Last week one rude passenger became a big trending topic when the man refused to give up the seat he took from another passenger on the G334 express train to Beijing.
The man, who was dubbed “High-Speed Train Tyrant” (gāotiě bà zuò nán 高铁霸座男 ) by Chinese media, has since been blacklisted for the misdemeanor, and even apologized in a public video – but now he is back again with even more bizarre behavior that made netizens connect the “Train Tyrant” to the ex-con “Brother Long” in the Kunshan case.
For this story, and more, please see What’s on Weibo’s latest feature in The Beijinger.
Manya Koetse is the founder and editor-in-chief of whatsonweibo.com. She is a writer, public speaker, and researcher (Sinologist, MPhil) on social trends, digital developments, and new media in an ever-changing China, with a focus on Chinese society, pop culture, and gender issues. She shares her love for hotpot on hotpotambassador.com. Contact at manya@whatsonweibo.com, or follow on Twitter.
It was a top headline on Baidu News on Saturday, March 25: while delivering a speech to the Canadian parliament on Friday, U.S. President Biden said he “applauded China for stepping up,” quickly correcting himself and saying he meant to say ‘Canada’ instead of ‘China.’
Biden was giving the speech in Ottowa during a state visit to Canada, during which the U.S. President and Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau held bilateral talks discussing various security issues.
In the speech, Biden reaffirmed the strong relations between Canada and the United States.
At the moment of Biden’s gaffe, he said: “So today I applaud China for stepping up,” before correcting himself and making a quick joke: “Excuse me, I applaud Canada. You can tell what I’m thinking…about China. We won’t get into that yet.”
Ahead of the state visit, Trudeau spoke to CNN about U.S.-Canada relations and China, stating that there are areas in which they will “going to have to directly challenge China” on issues such as human rights and security. He said: “We’re going to have to continue to be wide-eyed and clear about the threat that China poses and wants to pose to the stability of our democracies.”
Regarding Biden’s gaffe, Chinese media were quick to jump on it and soon the incident spread on Weibo using various hashtags (“Biden Corrects Himself after Saying He Applauds China” #拜登称为中国鼓掌后改口#; “Biden Accidentally Says He Applauds China” #拜登口误为中国鼓掌#).
Chinese state media outlet Global Times (环球网) posted one of the most popular posts on the matter, which included a video of the moment, receiving over 82,000 likes.
But other big accounts, such as the Communist Youth League, also posted about the moment.
“Even if he dreams, he still thinks of China,” one top comment said, with others replying things such as: “He just can’t keep China out of his mouth.”
Some people also suggested it was a Freudian slip, and that Biden actually said what he was thinking: “Finally he said what he feels!” and “he loves China.”
China’s Communist Youth League also posted a meme about Biden allegedly also saying “US-China relations” instead of “US-Canada relations” during a bilateral meeting in 2021.
At one time in 2022, Biden apparently also mixed up “Ukraine” and “China” during a speech.
By now, Biden’s mix-ups and mistakes have become a regular occurrence, something that was already covered byThe New York Times as early as 2019.
One meme on Chinese social media featured Joe Biden and Donald Trump side by side wearing a 1960s PLA uniform, the flag of the Communist Party in the background.
Trump was previously also jokingly called “Comrade Trump” on Chinese social media, saying he was the man “making China great again,” suggesting that his policies and actions inadvertently contributed to China’s rise. For this reason, he was also nicknamed “Build the Country Trump” (川建国) and ‘Comrade Jianguo’ (建国同志 [Comrade Build-Country]).
For a similar reason, Biden is now also nicknamed “Boosting China Biden” (拜振华). Both ‘Build the Country Trump’ and ‘Boosting China Biden’ are written in such ways that they could pass as Chinese names, which is part of the joke.
Some netizens playfully warned Biden and Trump about being careful not to give themselves away: “Please, comrades, be careful about hiding your true identity!”
“Comrade Boost China Biden, thanks for your hard work,” another jokingly wrote.
