Getting on the Pokémon Bus: Taiwan’s Booming Pokémon Go Business
The highly anticipated release of Pokemon Go in Taiwan on August 6th has led to a true Pokemon Go craze. It has brought about a thriving Pokemon Go business – introducing anything from Pokemon Go university courses to Pokemon Go bus tours.
The highly anticipated release of Pokémon Go in Taiwan on August 6th has led to a national Pokémon Go craze. It has brought about a thriving Pokémon business – introducing anything from Pokémon Go university courses to Pokémon Go bus tours.
After a month of waiting impatiently, Taiwan has finally welcomed the global Pokémon Go hype on August 6th. The Taiwan arrival of the game, where players locate and ‘capture’ virtual creatures called Pokémon with their mobile device, soon become a much-talked about topic on social media, anywhere from Weibo to Twitter.
John Hanke, the man behind the game, welcomed Taiwan to the Pokémon Go family with a friendly Tweet in traditional Chinese, saying: “Taiwan – Welcome to Pokémon Go.”
“National Taiwan University offers a special Pokémon course: ‘A Study on Pokémon.'”
The innocent Tweet soon triggered some animosity from mainland netizens who angrily asked why Pokémon Go was available in Taiwan but not in mainland China, where the game yet remains inaccessible.
Despite this little controversy, the Pokémon craze in Taiwan is just as crazy as it is in the rest of the world. So crazy, in fact, that Taiwan’s top university National Taiwan University has even decided to offer a special Pokémon course.
The course is called “A Study on Pokémon“. Perhaps contrary to expectations, it will not teach about all the Pokémon in the game or how to catch them. Instead, it offers a study into the Pokémon phenomenon from a scientific and legal angle.
“Pokémon Go resulted in more than 800 traffic fines just three days after the game became available in Taiwan.”
Like in the rest of the world, Pokémon Go is also causing some trouble here in Taiwan. News has been coming in of people playing the game while driving their car, or riding their scooter with one hand while trying to catch Pokémon with the other.
The arrival of Pokémon Go resulted in more than 800 traffic fines just three days after the game became available in Taiwan.
At the Taipei Zoo, special signs inform visitors about the right way to play Pokémon Go whilst visiting the park, humorously reminding them to mind their step and the animals when playing.
A resourceful Taiwanese netizen came up with a new business idea after hearing about all the accidents caused by the game. Vera Lin posted her chauffeur services on her Facebook page. For NT$ 650 (±US$20), she said, players in the Taoyuan area could hire her to drive them around town on her scooter while they could catch Pokémon.
Her business allegedly also included other special services. “While in transit,” Lin wrote, “if you see someone you like, I can stop the scooter and get their phone number or ask for a photo on your behalf.” Sadly, to the dismay of many male netizens, it turned out Ms. Lin didn’t even know how to ride a bicycle.
“Pokémon bus tours: an experienced Pokémon trainer will be on the bus to share his tips and tricks on playing the game.”
Though Vera Lin’s services are fake, there are real services in Taiwan that offer to chauffeur players around town to catch ‘em all. For NT$ 3000 (±US$96) players can hire a taxi for 8 hours to drive them around town.
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Taiwanese travel e-commerce platform KKday introduced Pokémon-themed bus tours around Taipei as a way to promote their business. The Pokémon Go tours, that were offered from August 11-13, were free and were led by an experienced Pokémon Go player. Pokémon bus tours have also become news on Sina Weibo.
During the KKday Pokémon tours, professional Pokémon Go player Hsu Chieh showed participants how & where to catch Pokémon. The tour also visited local attractions while playing the game. The promotional tours turned out to be very successful, as 1000 fans registered to participate.
Local tour agency Lion Travel now also offers a Pokémon bus tour with a price tag of NT$99 (US$3). This 4-hour Lion Travel bus tour takes players to popular attractions such as the 228 Peace Memorial Park and Tamsui Old Street. An experienced Pokémon trainer will be on the bus to share his tips and tricks on playing the game. The tour makes use of Lure Modules at every stop to attract more Pokémon.
“Cruises take players around the lake, allowing them to capture those water-loving Pokémon that cannot be found on land.”
