China Digital
How Baidu Maps Leads People to a Privately Owned Hospital
Weibo netizens have exposed how Baidu Maps, when looking for a city hospital in Shenzhen, instead provides the address of a private hospital run by the controversial Putian Medical Group. The trending issue has angered Chinese netizens. The close-knit and dubious connection between Baidu and Putian earlier made headlines in 2016.
In 2016, Chinese search engine Baidu triggered a wave of controversy after netizens exposed how the company offers advertised space for fraudulent doctors. Medical institutions reportedly paid Baidu large amounts of money to be prominently featured in their search results – often giving false hope to patients who hope to be cured.
Now, a year later, the search engine again angers Chinese netizens for linking to the address of a private clinic when people search for a Shenzhen city hospital. The issue was exposed by a surgeon working at the Shenzhen City Children’s Hospital on Weibo, attracting thousands of comments and shares within days.
Many netizens say that they are done with Baidu, as the company has ‘no integrity.’
The Wei Zexi Incident
The big 2016 Baidu controversy came to light in early May after the death of the cancer patient Wei Zexi (魏则西). Wei was a 21-year old student suffering a rare form of cancer. After several unsuccessful treatments, he turned to search engine Baidu.
Through one of Baidu’s paid results, Wei found a treatment at the Beijing Armed Police Corps No. 2 Hospital (武警二院) he thought could help him. With the help of friends and family, he came up with the 200,000 RMB (31,000US$) for the treatment, which later turned out to be ineffective and highly contested. Wei made headlines when he passed away shortly after.
Since he was an active user on a well-known message board where he shared his experiences, the topic of his death became a much-discussed on Chinese social media.
The death of the young Wei Zexi triggered controversy in 2016.
Further investigation exposed that the controversial treatment was done by the Putian Medical Group (莆田系医院), an organized group of medical entrepreneurs that dominates most of China’s private hospitals. It led to a stream of online responses from people who say they were also duped by the Putian Medical Group. Many recounted how their appointment at a Putian-related clinic had cost them a lot of money even when the public hospital doctor later diagnosed they had no health problems at all.
Amongst the many messages were also those of people who previously worked at Putian hospitals. Some told that the expert doctors that were advertised in reality did not even work at the clinics and that the staff was not qualified to do the abortion procedures they offered.
The Putian Medical Group
Putian’s monopoly in China’s private healthcare system goes back to the 1980s when the city of Putian grew into a town of ‘medical practitioners’ without official medical university degrees. The people of Putian discovered a medical goldmine by treating stigmatized conditions (such as STD’s) that were rarely treated at public hospitals.
Throughout the 1990s, the medical network of Putian was opening up clinics across China. These hospitals were amongst the first to advertise their treatments. They also signed contracts with public hospitals to run specific departments.
Baidu and Putian: money for misleading advertisement on the search engine.
Putian and Baidu have had a close-knit relationship for years. Baidu has made a fortune through Putian’s advertisements, and Putian has also further expanded its business by being featured on the search engine.
“Led to a privately owned hospital by Baidu”
Baidu has now become trending again for its dubious practices, as netizens have uncovered how Baidu Maps directs users to a Putian-owned clinic when searching for a nearby children’s hospital.
On July 10, the hashtag “Led to a privately-owned hospital by Baidu” (#被百度地图带到民营医院#) was in the top 10 of most-read topics on Sina Weibo.
Baidu Maps redirects patients to the wrong hospital in Shenzhen.
The issue came to light when a medical staff member of the Shenzhen City Children’s Hospital (深圳市儿童医) discovered that Baidu maps indicated their work unit had “moved.” When searching for the hospital, Baidu provided the address of the Putian Far East Women’s Hospital (远东妇儿医院). This leads many patients to visit the Putian hospital, thinking they are actually visiting the Shenzhen City Children’s Hospital.
The information was disclosed by a surgeon of the Shenzhen Hospital (@深圳胖胖熊) on July 7 on Weibo, where his post soon received thousands of shares.
The doctor writes:
“The Shenzhen Children’s Hospital address was originally 709 Yitian Road, Futian District. Unfortunately, in the Baidu map search results, the link underneath this name redirects to the address of the Putian Far East Women’s Hospital, and its name is underneath on the second place. This leads many parents who want to come to our hospital to go to the Putian Department. Is this negligence, or deliberate? What is the purpose? Could I say that this is shameless?”