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Hoping to attract more domestic tourists in the post-Covid-era, Chinese local government officials are trying really hard to promote their hometowns. Various tourism bureau chiefs from across China are going viral on Weibo, Douyin, and beyond for dressing up in traditional outfits and creating original videos with low to zero budget.
Another local Chinese tourism bureau chief went viral today – it’s an entire trend by itself. Tourist department offices under several local governments in China are trying really hard to promote their hometowns these days in hopes of attracting more domestic tourists in China’s post-Covid era.
Government officials are showing their best side – and their most creative one – on social media to convince tourists to visit their region. In doing so, these local bureau chiefs have been attracting online attention for appearing in promo videos in various creative ways (#为了让你去玩儿文旅局长们能有多拼#).
Since early 2020, China’s tourism industry has been heavily impacted by the pandemic and China’s strict Covid measures and lockdowns. At various moments during the pandemic, China’s domestic tourism saw an increase in holiday bookings as tourists still wanted to travel but could not easily travel abroad.
Now that China has lifted blockades on foreign travel, the post-zero-Covid itch to travel is back in full swing. As travel to other countries is seeing a boom again (while tourist visas to mainland China are still halted), local tourist offices are doing all they can with a minimal budget to encourage domestic travel to their lovely hometowns.
The trend of China’s tourist bureau chiefs finding innovative ways to promote their regions or towns via social media has been going on for some time already, but it wasn’t until recently that they really gained nationwide attention for their efforts.
The recent viral trend is not only generating more attention for the specific towns and regions promoted in the videos, it is also bringing more recognition for the drive of China’s Culture & Tourism Bureau chiefs – officials who usually rarely get the limelight. Many Chinese netizens agree that it must take a lot of talent and creativity to become a local tourism bureau chief nowadays.
1. TOURISM BUREAU DIRECTOR OF ZHAOSU COUNTY (XINJIANG)
Riding a horse through a windy snowy country, He Jiaolong (贺娇龙) was the first local official to feature in a social media video to promote the Yili region. The video of the vice-county head of Zhaosu, all dressed up, went viral in the winter of 2020.
Chief He later told reporters that she did not expect the video to go as viral as it did. According to Shine, He Jiaolong said: “I invited two horse lovers to help us promote local tourism on social media. We borrowed the costume from a local art troupe. They posted my horse-riding videos on Douyin and received enthusiastic responses.”
A ‘behind the scenes’ video later published on Douyin showed He falling over and battling the cold during the filming, only making the local official more popular for her dedication.
2. TOURISM BUREAU DIRECTOR OF SUIZHOU (HUBEI)
In October of 2022, Xie Wei (解伟), director of the Suizhou Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism in Hubei province, made headlines for his performance in videos produced and directed by himself.
As reported by South China Post, Xie made the videos himself because the local tourism bureau did not have the budget for a professional production. Although the videos made by Xie went viral, they also received some criticism because of how Xie was role-playing and dressing up as an ancient knight.
Nevertheless, Xie Wei did breathe new life into this creative approach to destination marketing, inspiring other Culture and Tourism Bureaus across China to take a similar social media strategy and join on the battleground to win over the hearts of domestic travelers.
3. TOURISM BUREAU DIRECTOR OF TIBETAN AUTONOMOUS PREFECTURE
In February of 2023, it was the bureau chief of the Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture Tourism Office, Liu Hong (@甘孜刘洪), who went viral with various videos featuring him in traditional clothing, which earned him the nickname of “most handsome bureau chief” (“最帅局长”).
It was not the first time for Liu to star in his own tourism promotion video, as there was another video in 2022 in which he also did some cosplay to promote the Garze region (Sichuan).
Liu Hong is now known as one of China’s “celebrity tourism bureau chiefs” (网红文旅局长). The videos actually helped to promote the region but also turned Liu into a celebrity.
4. TOURISM BUREAU DIRECTOR OF DAWU COUNTY (SICHUAN)
On February 10 of 2023, it was the Cultural Tourism Bureau chief Jiangze Duoji (@降泽多吉) of Dawu County who professionalized the social media video trend and featured in a super slick 3-minute video with beautfiul shots and a creative idea.
