China Insight
Satirical Swedish TV Show Making Fun of Chinese Adds Fuel to Fire after Tourist Row
The show, that tells Chinese tourists not to defecate in the streets, has been denounced by the Chinese Embassy in Sweden.
China Insight
Blame Games & Bad Signs: Nepal–Tibet Floods, Huawei’s Toilet Trouble, “Screwed” Graduates
How the Nepal–Tibet floods are being discussed on Chinese social media. From solidarity and sadness over Gyirong to censorship and anger at Taiwanese, Indian, and Western media.
In this edition:
- Teachers get shamed for their students’ bad grades
- Why the Nepal–Tibet floods sparked arguments about blame, BBC reporting, and Chinese censorship
- Huawei doesn’t appreciate viral toilet humor
- Dads are carrying mattresses into Peking University
- Chinese graduates are getting “screwed” by a million-dollar company
🗞️ QUICK SCROLLS
🧑🏫 A teacher “shame photo” taken at a local education meeting in Liangshan, Sichuan, has sparked nationwide outrage. A group of primary school teachers was forced to pose in front of a giant “SHAME” sign because their classes’ average final exam scores were below 30. “This isn’t merely ‘shame’—it’s outright public humiliation,” one commenter wrote. Liangshan’s education bureau confirmed the photo was real and said it was “puzzled” by the practice; the Leibo County government has apologized and launched an investigation.
Teachers lined up in front of a big screen that says: “Group photo of primary-school teachers whose classes averaged below 30 points in the 2025–2026 end-of-year examinations”
🥬 “Chemical cabbages” (药水白菜) or “formaldehyde cabbages” (甲醛白菜) have been a major topic on Chinese social media after a Chinese investigative vlogger captured workers in Kangbao, Hebei, dipping cabbages into formaldehyde solution before loading them onto trucks. This procedure, which allegedly adds 2–3 extra days of shelf life, is illegal: formaldehyde is a Group 1 carcinogen.
🍫 It’s been a bad week for Mars-owned chocolate brand Dove. A marketing campaign suggesting that a girl received a box of chocolates from a man she was flirting with while her boyfriend was away (“趁男友不在”) drew anger online. Then the brand’s apology also became a massive failure: when it was flagged as 100% AI-generated, Chinese netizens had little sympathy left for the brand.
💸 A “century-old” shark fin soup served by a Shanghai restaurant for no less than 4,800 yuan (US$715) per bowl (!) has gone viral for its exorbitant price and claims that it has been “simmering for more than 100 years,” since the late Qing dynasty. There was plenty of skepticism about the soup, but also disbelief that anyone would spend an ordinary person’s entire monthly living budget on a single bowl of soup.
👩💻 An eighth-grader from Shanghai earned 18,000 yuan (US$2,678) in three days using AI. Despite her limited programming experience, the 13-year-old placed third in a marketing hackathon, where teams had 48 hours to develop and market an entire AI product. She launched a study-companion app called “Being There” (在场) that 92 people bought. Although Chinese media praised her, commenters were critical, suggesting she received help from her mother, an influencer on Douyin.
💍 In an aging society where marriage rates have AGAIN dropped, more and more places are making it easier than ever to tie the knot. Registration services are popping up in…
Chapter Dive
The Power of Ugly: Why Niu Lai Became China’s Unlikeliest Box-Office Hit
How the two-person animated film Niu Lai turned its “ugly” visuals, dreamcore nostalgia, and remarkable cinema journey into a nationwide participatory meme.
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Manya Koetse (@manyapan) and powered by What’s on Weibo.
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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
Blame Games & Bad Signs: Nepal–Tibet Floods, Huawei’s Toilet Trouble, “Screwed” Graduates
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
China’s CITIC Tower Crash: The Story That Never Trended
Auntie Goose Legs, China’s Shrinking Condom Market, and DeepSeek’s AI Blind Spot
“Even Pigs Have AC”: The European Heatwave Through Chinese Eyes
Quack Like a Goose: Why Beijing Street Vendor “Auntie Goose Legs” Sparked a Nationwide Debate
“God Won’t Save Us, but the PLA Will”: Floods, Faith, and Kung Fu Soccer Nostalgia
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Richard
September 23, 2018 at 9:43 am
Yes don’t go to Sweden and that include every Chinese people around the world, not just Chines from mainland China.
Clive
September 24, 2018 at 8:31 am
I agree, don’t waste your tourism money on a country of racists. Awful weather all year round, non-existent culture aside from stinky canned fish.
No thanks, Swedenn's cold and liberal PC. Sweden Women=Black and Arab Property
September 25, 2018 at 9:49 am
No one goes to Sweden anymore lol, its already 70% Muslim Jihad beards from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan not to mention the Youth gangs, Ethiopia Refugees, Sudan Refugees, Turk immigrants, Balktans and Russian youth hooligans taking over.
Blacks and Muslims already fucks an average of 21-24 Different Swedish girls there within their life time anyway, its paradise for them but a shithole stench even for their neighbours Denmark and Norway.
terebethian
September 23, 2018 at 6:52 pm
wait so did the swedes figure out how to keep hordes of godawful chinese tourists out of their country?! Point to the Swedes!
W.T.Pooh
September 24, 2018 at 5:37 am
This is what you get after a generation of CCP cultural destruction [aka ‘revolution’], indoctrination, brainwashing and information blockade, these robots are no longer a social [human] being fit for the world community, they have no idea of reality, propriety, social norms, manners etc.
.
All they know is CCP party politics, and the philosophy of “struggle”, therefore incessant complaints, demands, retaliation…It’s a tragedy to see a fifth of the world population turned into mindless savages in mere one generation, and from one of the oldest civilization for that matter!
.
Sigh!
Beth
September 27, 2018 at 5:24 am
This comment section is horrid. I love What’s on Weibo, as it helps me as a student learn to read more realistic language and slang, and it’s usually well written and informational. I’m disappointed that such a nice site can’t moderate better against such obvious racism or sexism. What’s the use of allowing comments referring to women as property and sluts or whores or as Chinese people as inhuman savages? They’re not adding anything to any meaningful discussion, and allowing this kind of hate only encourages them to feel entitled to share it everywhere. I can understand a website that often deals with censorship in China feeling hesitant to censor anyone themselves, but come on. Having community standards isn’t going to impede on anyone’s freedom of speech.
As for the article, I think the headline nailed it pretty nicely. All this “satire” did was add fuel to a fire, which I’m sure is exactly what the creators wanted. Who cares about human decency or the like when you can get more viewers or ad revenue? It just really sucks that this is further distracting everyone from the Dalai Lama’s visit and China’s alleged “punishment” of Sweden. The only people I saw talking about his initial visit were the far-right because they were happy he said that refugees shouldn’t stay in Europe permanently or they would make Europe lose its cultures.
admin
September 27, 2018 at 5:41 am
Hi Beth, so sorry that What’s on Weibo has disappointed you. As this site is still run by one single person, we cannot do everything at the same time. We could close this entire comment section off, but would rather not. If you like to see improvement of this site, we welcome any help in the shape of contributed help or donations, so we can focus on the things we should really be focusing on, such as bringing the latest China trends to you, instead of moderating comments. Thanks for your support. Warm regards!
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