China Trend Watch
China at Paris 2024 Olympics Trend File: Medals and Moments on Chinese Social Media
Our China Olympic Trending File: Explore the main Chinese social media discussions and hashtags surrounding the Paris 2024 Olympics.
This article was first published by What’s on Weibo on
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The 2024 Paris Olympics have been much anticipated, and finally the “Bālí Àoyùn” (#巴黎奥运#, Paris Olympics) are here from July 26 until August 11, 2024.
The Chinese team for the Paris 2024 Olympics is one of the top ten largest delegations, with 716 members including 405 athletes and support staff. Among these athletes, 42 are Olympic champions and many are experienced competitors. China will compete in a variety of sports, such as swimming, diving, weightlifting, shooting, gymnastics, and table tennis. Notably, the team includes 269 female and 136 male athletes.
This article is a ‘live file’ to track the various relevant hashtags and discussions on Chinese social media surrounding the 2024 Olympics. If you don’t see any current updates, refresh the page or check back a day later to see new additions.
JULY 27
🔹 China’s First Gold!
🥇 China’s “First Gold” became a top trending topic on Weibo on Saturday, with the two related hashtags (#中国首金; #中国队首金) receiving 230 million and 320 million views respectively.
China’s first Olympic gold at Paris 2024 was won in the 10m air rifle mixed team final by professional shooters Huang Yuting (黄雨婷 @A阿条本条) and Sheng Lihao (盛李豪 @光靠干饭就).
As the two Olympic champions are only 17 and 19 years old, they are being celebrated as part of the “00-generation” (00后) achieving gold.
Chinese state media also highlighted this milestone by honoring Xu Haifeng, who won China’s first-ever Olympic gold medal in shooting at the 1984 Olympics. Xu, born in the 1950s, made history. In this context, it is even more remarkable that the post-2000 teenage duo, Huang and Sheng, secured China’s first gold medal at the Paris Olympics.
JULY 28
🔹 Online Banter about Opening Ceremony Video Being Removed
After internet users worldwide noticed that the official video for the Paris 2024 opening ceremony was removed from the Olympics’ account following controversy, a related hashtag also trended on Weibo, sparking many discussions. On Friday night, the ceremony featured a fashion show scene with drag queens and dancers performing a parody of the Last Supper.
The scene especially seemed to be deemed anti-Christian by many American viewers, but also by others. Following the backlash, American technology company C Spire announced it would withdraw all its advertisements from the Olympics, stating it was “shocked by the mockery of the Last Supper.”
On Weibo, the related hashtag garnered a staggering 530 million views. Top commenters humorously noted that amid discussions about being relaxed and tolerant in the West, it was surprising to find that “the most relaxed and tolerant of all is still CCTV, which still has the full video available online.”
Comments also joked about the Western reaction, saying, “It seems they went back to the Qing dynasty,” and “Who would have expected CCTV to be the most tolerant one of all?”
One commenter added, “Don’t worry, if you want to see the full ceremony, come to China Central Television; we’re so tolerant and relaxed here.”
Hashtags:
#️⃣ “Olympics Official Account Deletes Paris Opening Ceremony Video” #奥运会官号删除巴黎开幕式视频# (530 million views on Sunday).
🔹 Fourth and Fifth Gold: Chinese Men’s Double Diving 10m and Sheng Lihao’s 10m Air Rifle
It’s day three of the Olympics, with gold medals to be won in archery, artistic gymnastics, canoe slalom, mountain biking, equestrian, diving, judo, shooting, and skateboarding.
🥇 In diving, China’s Yang Hao (杨昊, @杨昊GoG) and Lian Junjie (廉君杰/@Diving练俊杰) became the number one hot topic on Weibo after they secured the first gold of the day in the men’s 10-metre synchronised platform event.
“We retrieved what we lost in Tokyo,” one top commenter said – as this was the only diving event China didn’t win in Tokyo.
🥇 Another gold medal was won by athlete Sheng Lihao (盛李豪) in the men’s shooting 10m air rifle competition. This is his second gold at the Olympics, as he also won China’s first gold in his competition alongside Huang Yuting (黄雨婷)on Saturday. He previously also won the silver medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the 10m air rifle event.
Huang Yuting also won an additional medal; she won silver in the women’s 10m air rifle final, just 0.1 points behind the Korean gold medalist.
Hashtags:
#️⃣ “Chinese Men’s Double Diving 10m Gold Medal” #中国队男双10米台金牌# (62 million Weibo views on Monday).
JULY 29
🔹 Online Criticism over Dutch Athlete Convicted for Rape
Dutch volleyball player Steven van der Velde made international headlines this Olympics, but not for his talent in sports. The 29-year-old was booed by the crowds on Monday after appearing at the match at Eiffel Tower Stadium. In 2016, Van der Velde was convicted for raping a 12-year-old girl and served a prison sentence.
On Chinese social media, Van der Velde’s participation in the Olympics became a top trending topic, with many questioning why he was allowed to compete.
“Are Dutch laws a joke?” some commenters wondered. “Why is he still allowed to compete in the Olympics?”
Hashtags:
#️⃣ “Olympic Athlete Once Convicted for Raping a 12-Year-Old Girl Gets Booed” #曾强奸12岁女孩奥运选手首秀遭嘘# (240 million views on Weibo).
🔹 The Most Unexpected Hashtag Thusfar
The most unexpected hashtag I’ve come across on Weibo during these Olympics thus far is “We thought foreigners were holding the Chinese flag” (#还以为是外国人在举中国国旗#).
The hashtag, initiated by the Migu Sports Channel account, shows an image with three foreigners sitting in the audience at the Olympics, with a Chinese flag held in front of them.
Although it looks like the foreigners were holding the flag, it later turns out that it is actually the Chinese audience members just below them holding up the flag.
Many commenters find the scene funny. One person says: “When I was watching [the Olympics] yesterday, I also thought it was a bunch of foreigners holding up the Chinese flag😂😂😂”
Hashtags:
#️⃣ “When You Thought It Was Foreigners Holding the Chinese Flag” #还以为是外国人在举中国国旗# (Over 17 million Weibo views on Monday).
JULY 30
🔹 Sixth Gold: Wang Chuqin/Sun Yingsha Win & Wang’s Paddle Gets Broken
The popular Chinese male table tennis athlete Wang Chuqin (王楚钦) and female professional table tennis player Sun Yunsha (孙颖莎) grabbed gold on July 30 during the mixed doubles final of table tennis, defeating the North Korean pair Ri Jong-sik and Kim Kum-yong.
There were various aspects of this event that triggered online discussions. Apart from all the speculation over the mysterious North Korean duo, one such incident was how, after the match, Wang Chuqin’s paddle was stepped on and broken by a photographer at the Olympic venue.
The paddle was allegedly inside his luggage when it got stepped on and broken. Many commenters were angry with the photographer for being so careless.
This China versus North Korea game is one of the events that has attracted most attention on Weibo thus far, with one related hashtag getting over 950 million views.
Hashtags:
#️⃣ “Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha vs. Li Jeong-sik and Kim Kum-yong” #王楚钦孙颖莎vs李正植金琴英# (950 million Weibo hashtags).
🔹 Chinese Olympic Champion Li Xiaoshuang Criticizes Gymnastics Coaching Team
Chinese gymnast and Olympic champion Li Xiaoshuang (@李小双) went trending on social media for “saying what others dare not say.” During a livestream, the retired athlete harshly criticized the Chinese gymnastics coaching team.
The criticism comes after a disappointing performance on July 30 during China’s men’s team gymnastics final. The Chinese team was leading until Su Weide (苏炜德), a 24-year-old Olympic debutant, fell twice during his bar routine. Japan won the gold, and China took the silver.