On July 10, Baidu responded to the controversy through Weibo, calling the search results an “error” that was immediately being adjusted by the relevant departments.
“A dog can’t stop himself from eating shit”
But many people on Weibo do not believe that the misleading information is a simple error, with some saying that this is not the first time this has happened. Others also point out that this is “too much of a coincidence,” since the ‘error’ is linked to a Putian clinic.
Many people say that Baidu has already lost its integrity: “Bad habits are hard to change,” some people write (literally: “a dog can’t stop himself from eating shit” [“狗改不了吃屎”]).
“I don’t believe you anymore, your credibility records have become too low,” some commenters said.
The alleged unethical practices of Baidu lead many people to use the Alibaba-backed Gaode Maps (高德地图) instead of Baidu.
“I’d never expect for this to get so big,” the surgeon from Shenzhen City Children’s Hospital said on Weibo in response to all the attention his initial post has received: “I am just protecting the patients’ rights, and I feel responsible for protecting the reputation of my hospital.”
Another commenter, a medical professor from Chengdu, said on Weibo: “The internet has brought us much convenience, but we need to remain clear-headed and critical when using it – this holds especially true for Baidu search engine, Baike [Baidu online encyclopedia], and Baidu Maps.”
By Manya Koetse
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Chapter Dive
From “Pure Love Warrior” to Political Victim: Jensen Huang’s Fall on Chinese Social Media
On Chinese social media, the Jensen Huang scandal shifted from how he wronged his family to how he came to be seen as a victim of Washington power struggles and anti-Asian sentiment.
🗞️ QUICK SCROLLS
📈 Is China’s AI price war over? After a period of offering as much as possible to users at relatively low prices, Chinese AI (LLM) companies are now raising their prices. Last week, DeepSeek – known as the cheapest LLM model around – announced a raise in its API prices, showing that LLM models in China, like food delivery platforms, follow a clear strategy of first attracting users and subsidizing growth, then monetizing once users are locked in.
🐸 “Antibiotic bullfrogs” are a new cause for concern. Bullfrogs sold through e-commerce channels, popularly used in various dishes (like bullfrog hotpot), have been found to contain excessive antibiotic residues after being tested by an independent Shanghai investigation team. Antibiotics are widely used in bullfrog farming.
🌾 A 67-year-old farmer from Anhui ruined 25 acres of crops after following a chatbot’s advice on which pesticides to use. The AI tool recommended a strategy including fomesafen, which killed the farmer’s entire sesame plant crop. Chinese state media highlighted the story as a warning to the growing number of senior citizens who are relying on AI a bit too much.
👁️ A Chinese ad campaign for contact lenses has been taken offline because it starred an AI actress who doesn’t actually have eyes. Last week, I reported on the success of this AI actress, Fang Taozi (方桃子), in the AI micro drama “Laid-Off Girl” (被裁掉的女孩). After a Chinese cosmetic contact-lens brand paid a large sum to feature the actress in its commercial, regulators flagged it because the virtual actress claimed the contact lenses were “comfortable.” Because she doesn’t physically have eyes, this suggests false advertising, and the company could face an additional fine.
🎭 The famous Chinese actor Qin Yan (秦焰) has passed away at the age of 72. The veteran actor was a familiar face on Chinese TV since 1991 and was known for his many roles in TV series like Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace, The Knockout, and Joy of Life 2. While fans and colleagues are posting tributes online, the actor’s Baidu (Baike) page has turned black-and-white to mourn his death. The actor suffered from an illness that hasn’t been specified.
Images via Weibo, showing Qin Yan’s press photo on the left and on the right him portraying the role of Eunuch Dai, the corrupt director of the vegetable and food supply department in the popular historical drama series Joy of Life Season 2 (2024).
