A Beijing food vendor, affectionately known as ‘Auntie Goose Legs,’ has become a viral sensation after becoming super popular among the city’s student community. However, this beloved ‘auntie’ has caused quite a commotion recently after relocating her stall, triggering debates among local students over which university she truly ‘belongs’ to.
This winter, students at Peking University, Tsinghua University, and Renmin University are all craving hot, roasted goose legs. This snack has gained quite the reputation in the Beijing’s Haidian District, where ‘Auntie Goose Legs’ has been selling her food near the dorms and entrances of the various local universities.
The food vendor, who is known for wearing a pink helmet, initially sold her goose legs near the entrances of Peking University and Renmin University, not too far from Haidian South Street. All went well for years. She would let students know when she would be setting up her stall near what entrance, and the neighbourhood kids could come and enjoy her roasted goose legs.
Although her business was doing well, Auntie Goose Legs still found it necessary to remind students she was coming and promoted her goose legs through WeChat to ensure sufficient sales.
Then, one day, Auntie made a sudden decision to relocate further north, near the entrance of Tsinghua University. This move stirred conversations in many Beijing students’ WeChat groups.
While the Peking University student community mourned the loss of convenient access to their beloved goose legs, the Tsinghua crowd welcomed Auntie with enthusiasm. Besides eagerly buying her goose legs, they went a step further by assisting her in professionalizing her business, setting up special Goose Legs WeChat groups, and implementing online queuing and payment systems.
Popular meme showing a neglected ‘Beida’ (Peking University) on the left, while mother ‘Auntie Goose Leg’ is playing with Tsinghua.
As reported by WeChat account Meishaonv023 (美少女挖掘机), the students at Peking University pleaded for the return of their beloved Auntie. Meanwhile, concerns arose among Tsinghua students, as the Auntie’s skyrocketing popularity made it increasingly challenging to secure their goose leg snacks. Perhaps their campaign to promote her business had become a little bit too successful?
Long lines for auntie’s goose legs.
Where is Auntie Goose Legs?
According to Meishaonv023, Auntie Goose Legs has become so famous locally that among Beijing’s university students and in Wudaokou circles (Wudaokou is the famous student hub in Beijing’s Haidian), there are now only two groups: those who have tasted her goose legs and those who have not.
Roasted goose, with is deep flavor and golden skin, is a dish that is commonly enjoyed in various international cuisines, especially during winter seasons. According to some people who have tasted the Beijing food vendor’s goose legs, they are the perfect mix of juicy and tender, sweet and spicy.
Amidst the hype surrounding the goose leg food stall, Auntie decided to raise her prices by 1 yuan, increasing from 15 yuan ($2.12) per goose leg to 16 yuan ($2.26). Unexpectedly, some people also decided to make some extra money by becoming ‘Goose Leg scalpers’ and adding another 2 yuan to the price of one goose leg when reselling it to other students.
Auntie Goose Legs, wearing her pink helmet, surrounded by students.
And there were more developments in the Auntie Goose Legs saga. When she decided to announce that she would no longer set up her stall at Tsinghua on Sundays, the students argued that she then should not set up her stall anywhere else on that day, either. If they can’t have goose legs on Sundays, then the Peking Uni students certainly shouldn’t have goose legs on Sunday either?
Then, the canteen manager at Renmin University suddenly made a surprising move on November 27 and introduced roasted goose legs in the university’s canteen, selling them for just 15 yuan. Some people, however, argued that they lacked the ‘soul’ of Auntie’s food. Meanwhile, the people at the nearby Forestry University also showed their interest in joining the Goose Leg battlefield.
One of the reasons why this story has blown up on Chinese social media is because the universities involved are among the most prestigious of the entire country. It strikes people as amusing that instead of focusing on applied mathematical problems, these top academics are actually engaged in bickering over roasted goose legs.
A Covid test line? New bubble tea shop? No, these Beijing students are lining up for the roasted goose legs by 'Auntie Goose Legs.' The local food vendor has gone viral after becoming a sensation in Beijing's student scene, from Beida to Tsinghua 🍗 Read: https://t.co/fCPjFaiaqApic.twitter.com/VeUVVhD0VP
As the success of her business blew up, Auntie Goose Legs, seemingly overwhelmed, announced that she was going to take a short break from her food stall on November 28, writing: “It’s all too messy now.” One day later, she seemed emotional in a Douyin video, in which she said she felt too much pressure because of how the situation was unfolding, and that she just wanted to sell her goose legs in peace (“只想平平安安做烧烤”).
Auntie Goose Legs said she was overwhelmed in a video posted on November 29.
Her story shares some resemblance to that of the duck head seller in Zibo (鸭头, duck head, is a Chinese snack). Earlier this year, when the Shandong town of Zibo became all the rage, a local duck head seller became an online sensation after a video showing how a female tourist touched his muscles went viral overnight. What do you do when you suddenly see 180,000 visitors a day passing by your small duck’s head shop?
The duck head seller in Zibo.
Although his hit status initially boosted sales, the crowds of people coming to his shop soon became so overwhelming that he could no longer run his business as usual. As some even started harassing and physically assaulting him, he could no longer do his work and had to temporarily close his shop. In a live stream, he tearfully talked about how his business, ironically, was facing difficulties due to his viral success.
