China Celebs
Social Media Blows up over Chinese Teen Celebrity Roy Wang Smoking in Beijing Restaurant
The star, who recently featured in a ‘social credit’ song, triggered controversy for smoking indoors and breaking the law.
Roy Wang (Wang Yuan 王源), who is considered one of the most influential teens in China, was caught smoking during a ‘520’ banquet in Beijing. May 20 (5.20) is China’s unofficial second Valentine’s Day.
The Sohu Entertainment channel published the exclusive photos of Wang smoking a cigarette. The hashtag ‘Wang Yuan Smoking’ (#王源抽烟#) received a staggering 1,4 billion views on Weibo on Tuesday, making it the number one trending topic of the day.
Wang…
China Brands, Marketing & Consumers
Starbucks Goes Xinjiang & The Kardashians in China
Starbucks rebrands as “Star-Bazaar” in Urumqi—what does it say about shifting perceptions of Western brands in China? Also: a cheating sports influencer and the souvenirs that became most hated.
Originally published in the Eye on Digital China newsletter on Sunday, October 4, 2026.
In this edition:
- Quick scrolls: A Chinese athlete cheated her way to the Berlin Marathon’s finish
- Zooming in: When Localization Gets Political: Starbucks Goes Xinjiang
- On the Feed: The Kardashians in China
- Phrase of the Week: The 3 souvenirs sold everywhere, but nobody wants them
🗞️ QUICK SCROLLS
🇯🇵 The National Day holiday has begun, but nobody’s going to Japan. Although Japan was the number one outbound destination for Chinese travelers during last year’s October holiday, it has now dropped out of the top ten destinations entirely. According to data from Chinese tour operator Tuniu (途牛), Indonesia, Turkey, and South Korea are among this year’s most-booked overseas destinations.
🚲 Chinese fitness influencer “Abeeeer” was caught cheating during the Berlin Marathon after she posted about running her “personal best.” The sport-blogger (530k+ followers on Xiaohongshu) was photographed riding on the back of a bicycle around the 38-kilometer mark. On Saturday, she publicly apologized and admitted that she had broken the rules and that she was “feeling unwell.”
The sports influencer was caught hitching a ride to the finish line.
🏳️🌈 Japanese volleyball player Rui Takahashi came out as gay on Tuesday, saying he wanted to help others struggling with their sexuality by coming out publicly. On Douyin, many Chinese fans and commenters praised Rui for his bravery.
🤖 Former Global Times editor-in-chief Hu Xijin (胡锡进) published a National Day essay praising the country’s achievements but forgot to delete the AI chatbot’s closing follow-up question (”Would you like me to read through the whole text again and check it for omissions?”). Hu quickly deleted the AI prompt, but “Hu Xijin’s National Day AI ghostwriting fail” had already gone trending.
⚽ Chinese football produced…
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A Reader
May 24, 2019 at 8:24 pm
I didn’t think they’d made such a big deal of it. I’ve even seen restaurant employees doing it, I didn’t know there was a ban.
A quick check of Wikipedia says restaurants and entertainment industries get exemptions, basically all the places you would want to smoke indoors. This also explains the lack of no smoking signs. The reactions feel like backpedalling.
Junyan Xu
June 24, 2019 at 10:11 pm
Can’t believe this is the only post mentioning Yang Chaoyue (and there are none mentioning Rocket Girls 101) in a blog starting covering Weibo well before 2018.