🏆 China’s animated film Ne Zha 2 was the biggest winner at the 38th Hundred Flower Awards, China’s most prestigious film awards. The movie grossed 15.9 billion yuan ($2.35 billion) and currently ranks as the world’s fifth highest-grossing film, right in between Titanic and Star Wars. Notably, director Jiaozi (real name Yang Yu 杨宇, b. 1980) was absent from the ceremony, as he always is. The director has a strong dislike for pointless socializing. 😂
🕯️ Remembered as a “Communist Warrior” (共产主义战士), the passing of former Chinese Premier and electrical engineer Zhu Rongji (朱镕基) became a top trending topic on Wednesday after an official obituary announced his death. Zhu is mostly remembered for his efforts to help transition from a planned economy to a socialist market economy, including his tax reform implementations, restructuring of state-owned enterprises, and creation of the mass home-ownership market. Zhu died of an illness in Beijing. He was 98 years old.
👁️ ZOOMING IN
1. Typhoon Baihaitun Brings Record Rainfall to Shanghai
Image via Weibo user @粗茶大白饭
Typhoon Baihaitun (白海豚 “White Dolphin”) has been one of the biggest keywords dominating Chinese social media this week as severe weather affected eastern China.
In Shanghai and surrounding areas, the typhoon caused major disruptions on August 9–10 due to strong winds and extreme rainfall. In Xujiahui, nearly 316 mm of rain fell within 24 hours, the highest amount recorded in Shanghai since observations began over 150 years ago. (The highest total was recorded at Lantian Station in Linhai, Taizhou, where rainfall surpassed a staggering 630 mm; that’s like buckets of water simply being poured down from the sky.)
Many roads, homes, and entire parking lots were completely flooded (video on X / Bluesky). Thousands of people were evacuated, flights were canceled, and metro lines were suspended. In some neighborhoods, residents reported that the water had reached all the way up the stairs.
The typhoon coincided with the Monday morning rush. Despite official guidance encouraging working from home, online complaints made it clear that many companies still expected their employees to show up at the office.
Shanghai Disneyland also remained open despite the severe weather. Videos show park visitors riding attractions in the pouring rain, and cast members in costumes needing help to navigate the rain and wind. The happiest place on earth has never looked so sad (see various videos in my thread here on X / Bluesky).
The impact of the typhoon is expected to last until at least Sunday.
2. Streisand Effect: Huawei Gets Bugged by Bamboo Cicada Toy
If the past week had one soundbite, it would be the rasping, buzzing cicada-like sound you get by spinning the traditional handmade “bamboo cicada” (竹知了 zhúzhīliǎo) wooden toy.
It became a viral sensation after netizens used its sounds to accompany videos of a Huawei event where Chairman Richard Yu (余承东) announced a new car. He described the AITO M9 as “the best SUV under 10 million yuan” (一千万以内最好，没有之一), prompting “wawaa” sounds and cheers from the audience. Soon, a meme was born in which social media users mixed the footage with the toy’s sound – not just because of the audience, but also because of Yu’s distinctive way of speaking.
That cicada toy meme would never have become as big if Huawei’s legal department hadn’t intervened. The company submitted complaints to social media platforms, and videos were removed. But this triggered a chain reaction – when people found the sound was being censored, it blew up in popularity. By now, not only is the sound used everywhere, but the toy itself has become a summer must-have (even though its origins are contested – some say it’s traditionally Japanese and not Chinese at all).
The American term “Streisand Effect” (in Chinese: 史翠珊效应 Shǐcuìshān xiàoyìng) has been used online to describe how Huawei’s reaction backfired.
The response by Huawei – or, more precisely, HIMA, the company’s smart-vehicle alliance brand – was criticized not only by netizens but also by official voices. The official account of Zhejiang Province was among many posting critiques, saying that “the stronger a company is, the greater its capacity to accept discussion” – in other words, calling Huawei weak for its reaction.
This makes it one of those rare moments when, especially when it’s about censorship, official and grassroots voices seem to agree, for once, on the limits of the kind of content that should and should not be controlled. In this way, the cicada sound has come to represent something much more than mocking Huawei, with netizens protecting their rights to criticize & ridicule China’s most powerful business players.
3. Japanese K-Pop Fan’s Death Shows Dark Side of Fan Culture
Miki Chan on the right, posing together with ENHYPEN group member NI-KI. Image via Weibo.
A tragic suicide livestreamed on TikTok became a trending topic across Chinese platforms over the past week, sparking discussions about toxic fan cultures and online bullying.
The 26-year-old Japanese K-pop influencer Mina Chan experienced an acute mental health crisis while livestreaming from her home in Seoul on August 5. This happened after she suffered weeks of severe online bullying stemming from an incident at the US concert of her favorite pop group, the boy band ENHYPEN.