Su Weide had been temporarily added to the Olympic team after main team member Sun Wei (孙伟) injured his right ankle during training.
According to Li Xiaoshuang, one of the problems for the Chinese team is that people often blame the athletes for not winning when it is actually the coaching team that should be held accountable for China losing out on gold. Li argues that people forget the importance of leadership. Not only do some of the training methods need to be improved or updated, but the way young talent is selected also needs to change.
The focus should be on who has the final say in the coaching team, Li said, as the decision to add the 24-year-old Su Weide to the national team at the last minute was a risky move. He also added that if the team doesn’t focus on developing younger talents, they’ll have another problem for the next Olympics.
Hashtags:
#️⃣ “Gymnastics Champion Li Xiaoshuang Angrily Criticizes the Gymnastics Coaching Team” #李小双怒斥中国体操教练组# (160 million Weibo views).
JULY 31
🔹 Seventh Gold!
🥇 While many are still processing the disappointment over Wang Chuqin’s performance, there is already another moment of celebration as the Chinese duo Quan Hongchan (全红婵) and Chen Yuxi (陈芋汐) secured gold in the women’s synchronized 10m platform event. This marks China’s 7th gold medal at the Paris Olympics.
China’s 7th gold medal celebrated on Chinese social media by the official sponsors.
Quan and Chen are part of China’s renowned “Diving Dream Team” (跳水梦之队): the exceptional Chinese national diving team.
Hashtags:
#️⃣ “Golden Medal for Quan Hongchan and Chen Yuxi” #全红婵陈芋汐金牌# (150 million weibo views shortly after the win).
AUGUST 1
🔹 It’s Raining Gold
These Olympics have sparked intense discussions on Chinese social media, with so much happening that some people are joking about needing a post-Olympic holiday to rest once Paris 2024 is over.
With ten eleven gold medals, China currently leads the Paris medal count. However, China does not have the most medals overall. Team China has a total of 20 21 medals: ten eleven gold, seven silver, and three bronze. Meanwhile, France holds 26 medals, eight of which are gold. Japan ranks third with eight gold medals and 15 medals overall.
China’s ninth, tenth, and eleventh gold medals were won by:
🥇 Shooting 50 Metre Rifle Three Positions (Men’s): Liu Yukun (刘宇坤)
🥇 Swimming 100 Metre Freestyle (Men’s): Pan Zhanle (潘展乐)
🥇 Athletics 20 Kilometres Walk (Women’s): Yang Jiayu (杨家玉)
AUGUST 2
🔹 Shi Yuqi Apologizes for Not Winning Gold
“I’m sorry, I apologize for not being able to win another medal for the Chinese team,” Shi Yuqi (石宇奇) wrote on Weibo on Friday.
The professional badminton player from China, known for his impressive achievements in men’s singles events, lost to Thai player Kunlavut Vitidsarn during the men’s singles badminton quarterfinals and failed to reach the semifinals.
His apology became a top trending topic on Weibo, where some commenters suggested that the public’s expectations for Shi Yuqi were too high—he was aiming to compete for the gold medal. “You did what you could,” some wrote. “Don’t look at Weibo for the next couple of days, and get some rest.”
In previous years, Shi has faced tough times, particularly after he was banned from Chinese badminton for almost a year in 2022 due to controversial actions and remarks during the 2021 Thomas Cup semifinals in Denmark against Japan’s Kento Momota. After losing the first game (20-22), Momota was ahead in the second game when Shi decided to retire from the match. Afterward, he commented, “If I retire at 20 points, technically, I haven’t lost yet,” which led to his suspension for misconduct.
Hashtags:
#️⃣ “Shi Yuqi vs. Kunlavut” #石宇奇vs昆拉武特#
#️⃣ “Shi Yuqi Apologizes” #石宇奇道歉#
🔹 From Olympic Rings to Wedding Rings
China’s 12th gold medal on Friday became even more special when Olympic champion Huang Yaqiong (黄雅琼) was proposed to by her teammate and men’s doubles player, Liu Yuchen (刘雨辰). Liu got down on one knee and popped the question right after Huang’s award ceremony.
It was later reported that Huang was unaware of the proposal beforehand, although everyone else on the team, except her Olympic partner Zheng Siwei, was in on the secret.
Huang shortly after the proposal, image shared on Weibo.
This is not the first time a Chinese athlete has been proposed to during the Olympics. In 2016, Chinese diver He Zi (何姿) was also surprised by a proposal from fellow diver Qin Kai (秦凯). While fans loved the romantic moment, it also received criticism, with some feeling that He Zi might have felt pressured during a moment that was supposed to celebrate her Olympic achievements rather than her personal life.
Hashtags:
#️⃣ “Sweet Olympic Proposal” #奥运求婚太甜了#
#️⃣ “Huang Yaqiong Gets Proposed To” #黄雅琼被求婚了#
🔹 Still Holding Number One
China is still holding the number one spot in the Paris gold medal rankings on Friday night, just before entering the second week of the Paris 2024 Olympics. China now holds 13 gold medals.
🥇 China’s 13th gold was won by Wang Zongyuan (王宗源) and Long Daoyi (龙道一) in the men’s 3m springboard final. It was the first time the two participated together at the Olympics.
🥇 China’s 12th gold was in badminton by Huang Yaqiong (黄雅琼) and Zheng Siwei (郑思维) – China’s first badminton gold medal of Paris 2024 in the mixed doubles against South Korea.
AUGUST 3
🔹 Eileen Gu Deletes Compliment on French Star Swimmer’s Account
A bit of sideline Olympic drama was trending on Weibo on Saturday. Léon Marchand, the famous French Olympic swimmer who won his fourth gold, was accused of ignoring a handshake from Team China’s coach Zhu Zhigen (朱志根) (#马尔尚无视汪顺教练握手#).
A brief video of the incident has been trending (watch) that shows the Chinese coach approaching Marchand to congratulate him. Marchand appears to see Zhu reaching out his hand but ignores him and walks on.
Chinese-American freestyle skier Eileen Gu, known as Gu Ailing (谷爱凌) in China, previously had some online interactions with the French athlete, including a compliment on his most recent Olympic achievement. After the controversy over the ignored handshake, Eileen Gu’s compliment to him (“incredible”) disappeared. Netizens noted that Gu had deleted her previous interactions with him on Instagram, which became a trending topic on Saturday night (#谷爱凌删了给马尔尚的所有ins评论#).
Gu was praised for deleting her compliments to the ‘rude’ Olympic swimmer.
Later, there was another twist in the ‘handshake incident’ when it was reported that Marchand, upon learning of the controversy, went to the Chinese team’s rest area with the French swimming team coach to explain and apologize for the incident (#马尔尚道歉了#). Many netizens, however, find his behaviour inexcusable.
🔹 “Chinese people should feel happy and proud”
“After watching tonight’s badminton, table tennis, and tennis matches, Chinese people should feel happy and proud,” blogger Wang Qiao (@王乔) wrote on August 3, concluding a day in which China won three more gold medals (bringing the total to 16!), along with four silver and two bronze. Besides the gold for Chen Meng in table tennis, there was gold for Zheng Qinwen in tennis and badminton gold.
🥇 The gold for Zheng Qinwen (#郑钦文金牌#) was especially noteworthy, as Zheng is the first Chinese Olympic tennis champion since 2004.
🥇 The badminton gold was won by Jia Yifan (贾一凡) and Chen Qingchen (陈清晨) as they beat compatriots Liu Shengshu (刘圣书) and Tan Ning (谈宁) in the women’s doubles final.
