How viral AI videos turn racialized outsiders into threats and violent Chinese heroes into defenders of social order, China’s first nationally broadcast AI drama, and why a newspaper is being sold for 50 times its original price.
Also: the Hong Kong bookstore arrests that did not go trending, AI bank cards, Haaland becoming China’s summer meme king, and a delivery rider winning the Lu Xun Literature Prize.
As Europe struggles through record heat, Chinese social media is turning the story into something much bigger than the weather. Plus: the graduation speech everyone is talking about & more.
How information surrounding the CITIC Tower crash was managed, from a five-day media blackout to a sixth-day official narrative.
After the first complaints surfaced, Auntie Goose Legs admitted the truth about her business: she ha been selling duck legs all along.
Why has Adidas regained cultural relevance in China while Nike is struggling despite its global strength?
From top trends to platform scandals, these were the biggest online topics of the year.
Hasan Piker's controversial China tour, a Chinese school uniform resurfaces in Africa, a new winter hotspot, why Chinese elites 'run' to Tokyo, and more.
Female comedians are taking center stage in a new era of Chinese stand-up, challenging stereotypes and turning jokes into real-life impact.
If it walks like a duck, it might just be Auntie Goose Legs. A wrap-up of noteworthy trending stories in China. From the real Rolex recruiting fake crowds to diaper scares & a funny Deepseek moment.
How Adidas won and Nike lost, Japan's lost decades as a mirror for China, and why a possum is the new workplace spirit animal.
A new state-backed epic about the Qing conquest of Taiwan is stirring debate. Plus: the Shanxi mine disaster, a controversial prison film, hukou reform, and China’s top 5 rising books.
How a niche online debate was amplified into a global “racism” story, and why the real discussion runs deeper
Russian recruitment ads, China's censorship, and how Western media sometimes guess Beijing's stance by reading between the wrong lines.
Weibo, Wechat, Douyin, or Xiaohongshu? Understanding China’s top 10 social media platforms.
Behind the hashtag about Nanjing's cross-dressing ‘Sister Hong’: from legal implications to viral spectacle.
Labubu is not ‘Chinese’ at all—and at the same time, it is very much a product of present-day China.
As American 'TikTok Refugees' flock to China's Xiaohongshu (Rednote), their encounter with 'Li Hua' strikes a chord in divided times.
From Kim Jong-un in Beijing to Lu Xun’s cigarette: what China’s talking about this week – a top 10 by What’s on Weibo.
This is What’s on Weibo’s top 3 of what’s currently trending in China (Aug 23–24).
There’s talk of a ‘de-instant-noodling’ of China’s high-speed trains, but many netizens think smoking on the platform is the stinkier problem.
What's on Weibo's Top 3: From Xi in Tibet to the next project after Black Myth: Wukong.
“We are not friends, and have never been,” is a line that went viral recently in light of the heightened focus on war in Chinese media...
With China’s box office relay tradition, every movie’s success becomes a win for Chinese cinema.
From foreign anti-smoking bloggers to the “Modern Lin Zexu,” China is seeing a rise in online anti-smoking activism.
This is What's on Weibo's top 3 of what's trending (Aug 12–13): public outrage over a fatal stabbing in Nanchang, the record-breaking Chinese animation hit Nobody,...
What's on Weibo's Top 5: What’s Trending in China Today – From a fruit retailer CEO’s tone-deaf remarks and a Tiananmen parade rehearsal to an Alipay...
"You think we’re scared of you? It’s not like we haven’t been to jail before."
From Telegram to Shaolin Temple, the two scandals that rocked Chinese social media this week.
"To put it bluntly, temples have been places of deception, corruption, opportunism, and exploitation since ancient times."
After six students drowned in a mine tank, social media users question safety precautions and media framing.
"Tap water safety is a barometer of a city’s level of civilization."
Note: In this What’s on Weibo chapter on the story behind China’s designer toys, also read Inside the Labubu Craze and the Globalization of Chinese Designer...