During the concert, Mina tried to give sunflowers to her favorite singer, Nishimura Riki, better known as NI-KI, by throwing them onto the stage. When another group member picked them up instead, she appeared upset. When NI-KI later criticized fans for seeking personal attention rather than enjoying the concert, many fans felt he was referring to Mina.
In the following weeks, Mina received so much online harassment, doxxing, and hate that she first apologized on X and withdrew from the fan club before eventually broadcasting her final livestream, in which she died by hanging. Mean comments continued throughout the livestream.
Online discussions in China have largely framed the incident in terms of online aggression (网暴, wǎngbào) and problematic fan circles (饭圈, fànquān). Although Mina was a Japanese fan of a South Korean band, K-pop fandom is also enormous in China.
Both online aggression and toxic fan culture have been repeatedly targeted by Chinese cyberspace authorities in recent years, undoubtedly contributing to greater public awareness of these problems. Against this backdrop, Mina’s death has prompted widespread calls to end online bullying, while thousands of Chinese netizens have expressed their sorrow over the young woman’s death.
Notably, just one day before Mina’s livestream, American celebrity blogger Perez Hilton became a global trending topic after self-harming during a TikTok livestream that remained online for approximately fifteen minutes, allowing a large audience to watch the disturbing events unfold – similar to what happened with Mina’s livestream. In the United States, the incident sparked further discussion about platform moderation and TikTok’s failure to end livestreams quickly when signs of self-harm or an acute mental health crisis emerge.
📱ON MY FEED
This post reads:
“China Southern, what on earth are you doing? I gulped it all down, only to realize it wasn’t grape juice, it was prune juice!!! This is the first time I’ve seen such a long, never-ending line of people waiting to use the restroom on a plane; the prize pool just kept growing.
Do you have any idea how much I suffered? #InFlightMeal #ChinaSouthern #PruneJuice”
After passengers on a China Southern Airlines flight from Wuhan to Urumqi were served prune juice with their meal, the queues for the plane’s only two toilets kept growing as dozens of passengers felt the high urge to go.
One other review said:
“What were you thinking, serving prune juice? China Southern, please answer me. You nearly made me shit myself.”
🔗 SEEN ELSEWHERE
🔹 “Grandma Economy” (“姥姥经济”) fills a void for urban Chinese Gen Z and millennial consumers who are increasingly projecting their nostalgia for the warmth of grandmothers onto the brands they buy, the content they consume, and the creators they follow. Read at Baiguan / by Amber Zhang.
🔹 Toddler twins are at the center of a very messy custody case involving a surrogate mother from Florida and a Chinese father who might never be allowed to enter the US. Born in November 2024, the twins are biologically not connected to the surrogate mother, but after the Chinese legal father never came to collect them, she and her husband want to adopt them. A new Florida law has now placed the case at the center of conservative outrage over Chinese parents allegedly exploiting the state’s lax surrogacy rules. Read at Wall Street Journal / by Katherine Long.
🔹 A Chinese state media correspondent has been accused of being a spy by the Czech Security Information Service, which identified Yang as an operative of China’s Ministry of State Security, alleging he used his cover as a journalist to collect compromising information on Czech politicians, particularly those supportive of closer ties with Taiwan. Read at Reporters Without Borders.
🔹 “What I feared to be my lifelong search has unexpectedly come to an end. Yesterday, I got a message from my family searcher in China on WeChat that I have a positive DNA match with my biological parents.” In late 2024, I wrote about how the Dutch adoptee Fengli Bottema had come to China in search of her biological family after she was left in front of an Anhui police station as a baby back in 2001. There’s now an update to her story, which echoes that of thousands of Chinese girls adopted abroad. Her search has finally come to an end. Read Fengli’s Instagram post here.
Thanks to Miranda Barnes for helping me curate topics for this edition.
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paquirrin
July 11, 2017 at 7:59 pm
and now the government wants to block vpns so that we all need to use Baidu Maps and go to Putian clinics
bailsafe
July 17, 2017 at 11:44 pm
That’s ridiculous. Do you have some aversion to QQ Map or Amap (listed in the article)? Or hell, even Bing Maps?