🔹 Chen Meng Defeats Teammate Sun Yingsha
🥇 In the women’s singles table tennis final on Saturday, table tennis star Chen Meng (陈梦) defeated her teammate Sun Yingsha (孙颖莎) to win the championship – a repeat of the Tokyo 2020 final. After winning, the two athletes smiled and hugged—photos published on Weiboby People’s Daily received nearly 117,000 likes.
Chen Meng is the third Chinese to win back-to-back Olympic table tennis women’s singles titles. She is following in the footsteps of Deng Yaping (邓亚萍) preceded her by winning Olympic Gold in 1992 (Barcelona) and 1996 (Atlanta); and Zhang Yining (张怡宁), who grabbed gold in 2004 (Athens) and 2008 (Beijing).
Her dad, who was watching from hometown Qingdao, was emotional about Chen’s amazing win. See here.
Hashtags:
#️⃣ “Chen Meng Defends her Championship” #陈梦卫冕冠军# (290 million Weibo views shortly after winning, 510 million views later on, 880 million views the next day).
AUGUST 4
🔹 More Gold and Counting, but US Tops Gold Medal Table
Before we lose count, the latest golden medals, bringing the total gold for China to 19:
🥇 Men’s Swimming 4×100 medley relay brought gold for China as Pan Zhanle (潘展乐), Xu Jiayu (徐嘉余), Qin Haiyang (覃海洋), and Sun Jiajun (孙嘉骏) won in a time of three minutes, 27.46 seconds.
🥇 Chinese table tennis player Fan Zhendong (樊振东) beat Sweden’s Möregårdh (4-1) to win his first individual Olympic gold medal in Paris.
🥇 China won its first gymnastics gold medal of the Paris Olympics as Liu Yang led all the way to win the men’s rings event.
Despite China’s many medals during the Olympics, the US has overtaken China for the number one position in the gold medal table. The US now holds 20 gold medals and 71 medals overall, while China has 19 gold medals and 45 medals in total.
🔹 They Cheered for Taiwan: Spectator Removed, Poster Snatched
Another incident that has sparked online discussions occurred on the sidelines of the Olympic competitions during Friday’s badminton events.
A woman held up a poster shaped like Taiwan with the words “Come on Taiwan!” While an Olympic security guard was addressing the situation, a man, presumably Chinese, approached, stood in front of the sign, and then pulled it down and snatched it away. Security personnel subsequently removed the man from the venue.
In the same match, a spectator holding a Taiwan banner was confronted by security and reportedly removed from the arena.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated it “strongly condemns the crude and despicable means of malicious individuals ruthlessly snatching the ‘Go Taiwan’ slogan.”
The IOC only allows flags of competing countries and Taiwan competes as Chinese Taipei (TPE).
A nationalistic blogging account reposted photos and videos of the incidents on Weibo, where many commenters praised the Chinese man for snatching the poster and agreed with the removal of the banner. Some people, however, questioned why a simple scarf or banner merely saying “Taiwan” was not allowed, as it did not explicitly promote Taiwan independence.
🔹 Criticism of Sun Yingsha’s Extreme Fans
In recent days, there has been online criticism regarding the overwhelming fan support for Chinese table tennis star Sun Yingsha (孙颖莎). During the August 3 match, when Chen Meng (陈梦) defeated Sun, the boos and cheers from spectators at the Olympic venue clearly showed that many Chinese fans supported Sun over Chen, despite both being members of Team China.
Beijing News (新京报) columnist Su Shiyi (苏士仪) criticized Sun Yingsha’s fans, suggesting that those booing Chen were ruining the atmosphere. “Such fan behavior obviously conflicts with the true spirit of sports and, to some extent, even tarnishes the sports spirit.”
Famous table tennis player and former Olympic medalist Deng Yaping (邓亚萍) also criticized the extreme fandom culture (饭圈文化) surrounding Sun, stating: “It’s all Team China; you can favor someone without attacking the other.”
Hashtags:
#️⃣ “Fan Culture Stains the Sport Spirit” #饭圈文化玷污了体育精神#
AUGUST 5
I haven’t had time for a full update today, as I’m preparing for the upcoming edition of the Weibo Watch newsletter. Please check back later for more on the ongoing discussions.
🥇🥇 Gold Medal Update: By Sunday night, China reclaimed the top position on the gold medal table. Team China secured two more golds with more outstanding performances. Sport shooter Li Yuehong (李越宏) clinched the gold in the Men’s 25-metre rapid-fire pistol event, while artistic gymnast Zou Jingyuan (邹敬园), known as the “King of Parallel Bars,” triumphed and won his second gold medal.
AUGUST 6
🔹 Quan Hongchan Breaks Fu Mingxia Record
Alongside Olympic stars like table tennis champions Sun Yingsha and Wang Chuqin, and swimmer Pan Zhanle, Chinese springboard diver Quan Hongchan (全红婵) has been one of the most-discussed athletes on Chinese social media during Paris 2024.
The diving star is not just noteworthy for her funny expressions (she can’t seem to hide her emotions and is lovably awkward), but also because she is an incredibly talented athlete.
In the women’s 10-meter platform diving final at the Paris Olympics, Quan Hongchan won the gold medal, securing the 22nd gold for Team China in Paris 🥇. In doing so, she broke the record of former Chinese diver Fu Mingxia (伏明霞) and became the youngest triple Olympic champion in China’s history at just 17 years old.
This was her second gold in Paris, after winning gold with Chen Yuxi (陈芋汐) in the women’s synchronized 10m platform event. She previously won gold in the women’s 10m platform at the Tokyo Olympics, at just 14 years old!
Quan Hongchan is honored on social media by Chinese Oympic sponsors.
Chinese springboard diver Fu Mingxia won her first Olympic gold medal in the women’s 10-meter platform at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics at 13. She later won two golds in Atlanta, but she was almost 18 at the time—Quan Hongchan is younger now than Fu was in 1996.
Emotional Quan after her gold medal win.
On Weibo, many people are congratulating Quan on her win. At the same time, they also adore her because she is still so young, and sports fans have watched her mature since the Tokyo Olympics. The moment she won her medal and fell into the arms of her coach, crying, is being shared all over social media.
Hashtags:
#️⃣ “Quan Hongchan Becomes China’s Youngest Triple Medial Champion” #全红婵成中国奥运最年轻三金王#
#️⃣ “Quan Hongchan Breaks Fu Mingxia Record” #全红婵打破伏明霞纪录#
AUGUST 7
🔹 China’s First Gold of Weightlifting, First Artistic Swimming Gold
🥇 China took gold in the artistic swimming team event on Wednesday night. This win in artistic swimming (also called synchronized swimming) was particularly special, as Russia, now absent from the 2024 Paris Olympics, had dominated the gold medals in this event since 2000.
🥇 Li Fabin (李发彬) secured China’s 23rd gold medal on Wednesday in the men’s 61kg weightlifting division. The 31-year-old athlete set an Olympic record by lifting 143kg in the snatch and 167kg in the clean and jerk weightlifting exercise.
AUGUST 8
🔹 Wang Chu-KING
It’s clear that Chinese table tennis star Wang Chuqin is one of the most popular athletes on Chinese social media during these Olympics. He is also affectionately called “Wang Chu-KING” (王楚king).
On Thursday, Wang competed in the men’s semifinals alongside his teammate Ma Long (马龙) against France. If Team China manages to secure a victory in the men’s team event against Sweden on Friday, and the women’s team wins on Saturday, there could be a historic achievement for China at these Olympics: winning all five table tennis gold medals in Paris (they have already claimed gold in mixed doubles and both men’s and women’s singles).
