China Environment

Beijing Highway Turns Into Massive ‘Parking Lot’ as Smog Disrupts Traffic

On January 2nd, one Beijing Highway turned into a massive ‘parking lot’ as smog prevented cars from entering the city. Aerial photos of the exceptionally long traffic jam attracted the attentions of Weibo netizens.

Published

10 years ago

January 2, 2017

Manya Koetse

As measures to reduce heavy smog prevented cars from entering Beijing on January 2nd, the G4 Expressway turned into a massive ‘parking lot’ with thousands of cars waiting in front of the city’s tollgate. Aerial photos of the exceptionally long traffic jam has attracted the attention of Weibo netizens.

Chinese newspaper Legal Evening News (@
法制晚报) reported on January 2nd how the G4 Jinggang’ao Expressway near the Beijing Toll Gate turned into a…

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Manya Koetse

Manya Koetse is a sinologist, writer, and public speaker specializing in China’s social trends, digital culture, and online media ecosystems. She founded What’s on Weibo in 2013 and now runs the Eye on Digital China newsletter. Learn more at manyakoetse.com or follow her on X, Instagram, or LinkedIn.

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China Animals

China Faces Unprecedented Donkey Shortage Crisis

“We have plenty of cattle and horses in China now — just not enough donkeys” (“目前我国牛马都不缺，就缺驴”).

Published

1 year ago

October 5, 2025

Manya Koetse

China is facing a serious donkey shortage. China’s donkey population is far below market demand, and the prices of donkey-related products continue to rise.

Recently, this issue went trending on Weibo under hashtags such as “China Currently Faces a Donkey Crisis” (#我国正面临缺驴危机#).

The Donkey Branch of China’s Livestock Association (中国畜牧业协会驴业分会) addressed this issue in Chinese media earlier last week, telling China News Weekly(中国新闻周刊): “We have plenty of cattle and horses in…

Chapter Dive

Behind the Mysterious Death of Chinese Internet Celebrity Cat Wukong

“Dont believe the media,” Zhao Shuo said: “And also don’t believe me.”

Published

1 year ago

May 11, 2025

Manya Koetse

How did the death of a young stray cat lead to a online wave of grief and outrage over the past few days? It started with fans mourning a beloved Chinese internet celebrity cat, then turned into backlash against fake news, anger over animal cruelty groups, and suspicions that local officials were more concerned with controlling the narrative than finding the truth.

Although things turned dark quickly, it began beautifully light.

The journey of…