Pokémon Go’s arrival in Taiwan has already proven to be good for land-based businesses, but it has also been profitable for on-water businesses. Inspired by the idea of catching water-based Pokémon, boat operators at Taiwan’s tourist attraction Sun Moon Lake are now offering Pokémon-themed cruises. These cruises take players around the lake, allowing them to capture those water-loving Pokémon that cannot be found on land. There has also been news of families and groups of friends chartering boats just to catch Pokémon.
The Pokémon craze has resulted in many Pokémon-related promotional offers in Taiwan. As one Weibo netizen recently wrote: “It has only been 5 days since Pokémon Go was released in Taiwan, and already shops on every street are offering discounts for Pokémon Go players!”
One remarkable offer is one that is currently being offered by a Taiwanese funeral home. In Taichung, a funeral home put out a billboard ad with a message that reads: “13% off on services for deaths caused by Pokémon Go related accidents.” Fortunately, nobody has claimed the offer yet.
Chi Wen is a freelance translator and writer who lives in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Besides translating and writing, he also teaches English as a Second Language to high school students. Chi is a self-proclaimed geek with a love for video games.
These days, a viral meme originating from the Chinese TV series Three Kingdoms (三国) has gained significant traction on Chinese social media.
In a memorable scene from the 2010 series, Cao Cao, a prominent warlord in Chinese history played by actor Chen Jianbin (陈建斌), angrily flips his rice bowl upon receiving news of a surprise attack, only to gather the spilled rice back into the bowl later.
This scene featuring an enraged Cao Cao has resurfaced and struck a chord with individuals reluctantly facing reality.
This short scene from the 2010 Chinese historical drama "Three Kingdoms" – in which Cao Cao angrily flips over his rice bowl on the table and then shortly after puts it all back in the bowl – has gained significant traction on Chinese social media recently. pic.twitter.com/DrM3Xgi35F
Turning into a popular meme, Cao Cao flipping the rice bowl has become widely employed to convey sentiments of self-inflicted humiliation or the hesitation to undertake certain actions.
The Context of the Scene
The specific scene comes from episode 12 of the Three Kingdoms. Warlord Cao Cao, who is governor of Yan Province, is enjoying his meal when his advisor comes in to inform him about a surprise attack by Chinese military general Lü Bu (吕布), capturing almost the entire province.
The meme of “曹操盖饭.” The term “盖” is often translated as “covering” or “capping.” When combined with 饭 (rice), it forms a noun that refers to a dish where various toppings, such as cooked meat or sauces, cover the rice, similar to a Donburi-style meal.
Upon receiving this alarming report, Cao Cao’s anger flared, and he promptly flipped his rice bowl upside down on the table, an act now commonly referred to as “Cao Cao flips the rice bowl” (曹操盖饭).
Cao Cao’s anger was intertwined with disbelief at Lü Bu’s audacity to execute such a daring attack. Cao Cao’s advisor swiftly clarified that the mastermind behind the attack was Lü Bu’s strategist, Chen Gong (陈宫), who was also renowned as a brilliant strategist during the Three Kingdoms era.
As he grasped the true situation, Cao Cao gradually regained his composure and meticulously gathered the spilled rice back into his bowl – an act now known as “Cao Cao retrieving his bowl of rice” (曹操撤回了一碗饭),- before resuming his meal.
The catchphrase that is used to describe Cao Cao retrieving his rice utilizes the word “chèhuí” (撤回), which means “to recall” or “to retract.” It can be understood as “Cao Cao recalled his bowl of rice,” drawing a parallel to the recall function in WeChat that allows users to retract or cancel a message after it has been sent.
How To Use the Meme
The contrast between the forceful act of flipping the rice bowl and the subsequent unwillingness and silence displayed while putting the scattered rice back into the bowl is a key factor contributing to the meme’s viral nature on the internet.
Netizens have creatively applied Cao Cao’s meme in various situations to express their own internal struggles or a sense of self-inflicted humiliation they experience (自己打自己脸).