There has been a lot to do about Wang these Olympics, not just because of his athletic performance, but also due to some controversies. After winning gold Wang’s favorite paddle was stepped on and broken by a photographer at the Olympic venue on July 30. Although the photographer was identified by Chinese netizens has having the ‘3488’ number on his back, there was no follow-up in the issue.
Another incident involved a Swedish journalist bumping into Wang at the Olympic venue. Many viewers suggested she intentionally rammed into him, and some sources claim that the journalist was banned from the venue, although this has not been reported by other media outlets.
🔹 Three More Gold
🥇 Thursday brought three more gold medals. Liu Hao (刘浩) and Ji Bowen (季博文) competed for gold in the men’s canoe double 500m final. Xie Siyi (谢思易) excelled in the men’s 3m springboard diving, and Luo Shifang (罗诗芳) secured victory in the Women’s 59kg weightlifting event.
🔹 Waking Up to Five New Medals
On Thursday, People’s Daily started the day on social media with the hashtag “Woke Up To Find Team China Won 3 Gold 2 Silver 1 Bronze” (#一觉醒来中国队再夺3金2银1铜#)
Due to the time difference between Paris and Beijing, gold medals won in Paris are sometimes celebrated a day later in China, with people waking up to check the result of the Wednesday nights in Paris.
On Weibo, state media outlet People’s Daily publishes it “jet leg diary” or “time difference diary” to keep readers up to date on what happened at Olympics while they were sleeping. The main title says: “Rushing towards victory.”
The golden medals are for Li Fabin (weightlifting) and the artistic swimming team, as described before.
🥇 Another gold, China’s 25th, is for Hou Zhihui in the women’s 49 kg final. Hou also won in Tokyo three years ago.
The other medals were awarded to 24-year-old female weightlifter Guo Qing (郭清), who won silver; Cao Liguo (曹利国) in the 60-kg Greco-Roman event, who also won silver; and female wrestler Feng Ziqi (冯紫琪) in the Women’s Freestyle 50kg category, who won bronze.
AUGUST 9
🔹 From Boxing to Canoe Gold
By Friday night, China is back at the number one spot in the gold medal rankings with 32 medals – the US is is second place with 30. Not that we’re counting, of course…
🥇 Chang Yuan (常园) was announced the winner of the women’s boxing 54kg final against Hatice Akbas of Türkiye.
🥇 The Chinese pair of Xu Shixiao (徐诗晓) and Sun Mengya (孙梦雅) grabbed gold in the women’s 500m canoe double.
🥇 Chen Yiwen (陈艺文) won the seventh gold for the Chinese diving “dream team” at the Paris Olympics by winning the women’s 3m springboard gold.
🥇 The most-anticipated gold of the day is for Fan Zhendong (樊振东), Ma Long (马龙), Wang Chuqin (王) at the men’s table tennis, meaning Team China now has four medals in table tennis – just one more to go in the women’s table tennis and China will have all five!
New updates following very soon. In the meantime, also check the latest Weibo Watch newsletter.
AUGUST 10
🔹 From Boxing to Canoe Gold
In these last days of the Paris Olympics, China keeps adding gold medals to its list and switching places with US on who ranks first on the gold medal table. By Saturday night, there were 37 gold medals in total for China, which again ranked first in gold medals, with US coming second.
🥇 Wu Yu (吴愉) won the gold medal in Women’s 50kg, defeating her Turkish opponent by 4-1. Wu Yu is China’s 2nd woman boxer to have become an Olympic champion – just a day earlier, Chang Yuan was the first.
🥇 Liu Huanhua (刘焕华) won the men’s 102kg weighlifting title with a total of 406kg.
🥇 China won its first-ever Olympic gold medal in the women’s rhythmic gymnastics group all-around, with team members Wang Lanjing (王澜静), Ding Xinyi (丁欣怡), Guo Qiqi (郭崎琪), Hao Ting (郝婷), Huang Zhang Jiayang (黄张嘉洋).
🥇 Cao Yuan (曹缘) successfully defended his title in the men’s 10-metre platform diving. This means that all eight gold medals in diving are for China at the Paris Olympics.
🥇 Chen Meng (陈梦), Sun Yingsha (孙颖莎), and Wang Manyu (王曼昱) did it! They won the fifth gold in table tennis in Paris. This means that China now has 37 of the 42 golds since table tennis first came to the Summer Olympics in 1988.
AUGUST 10/11
🔹 Boxing Gold for Li Qing
🥇 Chinese boxer Li Qing (李倩) became a number one trending topic on Weibo in the early hours of Sunday morning (China time) for her gold medal in the women’s boxing 75kg category (#李倩拳击75公斤级金牌#).
Li Qing’s opponent was the strong Panamanian boxer Atheyna Bylon.
At Chinese state media outlet Xinhua, they’re struggling to keep up with the medal count. Just after China won its 39th medal with Li Qian’s gold, “urgent” (obviously a note to the editor) accidentally sneaked into the published headline.😂
🔹 Fan Zhendong: “Table Tennis Might Not Be My Future”
As the Paris Olympics draw to a close, it’s clear that table tennis has been the most-discussed and popular event among Chinese fans. On Saturday night, table tennis-related topics continued to dominate Weibo’s trending list.
A top trending topic centered on Fan Zhendong (樊振东) is about Fan suggesting that his future may not necessarily involve table tennis. The topic arose during an interview where Fan was asked about his plans after Paris.
“It won’t necessarily involve table tennis, but it will definitely be good,” he said.
Thousands of people have commented, expressing their sympathy for Fan and wishing their “Little Fatty” (小胖, Fan’s affectionate nickname) well. During these Olympics, Fan defeated Sweden’s Möregårdh to win his first individual Olympic gold medal in Paris.
Hashtags:
#️⃣ “Fan Zhendong Says His Future Might Not Necessarily Involve Table Tennis” #樊振东说未来不一定是乒乓球了# (over 410 million views).
🔹 The Twin Swimmers
🥇 Twin sisters Wang Liuyi (王柳懿) and Wang Qianyi (王芊懿) secured China’s 38th gold medal on Saturday night (Paris time) in the synchronized swimming duet. This marks their second medal in Paris, following their victory in the artistic swimming team event.
AUGUST 11
🔹 Li Wenwen’s Gold: A New Record for China
Chinese state media are praising Li Wenwen (李雯雯), who claimed gold in the +81kg weightlifting event with a total of 309kg. It’s China’s 40th gold medal on this final day of the Olympics.
Xinhua is praising weightlifter Li on Weibo.
Li Wen’s reaction to her win was heartwarming and hilarious. She scooped up her coach like he was light as a feather (he had zero choice) and brought him on stage to celebrate her win with her. Even the Chinese commentator called her adorable (see screenshots).
This result surpasses the 39 gold medals won by the Chinese delegation at the London Olympics, marking the highest number of gold medals China has ever won at an overseas Olympics. However, it is not their best overall gold medal count: during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, China secured 48 gold medals.
🔹 Tennis Skirts Are All The Rage
On this last day of the Olympics, the hashtag “Tennis Skirts Becoming New Work Uniform” (#网球裙快成了打工人的新班服#) is trending, with some workers opting to wear tennis skirts to the office in these summer days.
This tennis skirt trend is part of a broader phenomenon where clothing, shoes, or accessories worn by Olympic champions quickly become online hits, highlighting that Olympic athletes have more influence than many Chinese celebrities.
China’s Caijing News noted that while tennis skirts were already popular this year, Zheng Qinwen’s recent win has further inspired consumers to incorporate tennis gear into their daily wardrobes.
