. The theme park, that will open on June 16th of this year, has been garnering lot of buzz and excitement from eager enthusiasts waiting to visit what will be one of the world’s biggest Disney theme parks.

The survey revealed that people’s manners are of great concern to the park’s future visitors. While 38.1% of the surveyees is worried about crowd management and wait times, 26% of them are worried that their fellow visitors will not behave appropriately.

The poll’s outcome can be linked to the many news reports over the last years about Chinese tourists engaging in “inappropriate and rude behavior” while traveling.

One example is the recent case where a Chinese tourist flung chairs in the check-in area when his flight at South Korea’s Jeju Airport was canceled due to bad weather. Last year, Chinese tourists protested flight delays by shouting out China’s national anthem. Other incidents include a brawl that ended with one Chinese tourist pouring boiling water down the back of a stewardess, and another threatening to set off a bomb on the plane. These incidents have prompted the National Tourism Administration of China to track the actions of Chinese citizens when traveling abroad. They now maintain a database of such citizens, who will be blacklisted and prevented from further travel in the future.

Reactions of participants in the poll have by and large been of concern, with some netizens calling Chinese manners “terrible”, and others dreading spitting and shouting Chinese tourists. One participant is not looking forward to Disneyland Shanghai: “The horror of 10,000 little emperors and their parents thinking that they can do whatever they like…”

Netizens on Sina Weibo also have been skeptical about the opening of Disneyland in Shanghai. Many Weibo users express their concerns about misbehaving tourists and unmanageable crowds. Weibo user Lucky says that Chinese tourists don’t just have a bad reputation abroad, but also within Mainland China.

Disneyland opened in Hong Kong in 2005. The 2016 Shanghai resort will be the first Disney park within Mainland China.

The range of reactions signal a cautious excitement over the launch of Disneyland in Shanghai, mixed with concerns over people’s misbehavior and crowd management. For many netizens, however, the anticipation is much bigger than any concern. “I have been to Hong Kong Disneyland three times already,” one netizen says: “now we can finally go to Shanghai!”

– By Mahalakshmi Ganapathy & Liu Liu
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Mahalakshmi Ganapathy is a Shanghai-based Sinologist-to-be, pursuing her graduate degree in Chinese Politics at East China Normal University. Her interests include Sino-India comparative studies and Chinese political philosophy.

©2016 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.

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• Pressured to get married: bachelors dread questions over love life during Chinese New Year festivities
• Market for renting a girlfriend to bring home to meet the parents is booming
• Prices for fake girlfriend start at 500 RMB (75$ US) per day

 
As many of China’s singles are on the way home for Chinese New Year, they are dreading the pressure they are about to face – that of their parents asking them why they are not married yet. To avoid nagging questions, there is a growing trend over the past few years of bachelors renting a girlfriend for New Year. A booming market has emerged where women offer their services of being the perfect girlfriend for a day.

The pressure facing single adults in China has been at the focus of public attention for some time now, People’s Daily writes. Renting a girlfriend for Chinese New Year has become a solution for many who don’t want to face another year of annoying questions about their (non-existent) love life.

The 30-year-old Bai Gang is an IT worker in Guangdong, who broke up with his last girlfriend five years ago. For him it is not so much of a problem that he is single now, People’s Daily writes, but to his parents it is. Bai Gang therefore feels that renting a girlfriend when he goes home for New Year is the best option for everyone; his parents will not be worried anymore and he only has to tell some white lies.

For an article What’s on Weibo did about this issue in 2014 (see: Rent-a-Date and Chinese New Year), we found that it was possible to go on Taobao, China’s largest e-commerce platform, to look for a partner to rent. This year, this is no longer possible. When searching to ‘rent a girlfriend’ or ‘rent a boyfriend’, Taobao now says that “according to laws and policies, we cannot show you these results.”

But also without Taobao, the market for renting a date is booming. According to the People’s Daily journalist, one can join groups on social media platforms where girls offer their services. Tencent’s QQ, for example, has one group for renting-a-date that anyone can join for 2 RMB (0,30$ US) to meet a suitable fake partner for the holidays. Prices vary around 1000 RMB (150$) per day, with the lowest prices at 500 RMB (75$) and the highest around 1200 RMB (182$), depending on one’s looks and (academic) background.

While men looking for a fake girlfriend often have concerns about her trustworthiness and whether or not their parents will like her, the women offering their services also have their worries. One woman interviewed by People’s Daily tells them she first talks with potential clients to see what their expectations are. She makes it very clear that she will not share a bed with him, she says, as some customers have “inappropriate wishes”.

On social media platforms WeChat and Weibo, many new accounts also offer their services to those who want to rent a girlfriend or boyfriend. The following account on WeChat says: “Rent a date for Spring Festival. It’s almost time for Chinese New Year, to help out those who don’t have a partner yet, and avoid pressure from the family, we recommend our services!”

Renting a girlfriend for the holidays temporarily solves one problem. But since the most dreaded questions for Chinese New Year also include those on whether or not you own a car, have a house, got a raise, passed your exams, and are planning on children or are pregnant yet, we can only wonder if these kinds of Chinese New Year services will come to include more ‘fake it ’til you make it‘ possibilities. Rent a baby, anyone?

-By Manya Koetse
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