For instance, the meme effectively captures the feelings of both white-collar workers and students who utilize the “Cao Cao flips the rice bowl” meme on Fridays. On this day, they express their frustration with the demanding work week and their eagerness to leave their tasks behind.
However, the arrival of Monday brings a sense of reality as they realize the necessity of returning to the office or school. The “Cao Cao retrieves his bowl of rice” meme is then employed to represent the unavoidable resumption of their daily routines.
In this regard, the meme is somewhat comparable to the English “F*ck This Job, *Goes to Work*” meme (link).
“Not Possible, Absolutely Not Possible”
It is not the first time for Three Kingdom‘s Cao Cao to achieve viral status through memes.
Prior to the emergence of the ‘Cao Cao flips/retrieves the rice’ meme, Cao Cao was already well-known for another meme phrase: “Not possible, absolutely not possible” (“不可能,绝对不可能”).
This meme originated from a scene where Cao Cao received news of Liu Bei’s rebellion, immediately after confidently asserting that Liu Bei, another major warlord, would never betray him.
“Not possible, absolutely not possible”
The meme captures the essence of self-deception and the unwillingness to accept the truth. Similar to the current popular meme, this meme is often used to depict situations where someone unintentionally exposes their own flaws or contradicts their previous statements, symbolizing a self-inflicted “slap in the face.”
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Fandom Meets Matrimony: Sea of Brides at Roy Wang’s Concert as Female Fans Show Up in Wedding Gowns
After showing up as brides at Roy Wang’s concert, some female fans attempted to return their gowns within the store’s 7-day ‘No Questions Asked Return Policy’.
A recent concert by Chinese celebrity Roy Wang (Wang Yuan 王源) has become a hot topic on Chinese social media as female fans attending the show collectively decided to wear wedding dresses to express their love for the singer.
Born in 2000, Roy Wang is best known as a member of the hugely popular TFboys idol group that debuted in 2013, but his solo career has also been thriving for years. Wang is an award-winning musician, who is now among China’s most influential young celebrities. On Weibo, he has nearly 85 million followers.
The sight of so many fans coming to Wang’s Chongqing concert wearing wedding dresses was already remarkable, but it garnered even greater attention when it turned out that some of the women’s boyfriends were so upset over their girlfriends wearing a wedding dress for another man that they ended the relationship because of it.
On Douyin (China’s TikTok), the related discussion made it to the top 5 trending daily topics list.
Female fans partying in their wedding dress. Photo posted on Weibo.
The story gained further traction when reports emerged that some female fans who had recently purchased wedding dresses for the concert attempted to return them to the store the next day, taking advantage of the store’s policy that allows returns within seven days without requiring a specific reason (7天无理由退货).
“I already wondered why business was suddenly booming,” one Chongqing wedding gown seller wrote on social media, complaining how the return policy was being abused by some of Roy Wang’s fans.
Others saw the fact that they wore the wedding dress to the concert as a unique selling point, and tried to resell their gowns online for more than the original price, claiming that the dress still had “a hint of the concert’s aroma.”
Scene of the concert.
Commenters bombarded these women with negative comments, as the topic also drew wider discussions on how far some fans are willing to go to show their love for their idols.
Some social media users expressed that a wedding dress has a symbolical or even sacred function, and that tying the concept of fandom to matrimony is inappropriate. They condemned the women for showing up to the concert as brides.
Given that many of the commenters criticizing the women were male, there were also feminist voices that condemned these men for their pettiness and chauvinistic attitudes. One comment stood out: “There will always be men whose ego is bruised when women they don’t even know won’t wear a wedding dress and save their chastity for them. Thanks to Roy Wang’s concert, I once again realize the diversity of species.”
In an online poll asking people “Can women only wear a wedding dress once in their lives” (#女生一生只能穿一次婚纱吗#) the majority of people replied that they should just wear whatever they like.
“My first thought is that this is romantic,” one popular entertainment blogging account (@娱大蜀黍) wrote: “My second thought is that it’s actually quite moving. In the midst of their youth, they are writing a passionate chapter for themselves. They will treasure it as a beautiful memory later on in life. They do what they love and they’re not bothering anyone. It’s perfectly fine.”
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