AUGUST 12
🔹 Quan Hongchan’s Hometown Celebrates Her Win
As the Olympics have come to a close, in the hometown of Olympic star Quan Hongchan, it’s finally time to replace the Tokyo Olympics poster with one celebrating her success in Paris. 🎉🥇
To recap her achievements: In 2021, the young springboard diver from Guangdong won gold in the women’s 10m platform at the Tokyo Olympics, at just 14 years old. At the Paris Olympics, alongside Chen Yuxi, Quan secured gold in the women’s synchronized 10m platform event on July 31st. On August 6th, she also won gold in the women’s 10-meter platform diving final (with barely a splash).
By winning her first gold in Tokyo and her third Olympic medal in Paris, she broke the record of former Chinese diver Fu Mingxia (伏明霞). At just 17 years old, she became China’s youngest triple Olympic champion. It’s easy to see why her hometown is so proud of her! 💯
Hashtags:
#️⃣ “Quan Hongchan’s Hometown in Guangdong Hangs Up a New Poster” #全红婵广东老家竖起新海报#
🔹 300 Medals
I’m going to wrap up this thread here. Stay tuned, as I’ll be starting a new post on the Paralympics soon (link to follow).
China is reflecting on a highly successful Olympics in Paris, where the country made history by securing its 300th gold medal. With 40 gold medals and 91 overall, China shares the top spot with the US in the gold medal rankings and ranks second overall.
A poster on social media celebrates China’s 300th Olympic medal. The milestone was achieved on August 10th with the women’s table tennis victory.
🔹Chinese Olympic Athletes Top 10 Most Meme-Worthy Moments
Time to revisit some of the most noteworthy moments that happened on the sidelines or podiums of the Olympics! I just finished this article listing my favorite top 10 moments, check it out here.
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By Manya Koetse
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China Arts & Entertainment
“Auntie Mei” Captured After 20 Years, China’s Train-Stain Scandal, and Zhang Xuefeng’s Final Lesson
The major talking points on Chinese social media this week: from the capture of a notorious child trafficker and unexpected death of Zhang Xuefeng, to one of the most expensive Chinese music video ever made.
🔥 China Trend Watch (week 12½ | 2026) Part of Eye on Digital China by Manya Koetse, China Trend Watch is an overview of what’s trending and being discussed on Chinese social media. This edition was sent to paid subscribers — subscribe to receive the next issue in your inbox.
This is about “Teacher Zhang Xuefeng” (张雪峰老师, 1984), the man who carved out a big place for himself in China’s online landscape over the past decade by focusing on a sweet spot that virtually all Chinese parents and their children care about: how to choose majors strategically to ensure future employment prospects.
Among Zhang’s common questions: “What kind of salary do you want your child to have in the future?”
Besides the relevance of his focus, Zhang’s northeastern accent, comic remarks, blunt criticism, and talent for triggering controversy also amplified his online appeal, ensuring that his name frequently became part of China’s public discourse.
Like that time when he advised China’s young people against studying journalism, even stating that if he were a parent, he would “definitely knock the child unconscious if they insisted on studying journalism,” deeming it a major that lacks depth and prospects. Although it became a major controversy at the time, a poll of 42,000 voters showed that 39,000 agreed with Zhang.
Zhang capitalized on the collective anxiety in China surrounding the gaokao (高考), the national university entrance exam that determines future paths, as well as concerns that even graduates from top universities may face unemployment if they choose majors with limited practical value. Zhang’s view: choice is more important than effort.
This Tuesday evening, news emerged that Zhang Xuefeng had died on the afternoon of March 24 at the age of 41, after suffering sudden cardiac arrest.
His death has had a huge impact on Chinese social media, where many people are responding with disbelief and shock.
It’s not just that Zhang was widely known (and while not everyone liked him, many respected him)—it’s perhaps also the fact that he spent so much of his life advising others on how to control their careers and income, building great personal wealth in the process, only to die so young, at the peak of his career, with no strategy to protect him.
Besides being “chronically overworked,” Zhang also pushed himself to exercise and run frequently. Adding to this, he had been under pressure since last fall, when he became a target of official criticism and platform regulators.
Isn’t it ironic that, in the end, the most important takeaway Zhang might leave behind is not his advice on choosing majors or making smart career moves, but rather the reminder to sometimes step away from the rat race and appreciate everyday life and health, because you never know when it might all end.
Zhang leaves behind his wife and 11-year-old daughter.
Let’s dive into some of the other trends that have been major talking points this week.
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- 🧠 China has approved a coin-sized brain–computer implant for commercial use in people with spinal cord injuries. Developed by Shanghai-based company Neuracle Medical Technology (博睿康) in collaboration with Tsinghua University, the so-called “NEO” is the world’s first market-approved brain implant designed to help people with severe paralysis regain hand motor function.
- 🚨 Lei Siwei (雷思维), Vice-Governor of Gansu and member of the provincial Party Standing Committee, is under investigation as of March 17, with the notice issued by China’s top anti-corruption body citing “serious violations of discipline and law.” The case is the latest in an ongoing series of provincial-level anti-corruption actions that’ve been continuing into 2026.
- 📚 Several Chinese provinces and cities are removing biology and geography from high school entrance exams starting from next year, as part of a broader government-initiated campaign to reduce pressure on students and put a stop to “educational involution” (教育内卷).
- 👀 Taiwanese actor-singer Jerry Yan (言承旭), best known as Dao Mingsi from Meteor Garden and a member of F4, is at the center of somewhat of an authenticity crisis after fans photographed his concert teleprompter showing not just lyrics, but scripted emotional cues for his performance like “your eyes slightly reddening” and “now you take a deep breath.”
- 🎮 More than 100 Chinese universities are offering esports majors nowadays, sparking online discussions this week. These programmes go far beyond just playing video games, covering esports operations, management, data analytics, game design, etc, reflecting the growing professionalisation of China’s esports industry.
- 🎓 A feature by Chinese magazine Sanlian Life Weekly (三联生活周刊) went trending for highlighting a sharp gender shift in China’s higher education demographics, with female students now outnumbering men at universities. Female undergraduate enrollment grew by 348% between 2002 and 2022.
- 🧪 A laboratory explosion at Chongqing University on March 20 killed one student and injured three. Initial findings point to improper handling of chemicals.
- 💔 China’s superfamous actress Yao Chen (姚晨) and filmmaker Cao Yu (曹郁) jointly announced their separation on Weibo in a poetic way, using classical Chinese language: “A journey through mountains and rivers, a blessing for three lifetimes. Fate comes and goes, all is joy” (山水一程，三生有幸。缘来缘去，皆是欢喜). A related hashtag received 300 million views.
What Really Stood Out This Week
Chinese Woman Who Sold Abducted Toddlers Captured After Two Decades
A woman who played a key role in a series of China’s notorious child trafficking cases, causing relentless suffering for many families, has finally been caught after being on the run for two decades. The arrest of the woman, referred to as “Mei Yi” or “Auntie Mei” (梅姨), has dominated Chinese social media over the past week, ever since Guangzhou police announced on March 21 that they had finally captured her.
This story touches upon multiple issues that have turned it into such a major topic.
Mei Yi was involved in a series of child trafficking crimes carried out by a gang led by Zhang Weiping (张维平) and Zhou Rongping (周容平) across multiple areas in Guangdong province between 2003 and 2005. She acted as a middleman responsible for transferring and selling abducted children, mostly toddler boys. In just over two years, the group abducted and trafficked nine young children.
The parents of these boys never stopped searching for them, while Chinese authorities worked for years to crack the case. In 2016, eleven years after the last abduction, police arrested five core gang members, including Zhang, who later confessed and revealed that the person reselling the children was a local elderly woman nicknamed “Mei Yi.” However, her real identity and whereabouts remained unknown for years. Zhang Weiping and Zhou Rongping were both sentenced to death and executed in 2023.
