It is a romantic dream for most women to see their lover kneeling down with a diamond ring and a bunch of beautiful roses. For one Guangzhou woman, however, this dream turned out somewhat different.
It is a romantic dream for most women to see their lover kneeling down with a diamond ring and a bunch of beautiful roses. For one Guangzhou woman, however, this dream turned out somewhat different.
A young man named Feng proposed to his pregnant girlfriend with over 50 packs of diapers on Tuesday in Guangzhou, China. With the help of his friends, Feng arranged the diapers in the shape of a giant heart alongside the Pearl River, joined by a big banner saying: “Will You Marry Me?”
He then gave his girlfriend another bag of diapers, carried by a drone, with a diamond ring inside. His girlfriend, who seemed surprised and touched by the gesture, said yes.
The spectacular scene attracted the attention of many bypassers and was photographed and uploaded to Weibo, leading the topic to become trending under the hashtag of “Diaper Proposal” (#纸尿裤求婚#).
The proposal was inspired by Taiwanese celebrity couple Alyssa Chia and Xiu Jie Kai, who announced the birth of their baby daughter through social media this summer. They later shared a video titled “Mothers who lack sleep” (缺睡妈妈), illustrating the exhaustion of working and stay-at-home mums who have to wake up at all hours of the night to take care of their crying baby and change their diapers. The video was sponsored by ‘Libero’ diapers.
Taiwanese actors Xiu Jie Kai previously said he would take up daddy duties such as changing diapers and bottle-feeding to reduce the burden on his wife.
The video ‘Mothers who lack sleep’.
Unsurprisingly, the same brand of diapers used in the video shared by Alyssa Chia and Xiu Jie Kai, were also used for the proposal in Guangzhou. “From now on, your happiness and the baby’s happiness are my responsibility. I will take care of our baby at night time and make sure you have sufficient sleeping time every day,” Feng said during his proposal. The intention behind his creative proposal was the promise to his girlfriend that he would be a good father, and that he would make sure that his girlfriend would not turn into a ‘tired mummy’.
Many of the Weibo comments for Feng’s creative proposal are positive. Many netizens give their thumbs up. Weibo netizen @Mr___Saturday commented that the way one proposes is actually not important; what counts is the sincere love of Feng for his girlfriend.
Some users see the commercial value of the hyped proposal: “This is just excellent marketing for LiberoDiapers,” Tony says.
The introduction of a Douyin novel feature, that would enable content creators to impose a fee for accessing their short video content, has sparked discussions across Chinese social media. Although the feature would benefit creators, many Douyin users are skeptical.
News that Chinese social media app Douyin is rolling out a new feature which allows creators to introduce a paywall for their short video content has triggered online discussions in China this week.
The feature, which made headlines on November 16, is presently in the testing phase. A number of influential content creators are now allowed to ‘paywall’ part of their video content.
Douyin is the hugely popular app by Chinese tech giant Bytedance. TikTok is the international version of the Chinese successful short video app, and although they’re often presented as being the same product, Douyin and Tiktok are actually two separate entities.
In addition to variations in content management and general usage, Douyin differs from TikTok in terms of features. Douyin previously experimented with functionalities such as charging users for accessing mini-dramas on the platform or the ability to tip content creators.
The pay-to-view feature on Douyin would require users to pay a certain fee in Douyin coins (抖币) in order to view paywalled content. One Douyin coin is equivalent to 0.1 yuan ($0,014). The platform itself takes 30% of the income as a service charge.
According to China Securities Times or STCN (证券时报网), Douyin insiders said that any short video content meeting Douyin’s requirements could be set as “pay-per-view.”
Creators, who can set their own paywall prices, should reportedly meet three criteria to qualify for the pay-to-view feature: their account cannot have any violation records for a period of 90 days, they should have at least 100,000 followers, and they have to have completed the real-name authentication process.
On Douyin and Weibo, Chinese netizens express various views on the feature. Many people do not think it would be a good idea to charge money for short videos. One video blogger (@小片片说大片) pointed out the existing challenge of persuading netizens to pay for longer videos, let alone expecting them to pay for shorter ones.
“The moment I’d need to pay money for it, I’ll delete the app,” some commenters write.
This statement appears to capture the prevailing sentiment among most internet users regarding a subscription-based Douyin environment. According to a survey conducted by the media platform Pear Video, more than 93% of respondents expressed they would not be willing to pay for short videos.
An online poll by Pear Video showed that the majority of respondents would not be willing to pay for short videos on Douyin.
“This could be a breaking point for Douyin,” one person predicts: “Other platforms could replace it.” There are more people who think it would be the end of Douyin and that other (free) short video platforms might take its place.
Some commenters, however, had their own reasons for supporting a pay-per-view function on the platform, suggesting it would help them solve their Douyin addiction. One commenter remarked, “Fantastic, this might finally help me break free from watching short videos!” Another individual responded, “Perhaps this could serve as a remedy for my procrastination.”
As discussions about the new feature trended, Douyin’s customer service responded, stating that it would eventually be up to content creators whether or not they want to activate the paid feature for their videos, and that it would be up to users whether or not they would be interested in such content – otherwise they can just swipe away.
Another social media user wrote: “There’s only one kind of video I’m willing to pay for, and it’s not on Douyin.”
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Avideo that has circulated on Chinese social media since October 19 shows how an alleged worker at a Tsingtao Beer factory climbs over a wall at the raw material production site and starts to urinate.
The incident reportedly occurred at the Tsingtao Beer Factory No. 3, a subsidiary of the Tsingtao Brewing Company, located in Qingdao, Shandong.
This is the viral video showing how an alleged worker at the Tsingtao Beer Factory 3 climbs over a wall at the raw material production site and starts to urinate. Many people think it's an undercover operation by a rivaling company: one person peed, another leaked the video? 🍻🤢 pic.twitter.com/eJcYljo2aQ
After the video went viral, the Tsingtao Brewery Company issued a statement that they took the incident very seriously and immediately report it to the authorities, who have started an investigation into the case. Meanwhile, the specific batch in production has been halted and shut off.
The incident has caused concern among consumers, and some commenters on social media wonder if this was the first time something like this has happened. “How do we know this hasn’t happened many times before?”
Others speculate about what might have motivated the man to urinate at the production site. There are those who believe that the man is part of an undercover operation orchestrated by a rivaling company, aimed at discrediting Tsingtao. It’s even suggested that there were two ‘moles’ leaking in this incident: one doing the urinating, and the other doing the video ‘leak.’
Meanwhile, there are voices who are critical of Tsingtao, suggesting that the renowned beer brand has not effectively addressed the ‘pee gate’ scandal. It remains uncertain how this incident will impact the brand, but some netizens are already expressing reservations about ordering a Tsingtao beer as a result.
But there are also those who joke about the “pissing incident,” wondering if Tsingtao Beer might soon launch a special “urine flavored beer.”
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