Chinese New Year
CCTV Plays It Safe With This Year’s Official Spring Festival Mascot
What will this year’s official Chinese Spring Festival mascot be? After last year’s controversy, CCTV has kept it safe and traditional for this year’s Rooster zodiac mascot.
China Memes & Viral
Spring Festival Trend Watch: Gala Highlights, Small-City Travel, and the Mazu Ritual Controversy
Some stories going viral during the holiday season seem to exist in a recurring social cycle of their own.
Chinese New Year
Inside Chunwan 2026: China’s Spring Festival Gala
Watch the CGM Spring Festival Gala with us. It’s that special annual evening show that captures millions of viewers on the night of the Chinese New Year. Loved by many, hated by some, it always generates social media buzz.
Eye on Digital China is a reader-supported publication by
Manya Koetse (@manyapan) and powered by What’s on Weibo.
It offers independent analysis of China’s online culture, media, and social trends.
To receive the newsletter and support this work, consider
becoming a paid subscriber.
Starbucks Goes Xinjiang & The Kardashians in China
Red Carpet, Pandas, and Power: How China Read the Trump-Xi Summit
Keeping Score of History: The Mukden Incident and China’s Basketball Defeat to Japan
The Rise of “Shuaqi-ism,” Taking Starbucks to the Fields, and Pretending to Go to Work
Why Japan Has So Many Surnames, China’s Back-to-School Shifts & Taiwan Pavilion Trouble
“God Won’t Save Us, but the PLA Will”: Floods, Faith, and Kung Fu Soccer Nostalgia
How Chinese AI Videos Turned Foreigners into Villains
Why Japan Has So Many Surnames, China’s Back-to-School Shifts & Taiwan Pavilion Trouble
The Power of Ugly: Why Niu Lai Became China’s Unlikeliest Box-Office Hit
AI Actress Ad Pulled, Baihaitun Disrupts Shanghai and Cicada Meme Bugs Huawei
-
Chinese New Year8 months agoInside Chunwan 2026: China’s Spring Festival Gala
-
China Brands, Marketing & Consumers11 months agoHasan Piker’s China Trip & the Unexpected Journey of a Chinese School Uniform to Angola
-
Chapter Dive7 months agoInside the Great Chinese Debate Over the Iran War
-
China Trend Watch11 months agoJapan Tensions, Nexperia Fallout, Yunnan’s ‘Wild Child,’ & “Modern Opium”