Thanks to new technologies—from digital tracking systems to DNA matching—the abducted children were located one by one and reunited with their biological families over the years: the first in 2019 and the last in 2024. By then, the boys were roughly between 14 and 21 years old, meaning they had spent nearly their entire childhoods with the families who had bought them.
Evading Capture by Being Ordinary
One aspect of this case drawing attention is not just how Mei Yi was caught, but how she managed to evade arrest for so long. The crimes took place more than twenty years ago, in factories, rental housing, and other areas with dense migrant populations, leaving very little traceable evidence. It is also unclear how accurate the composite sketch of Mei Yi—circulating since 2017 and updated in 2019—actually was. Authorities have not released a confirmed photo following her arrest, and it is possible her real appearance differed significantly from the sketch.
A lawyer close to the case told Chinese media outlet The Paper that what made her so hard to catch was probably not how clever her tactics were, but that she appeared so normal to those around her, who might have never guessed she was a criminal. Besides arranging illegal “adoptions,” Mei Yi also acted as a local matchmaker and fortune teller, and she even lied about her identity and used aliases with someone who was her partner for two years.
Official media do not disclose exactly how Mei Yi was eventually tracked down, but it’s clear that the authorities got much closer after all the abducted children were found in October 2024, undoubtedly leading to important clues that connected all the cases.
Not Such a Happy Ending
Chinese state media have largely framed the case as a story of justice served: Mei Yi as a long-sought villain, the police as persistent heroes, and China’s advancing technology as the key to solving the case. A kind of “happy ending.”
But the truth seems more complicated, with a loud silence surrounding nine families where the abducted boys spent their entire childhoods. Their willingness to pay for a male child is part of a broader issue linked to China’s one-child policy, relatively light penalties for buyers of trafficked children (or even legal limitations due to statutes of limitation), and a deeply rooted son-preference culture that was especially strong in those years 2003- 2005.
Some online commentators did argue to “not let those hypocritical ‘adoptive parents’ off the hook.” Yet the situation is complicated by the fact that some of the boys still consider these families their parents, and in some cases choose to stay with them rather than return to biological families they barely remember.
The fact is that Mei Yu is just one chapter in a much larger story that is far from finished.
Just earlier this week, the story of another abduction case also went trending. It concerns a man named Du Jun (杜军), who was abducted in 1991 at the age of 3 while playing outside a shop with his sister. Du Jun, who spent 35 years separated from his biological family, finally reunited with his biological mother following a successful identification process that is part of a continuing series of long-separated family reunions facilitated by China’s expanding DNA-matching and digital tracking systems.
Du, now 38, had not known he was trafficked as a child, nor that his biological family had searched for him for years. He became an orphan at a young age and built a life for himself. He was found through online search efforts, the dedication of volunteers, DNA research, and a specific detail only his biological family knew: that he had a bend at the joint of his left middle finger because of an accident as a toddler.
Du Jun as a young child before his abduction, and Du Jun reunited with his biological mother in 2026. Images via Hongxing Xinwen.
As with the nine abducted boys, Du Jun’s reunion with his family does bring light to a long, dark tunnel – but it doesn’t bring back the missed childhood, the shattered families, and the endless, tear-filled years.
Let’s hope many more “Mei Yis” will be brought to justice in the years ahead.
A Censored Menstruation Train-Incident
Another story that became a major talking point on Chinese social media this week involves a woman named Ms. Zhang, who was charged 180 yuan (US$26) after accidentally staining a bedsheet on a sleeper train. The woman unexpectedly got her period while traveling overnight to Lanzhou and was unable to obtain any sanitary products on board. A train attendant asked her to either wash the bedsheet herself or pay compensation.
The woman, who ended up washing the sheets herself by hand in cold water, later shared her experience on social media and suggested that all trains should sell sanitary pads. Her post resonated with many, and even though she took it offline, it was quickly picked up by Chinese media.
After the post went viral, Lanzhou Railway issued an official statement on March 20, presenting its version of events and challenging some of the woman’s claims.
The statement included details that depicted staff as helpful, such as an attendant allegedly offering to wash the sheets and a conductor searching for sanitary pads (but finding none). At the same time, it used seemingly accusatory language, repeatedly describing the woman’s menstruation as having “contaminated” (污染) the bedding as well as two other spots where she had sat.
Zhang did not accept this explanation and again turned to social media (under the username @勇敢小狐不怕困难) to reveal what she said had been happening behind the scenes. She shared that someone from Lanzhou Railway had repeatedly messaged her privately, asking her to delete her posts, claiming that employees’ jobs were at risk because of the incident, and even offering her money—which she refused, despite ultimately taking the post down.
Zhang further suggested that her posts were “disappearing as soon as they were published,” that the media narrative was being controlled, and that she had been pressured into silence.
On Xiaohongshu and Weibo, many users sided with Zhang. The wording used by Lanzhou Railway struck a chord, particularly the framing of menstruation as “contamination” while simultaneously blaming Zhang for staining multiple areas, despite not providing any sanitary products.
“Where exactly was she supposed to sit?” one Xiaohongshu user asked. “In the aisle? On a suitcase? Squatting by the toilet door? Lying on the floor?”
One major reason why this debate exploded online is not just the media discourse itself, but the way it taps into broader frustrations among Chinese women over social taboos and structural shortcomings surrounding menstruation in public spaces.
Over the years, various incidents involving menstrual products have gone viral and sparked grassroots efforts to change the current situation.
In 2022, a female passenger also expressed her frustration online about sanitary pads on high-speed trains, drawing online attention. Many commenters, mostly men, argued that pads weren’t “essential items” and shouldn’t take up retail space onboard. The railway authority’s official response—describing sanitary pads as “personal items” that don’t need to be sold—only worsened online outrage.
For many women, these kinds of incidents, from trains and schools to planes, highlight how little society apparently understands or respects their basic needs.
In this case, the way Zhang was seemingly framed as if she had deliberately stained the sheets (and was somehow expected to stop menstruating) triggered widespread anger. Although some of the more outspoken posts were censored on Weibo, more nuanced criticism remained: “Menstrual blood is treated as dirty, described as ‘contamination.’ But this is just menstruation—something that half of all people experience.”
On the Feed
“The Most Expensive Music Video in the History of Mandopop”
Whenever there’s new music by the Taiwanese producer, actor, composer, singer-songwriter, and ‘King of Mandopop’ Jay Chou (周杰伦), it goes trending.
Not only does his music bring back memories of the early 2000s – when he first rose to prominence and became super popular – but his catchy tunes and lyrics also resonate with younger audiences.
But it’s not just the music that makes waves – it’s also the music videos that have become artistic and sometimes spectacular productions by themselves. “Other artists just make a music video, he turns it into a movie,” some commenters wrote after the release of his 2022 Greatest Work of Art video.
On March 24, the music video (MV) for the lead single Children of the Sun (太阳之子) dropped, a production made in collaboration with Wētā Workshop, the New Zealand-based visual effects studio known for its work on Avatar and The Lord of the Rings.
The music video shows Jay Chou in a fictional European world spanning from the 16th to the 20th century, filled with references to famous art, from Vincent van Gogh and Dali to Mona Lisa, Ophelia, and The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp by Rembrandt (Jay Chou appears in the painting himself).
The cost of the music video production reportedly exceeded 20 million yuan (US$2.9 million), and some commentaries described it as the most expensive MV in the history of Mandarin-language pop music.