In the intro of the video, Jiangze Duoji speaks English when he talks about his life question of “Who am I?” The video then shows the local official dancing in an astronaut’s costume in Moshi Park, one of the area’s most beautiful scenic spots that will make you feel like you’re in outer space.
The local official is then dressed as a Tang emperor at the Daowu dwellings, moves on to be a an old painter in the Yuke grasslands and King Gasar while galloping over the Longdeng prairie.
The video did not just go viral, it was also promoted by several state media outlets, making it among the most famous videos in this list. It’s also on Youtube here.
5. TOURISM BUREAU DIRECTOR OF TAHE COUNTY (HEILONGJIANG)
On February 27, the Heilongjiang Tahe Culture and Tourism Bureau (Daxing’anling prefecture) released a video in which a team of 34 people simulated a rocket launch in the snow.
Du Bo (都波), director of the Tahe County Bureau of Culture and Tourism, told reporters that the decision to shoot the video like this was made during lunch, with the position plan drawn out on a napkin.
With this original video, the local tourist office literally took the social media battle to another level (#塔河县文旅局长卷出新高度#). But Du Bo also stated that other tourist offices in China should not hold back and be scared to join the social media battle, saying they were all in this together to recover China’s domestic tourism industry (“不要怕卷,这种卷是一件好事,大家凝聚在一起,共同期待文旅行业的复苏”).
The tourist office also released a second video that gained popularity online, featuring a ‘snow queen’ in beautiful snowy landscape.
6. TOURISM BUREAU DIRECTOR OF MEISHAN (SICHUAN)
This video, which premiered late February of 2023, is also professionally made, with the Meishan Tourism Office taking the video trend very seriously.
The bureau chief demonstrates the beauty of kung fu in this short film, which also received many thumbs up on social media (#文旅局长用功夫带你游眉山#).
7. TOURISM BUREAU DIRECTOR OF GAOPING (SHANXI)
On March 7, a video from the tourist office in Gaoping, a county-level city in Shanxi’s Jincheng, also went viral on Chinese social media as “yet another tourist office chief joining the war” (#又一文旅局长申请出战#).
The video shows the local tourist bureau chief “going to war” in traditional costume to promote Gaoping as the hometown of Emperor Yan (#文旅局长戏服代言炎帝故里#).
8: TOURISM BUREAU DIRECTOR OF HUANGGANG (HUBEI)
The video posted on social media ‘on behalf of’ the Tourism Bureau of Huanggang, Hubei, also attracted a lot of attention online since many people believed the cosplaying bureau chief had suddenly turned into a handsome young idol.
It later turned out that this video was actually not an official one and was posted on social media without the permission of the tourist office by enthusiastic locals.
9. TOURISM BUREAU DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF SUQIAN (JIANGSU)
The hashtag is “Jiangsu’s Culture and Tourist Office Bureau Chief Joins the Battle” (#江苏文旅局长卷起来了#). Liu Bing (刘冰), the deputy director of the Tourism and Culture Bureau in Suqian, Jiangsu, is another local official who is going viral these days for his appearance in a self-produced promo video on social media (#江苏一文旅局长变装项羽代言家乡#).
In the video, Liu Bing is dressed as Xiang Yu (项羽), Hegemon-King of Western Chu, to endorse Suqian tourism. Suqian is the hometown of Xiang Yu (232–202 BC), who is considered one of the greatest military leaders in ancient China.
Although Suqian is one of the later Tourism Bureau hypes to join the hype, the video – published on March 9 – is still welcomed by netizens and is actually putting some pressure on other Chinese cities and regions to come up with their own videos featuring their own historical local heroes.
10. TOURISM BUREAU STAFF OF FUJIAN
Fujian might be a bit late in “going to war” and joining the social media battle between the Chinese Tourism and Culture Bureau chiefs, its new video (March 9) obviously took a lot of effort, as it features different members of staff in various tourist spots in Fujian province.
The hashtag “Fujian Culture and Tourism Bureau Joins the Battle” (#福建的文旅局长卷起来了#) circulated on Thursday, attracting nearly five million views on Weibo in one day.
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