“It’s not always good to go viral like this,” one Weibo commenter wrote about Auntie Goose Legs. “If she wants some peace, just let her.” While many share the sentiment, suggesting that the food vendor deserves a break after becoming a local sensation, others just want to try out her food. One thing is certain; goose legs are the trending snack for this Beijing winter.
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After visiting Shanghai, Beijing, and the Shaolin Temple in Henan, popular American YouTuber IShowSpeed (Darren Watkins) livestreamed from Chengdu on March 31.
During his stream, he visited a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner, tried acupuncture, had some extremely spicy hotpot, and continued doing the kinds of activities that have defined his China tour so far – from kung fu to the Forbidden City.
The trip has been a success not just for Watkins, who recently surpassed 37 million YouTube subscribers, but also for China’s image abroad. Some have even suggested it’s become more of a soft power or propaganda tour (read more in our latest newsletter).
But not everything has gone smoothly. Within the span of a week, Watkins has become significantly more famous in China. In addition to YouTube — which is not accessible in China — he also began streaming on Douyin. All of this made his March 31st livestream a bit more chaotic, and for the first time, he also experienced some connection issues.
In Chengdu, with as many as 4 million viewers watching the livestream on Douyin, one moment in particular sparked controversy online. Just before Watkins entered a car, a girl in cosplay attire approached him and said:
💬 “I am a racist. I am a ni**a killer. I am so sorry about that. But I love your girlfriend, because your girlfriend is my [white?] people.”
When Watkins asked if she spoke English, she replied:
💬 “Yes, I am a racist. I am racist.”
After the incident, Watkins commented:
💬 “I don’t think she understood what she was saying.”
The girl was cosplaying as one of the characters from the mobile role-playing game Blue Archive, most likely Saiba Momoi (才羽モモイ), known for her mouse-like appearance, complete with two ears on top of her head.
On Chinese social media platforms, including Weibo and Xiaohongshu, the moment soon became a point of discussion. Among the commenters, there are those fearing the incident will negatively impact the image of Chengdu, and some suggesting the local Tourism & Culture Board will make sure to blacklist the girl.
Others focused more on the background of the girl, suggesting she is from Japan or Hong Kong, and trying to sabotage Watkins’ positive China trip.
It appears, however, that the female cosplayer may have been referencing the “racist Momoi” or “Saiba Momoi Says The N-Word” meme.
This meme originates from an edited clip of Saiba Momoi, in which she appears to say what sounds like the N-word. According to the Danbooru site, the clip was later modified to include other slurs.
The character has also been linked to the “Nàge song.” As explained in our newsletter yesterday, the song “Sunshine, Rainbow, White Pony” (阳光彩虹小白马) by Chinese singer Wowkie Zhang (大张伟), which repeatedly features the Chinese word nàge in its chorus (meaning “uh” or “that”) — popped up multiple times during Watkins’ trip. The catchy tune essentially became the theme song of his visit.
A few years back, a clip of Watkins first hearing the song and mistaking the chorus for the N-word already went viral on Chinese social media. The confusion between the Chinese filler word and the slur has been extensively joked about by Watkins himself throughout his streams.
The connection between the girl, the Saiba Momoi meme, and the Nàge song, however, is only known to a niche audience. It is possible that the girl tried to be funny, but she obviously failed in doing so.
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Recently, Chinese netizens have started reaching out to Apple and its CEO Tim Cook in order to put pressure on a state-owned battery factory accused of violating labor laws.
The controversy involves the Huizhou factory of Desay Battery (德赛电池), known for producing lithium batteries for the high-end smartphone market, including Apple and Samsung. The factory caught netizens’ attention after a worker exposed in a video that his superiors were deducting three days of wages because he worked an 8-hour shift instead of the company’s “mandatory 10-hour on-duty.” Compulsory overtime violates China’s labor laws.
In response, the worker and other netizens started to let Apple know about the situation through email and social media, trying to put pressure on the factory by highlighting its position in the Apple supply chain. In at least one instance, Apple confirmed receipt of the complaint. (Meanwhile, on Tim Cook’s official Weibo account, the comment section underneath his most recent post is clearly being censored.)
Screenshot of replies on X underneath a post by Tim Cook on International Women’s Day.
The factory, however, has denied the allegations, , claiming that the video creator was spreading untruths and that they had reported him to authorities. His content has since also been removed. A staff member at Desay Battery maintained that they adhere to the 8-hour workday and appropriately compensate workers for overtime.
At the same time, Desay Battery issued an official statement, admitting to “management oversights regarding employee rights protection” (“保障员工权益的管理上存在疏漏”) and promising to do better in safeguarding employee rights.
One NetEase account (大风文字) suggested that for Chinese workers to effectively expose labor violations, reporting them to Western suppliers or EU regulators is an effective way to force domestic companies to respect labor laws.
Another commentary channel (上峰视点) was less optimistic about the effectiveness, arguing that companies like Apple would be quick to drop suppliers over product quality issues but more willing to turn a blind eye to labor violations—since cheap labor remains a key competitive advantage in Chinese manufacturing.
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