China Trend Watch
Raising Lobsters, 6G Coming, and China’s DIY Deity Trend
Chinese netizens “raising lobsters,” farmer pensions emerging as a key Two Sessions talking point, and humanoid robots running through Beijing — what you need to know about Chinese social media discussions this week.
🔥 China Trend Watch (week 11 | 2026) Part of Eye on Digital China by Manya Koetse, China Trend Watch is an overview of what’s trending and being discussed on Chinese social media. The previous newsletters covered last week’s main talking points & a chapter dive into the Chinese online discourse surrounding the Iran war. This edition was sent to paid subscribers — subscribe to receive the next issue in your inbox.
The scene, from a short-video series by Douyin creator Zhou Xiaonao (周小闹), unexpectedly made the Chinese restaurant chain Liu Wenxiang (刘文祥) go viral, turning it into an internet hit as the trend resonated with overworked young workers who enjoyed the mix of cathartic online meme culture & affordable comfort food.
The viral moment caused immediate chaos. Liu Wenxiang stores across the country were overwhelmed by two-hour queues, ingredients sold out, and the “order explosions” (爆单) forced some locations to temporarily suspend operations altogether.
Who could have expected a Douyin comedy creator to catapult a long-standing Chinese brand back into the spotlight so suddenly — not through its own marketing, not through a brand collaboration, but because a fictional online persona is obsessing over its malatang (spicy skewer soup)? It’s very much China’s online culture.
While I’m writing this newsletter, however, China’s 3.15 Consumer Rights Day is dominating Chinese social media. Earlier tonight, the 36th edition of China’s annual consumer rights show (3·15晚会) aired — a joint production by CCTV and government agencies that aims to educate the public on consumer rights while exposing violations and holding companies accountable.
Tonight, Liu Wenxiang suddenly saw its image crumble as the show exposed that multiple franchise locations across the country had been substituting duck meat for the advertised beef and pork in various menu items. According to the report, staff knowingly misled customers even when they knew beef or lamb was not actually being delivered — a practice reportedly involving thousands of orders per location each month.
The price gap helps explain why: pure beef rolls cost ¥28 (about US$4) per 500 grams, while duck rolls cost just ¥7 (about US$1) — a fourfold difference.
Public opinion is currently in full swing, rapidly turning against the brand that people had embraced so enthusiastically over the past few weeks.
And that, too, is a sign of this social media age. Unofficial sources can make you go viral in a minute, but when you’re officially exposed for essentially scamming customers, it becomes very difficult to recover. I wonder whether “Purple Potato Spirit” will still be treated to Liu Wenxiang malatang after this scandal.
(For more on China’s consumer day show, see last year’s post here.)
Let’s dive into the other trends that were widely discussed on Chinese social media this week.
(Short note: if you’re reading this and appreciate the newsletter but are not yet a paying subscriber, please consider supporting it. Eye on Digital China is fully independent and reader-funded. Your subscription helps keep this work going.)
Quick Scroll
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- 🏎️ F1 Fever All eyes were on the F1 Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai this weekend, especially given the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian races. The race was completely sold out, and Chinese media noted a marked increase in Chinese F1 fans, especially among women, with China’s current F1 fanbase exceeding 150 million.
- 🥢Swallowed Chopstick A 46-year-old man named Wang from Dalian gained attention after visiting the doctor for a sore throat, and it was found that a 12-centimeter metal chopstick had been lodged in his pharynx for eight years. Wang told the doctors he had accidentally swallowed it during a meal but was too afraid of surgery to seek treatment. The chopstick has now been removed, and Wang is fine — the chopstick remains intact as well.
- 📚 Iron Rice Bowl This weekend, 5.87 million people took the provincial civil service exams, known as the Shěngkǎo (省考), across 23 provinces, competing for 126,000 positions in provincial and local government offices — an average of 47 applicants per job (with some desirable positions attracting as many as 1,900 applicants for a single post!).
- 🚆 Boarding for Pyongyang Earlier this week, a train from China arrived in North Korea. As of March 12, the China–North Korea international passenger train operates four times a week between Beijing and Pyongyang. The train service, which remains highly restricted for ordinary travelers, had been suspended for years during and after the pandemic.
- 🏛️ Mao Under Construction From this week until the end of August, the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall (毛主席纪念堂) at Tiananmen Square, which houses the embalmed body of Mao Zedong, will undergo internal renovation and construction work and will be closed to the public. The site, opened in 1977, draws millions of domestic visitors each year.
- 🇨🇳🇺🇸 US–China Talks High-level US–China talks commenced in Paris on March 15. The discussions, led by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), carry added significance because of their timing: right after the Two Sessions concluded and China’s 15th Five-Year Plan was approved, and before Trump’s anticipated China visit from March 31 to April 2 (although Beijing has not yet officially confirmed it).
- 🌹 Steel Roses Victory China’s women’s national football team, officially nicknamed the Steel Roses (钢铁玫瑰), became one of the most-discussed sports topics on Chinese social media this week after the team secured their spot at the 2026 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil, defeating Chinese Taipei in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup. The celebration in football balanced the online disappointment over the elimination of China’s table tennis champion Wang Chuqin (王楚钦) from the World Table Tennis (WTT) Champions Chongqing tournament after losing 2–4 to 18-year-old Japanese player Matsushima Sora.
What Really Stood Out This Week
Why Everyone in China Is Talking About “Raising Lobsters”
This week, everyone is talking about raising lobsters.
“Raising lobsters” in Chinese is yǎng lóngxiā (养龙虾), and it’s now widely used as a term for deploying AI agents. The reference to the lobster comes from the lobster-like creature that serves as the logo of the AI agent OpenClaw, formerly known as Clawdbot, developed by Austrian computer programmer Peter Steinberger and released in November 2025.
OpenClaw describes itself as a “Personal AI Assistant” or “the AI that actually does things,” such as sorting out your inbox, sending emails, managing your calendar, checking in for flights – all through the chat apps you already use.
So why is the open-source AI tool such a major success in China, going well beyond developer niche communities? One of the reasons so many people are talking about and using OpenClaw is that installing it has become a niche profession in itself.
Caiwei Chen at MIT Technology Review recently described how small companies and independent entrepreneurs in China, such as the young Chinese developer Feng Qingyang (冯庆阳), have directly contributed to the tool’s success by helping others install it. Feng began offering “OpenClaw installation support” in late January this year, and what started as a side gig has now grown into a full-fledged professional operation with more than 100 employees.
While in Western countries the comments by analyst firm Gartner, which described OpenClaw as an “unacceptable cybersecurity risk” last month, were still resonating, the AI tool’s popularity in China has surged in recent weeks. Companies like Feng’s have mushroomed across the country, with unofficial OpenClaw installation events drawing crowds in many cities. Larger corporate events are also attracting attention, such as a recent installation event at Tencent’s headquarters in Shenzhen that drew hundreds of participants.
By now, virtually all of China’s major tech companies have jumped on the hype. From ByteDance to JD.com, companies are offering a range of OpenClaw products and services.
Success stories quickly went viral, including a claim that an OpenClaw agent completed three weeks’ worth of work for six employees in just 24 hours. But the hype has also brought concerns, with online rumors circulating about people’s credit cards being charged unexpectedly or local files and emails being deleted.
Chinese authorities have now restricted state-run enterprises and government agencies from running OpenClaw AI apps on office computers, while official cybersecurity agencies have warned about potential security risks.
In the RealTime Mandarin newsletter, Andrew Methven explained the rise of the online phrase “one lobster, three ways” (龙虾三吃), a play on the name of a popular Chinese dish. With the latest security concerns, Chinese business-oriented programmers are spotting yet more money-making opportunities; In addition to OpenClaw installation services, some now also offer “uninstallation services.” In other words, people are now making lobster money in three ways with OpenClaw: installing the AI, training people how to use it, and uninstalling it when things go wrong.
Viral Weibo commentary from one blogger (@菜刀曦曦) neatly captured the hype cycle:
“How fast the world changes these days. Yesterday I was scrolling Weibo and everyone was raising lobsters, paying to get it installed, and honestly I was tempted too. Today what I’m seeing is that the lobster is basically a Trojan horse, and now people are paying to uninstall it. Install: 500 yuan [US$72]. Uninstall: 299 yuan [US$43]. Those of us who didn’t follow the trend have effectively saved 799 yuan [US$115].”
From 6G Dreams to Pension Debates: The Viral Topics of the Two Sessions
In last week’s newsletter, I already discussed some of the main social media trends coming out of the Two Sessions. In the final days of China’s annual parliamentary meetings, which ended on March 12, several more noteworthy topics went trending.
📍 “6G Is Coming” (#6G网要来了#) became a hot-search phrase, as 6G was explicitly included both in this year’s Government Work Report and in the 15th Five-Year Plan, which lays out China’s strategic vision for the period from 2026 to 2030.
The report stated that China would nurture future industries, including 6G, quantum technology, and embodied AI, positioning itself as a global leader in 6G development. In November 2025, news emerged that China had completed its first real-world testing trial of 6G applications. Being roughly 100 times faster than 5G (you’ll be able to download a 4K movie in just one second), 6G is expected to become the future mobile standard, with commercial use in China planned for around 2030.
Beyond what was mentioned in the official reports or what happened in the corridors, it was mostly the policy suggestions and proposals from NPC delegates and CPPCC members that trended in public online debates.
📍 NPC delegate Tang Lijun (唐利军) proposed a “nighttime silence” for short video platforms, calling for a mandatory break from scrolling during 1 AM-5 AM to protect both children and adults from “unhealthy” social media use.
Although I believe it’s unlikely that such a measure would be enforced for everyone (for one, it could harm China’s digital economy), it might suggest that China’s current social media rules for children could be further tightened or even expanded to include individuals over 18.
📍 Overall, it’s clear that rest was a recurring theme during the Two Sessions. As discussed last week, there were discussions about adjusting Chinese public holidays and working fewer hours. NPC delegate and Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun (雷军) triggered all kind of discussions, one of them related to a comment he made during an interview with China News Weekly (中国新闻周刊), where he suggested that in the AI era people might no longer need to work eight hours a day or five days a week, and could perhaps work three days a week, two hours a day—dramatically improving quality of life.
Another proposal came from NPC delegate Zhong Baoshen (钟宝申), who suggested reducing the standard workday from 8 hours to 7 hours while significantly increasing overtime pay standards. This idea was not necessarily applauded online; many commenters argued that an extra day off would make more sense and expressed skepticism about whether shorter hours would actually happen, given that the current eight-hour day already often results in overwork.
📍Then there were the welfare-related proposals that went viral. Delegate Zheng Gongcheng (郑功成), also president of the China Social Security Society (中国社会保障学会), called for establishing a “Mother’s Pension System” (母亲养老金制度).
The proposal suggests that during child-rearing years, mothers would continue to accrue pension benefits for old age without reductions for time spent away from work.
This proposal resonated with many female netizens. One popular comment said:
“Having children, raising them, caring for them… we spend countless sleepless nights and give up many work opportunities and personal time for it. Most of a lifetime’s energy ends up devoted to family and children. (…) Giving women who have given birth an additional pension subsidy is not an extra privilege; it is a recognition of the many years of sacrifice and effort we have made.”
📍Other popular proposals were not about the gender pension gap, but about the rural–urban pension gap. At least nine proposals focused on how China’s farmers contributed enormously to the country’s development over the decades—submitting grain to the state even when hungry during the Mao years, or performing obligatory labor (义务工) building railways, reservoirs, and other infrastructure through the commune system.
Despite these contributions, many argue that rural residents have historically not been treated fairly under China’s national welfare system, and that their contributions mean the state now owes them a decent safety net in old age.
These proposals received waves of support online. China Digital Times archived one post from WeChat public account “Reflections on the Past” (往事随想录) by author Peng Yuanwen (彭远文), who called China’s rural pension dilemma “the hottest issue at this year’s Two Sessions,” one that “overshadowed everything else, almost giving the impression that this year’s Two Sessions had only one real topic.” He added: “In my twenty years of observation, this is unprecedented.”
Although the pension was raised by only 20 yuan (about US$2.90) this year, there is now a growing wave of voices—from politics, academia, and the media- calling for substantial increases to bring pensions for urban and rural residents closer to the lower level of the urban employee pension.
Peng sees this as the clearest signal that change may be coming:
“Look around—the fields are already lush and green. Friends, can the autumn harvest still be far away?”
On the Feed
DIY Deities
A traditional Fujianese folk ritual in which deity figures are paraded through the streets, accompanied by music, drums, crowds, and incense smoke, has been popping up on Chinese feeds in unexpected ways.
Recently (still ongoing today), dozens of netizens have gone viral on Douyin by jokingly recreating the Fujian “deity parade” (福建游神) ritual at home, at their workplace, or even in parking lots, using DIY deities and creative ways of throwing the “divination cups” (for example, tossing slippers instead).
From Sichuan to Henan, these creative netizens joke that “you don’t need to go to Fujian to see the deity procession.”
This year, a controversy over the selection of a spirit medium at a Mazu goddess procession—which I also covered in a previous newsletter—pushed these kinds of deity processions further into the mainstream than ever before. Suddenly, millions of people who had never paid close attention to these rituals were reading about divination cups, spirit possession, and the rules surrounding sacred selection.
Although that incident likely helped spark the current playful DIY deity trend, other figures appearing in these rural parades—also called “tagu” (塔骨)—had already gone viral before. One example is Zhang Shizi (张世子), a handsome figure in a rural deity procession who gained a sizable online fanbase, along with the subordinate “divine generals” (神将) that appear before and after the main deity, swaying and swinging their arms with attitude, and sometimes even bumping into spectators.
Going even further back is the trend of the “Electric-Techno Neon Gods” (电音三太子), which began years ago when Taiwanese temple youth groups started mixing sacred imagery with pop culture. They used the Nezha figure (哪吒, the Third Prince, 三太子) with a giant head, dancing to techno and house music instead of traditional percussion.
These current memes similarly blend religious ritual with pop culture, gamifying old customs in the social media age by treating participation in the folk ritual trend as a “cultivation path toward godhood.” Although it is all very tongue-in-cheek, there is also a clear appreciation of folk ritual aesthetics and spiritual customs behind it.
One More Thing
Humanoid Robots Spotted Running in Beijing Streets
Some Beijingers who were up and about early this weekend witnessed a surreal scene: humanoid robots walking through the streets of Beijing. From the evening of March 14 to the early morning of March 15, the humanoid robot half marathon held its first test run.
The robots will participate in the 2026 Beijing Yizhuang Half Marathon, scheduled for April 19 in Beijing’s Yizhuang Economic Development Zone. The race features a “human-robot co-run” (人机共跑) format: human athletes and humanoid robots will start together on the same route, with robots running in a separate designated lane.
See video of the early morning practice here.
—That’s a wrap.
See you next edition!
Best,
Manya
Eye on Digital China, by Manya Koetse, is co-published on Substack and What’s on Weibo. Both feature the same new content — so you can read and subscribe wherever you prefer. Substack offers community features, while What’s on Weibo provides full archive access. If you’re already subscribed and want to switch platforms, just get in touch for help. If you no longer wish to receive these newsletters, or are receiving duplicate editions, you can unsubscribe at any time.
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