Newsletter
Weibo Watch: Forgotten Allies
Chinese online reactions to the war in the Middle East are intertwined with echoes of China’s own national suffering and its modern history.
Published
2 years agoon
PREMIUM NEWSLETTER | ISSUE #16
This week’s newsletter:
◼︎ 1. Editor’s Note – Forgotten allies
◼︎ 2. What’s Trending – A closer look at the featured stories
◼︎ 3. What More to Know – Highlighting 8 hot topics
◼︎ 4. What’s Noteworthy – Taiwanese Chatbot or Made in Mainland?
◼︎ 5. What’s Popular – Baidu’s AI-Native Map
◼︎ 6. What’s Memorable – The Jewish refugees of Shanghai
◼︎ 7. Weibo Word of the Week – “Reverse Consumption”
Dear Reader,
‘The past is never dead. It’s not even past.’ This Faulkner quote is timeless, and it’s particularly relevant in these times marked by global conflicts and wars, where complicated histories are interwoven with complex present realities. While the whole world is watching as the Israel-Hamas war rages, the positions taken by different nations, social groups, and international organizations are deeply entwined with religion, geo-politics, and, perhaps most significantly, with the weight of history.
Over the past two weeks, a noticeable pro-Palestine sentiment has emerged on Chinese social media, which is closely tied to the alignment of Chinese scholars and the government’s position. In a 2013 article, Yiyi Chen, Director of the Institute for Hebrew and Jewish Studies at Peking University, predicted that China’s pro-Palestine stance would increasingly work against Israel in the long term – in contrast to the strong pro-Israel stance of the United States.*
Chen’s 2013 article is especially relevant because many of the observations he made a decade ago are now manifesting themselves in clear ways. For instance, he highlighted the significant increase in China’s pro-Palestine articles, a trend that is evident today. His prediction that China would take on a more proactive role in seeking a resolution to the Israel-Palestine conflict has also proven accurate.
A central point raised in Yiyi Chen’s article is that China’s leaning toward supporting the Arab side can also be attributed to some factors that are deeply rooted in China’s national history. First, he argues that the national mentality of being a “victim of imperialism” plays an important role in shaping the country’s foreign policy, and is reflected in China’s present-day sympathy for Palestinians, as they too are seen as sufferers from imperialism. In this view, the State of Israel was established with the backing of imperial powers of the time.
Second, Chen suggests that China’s pro-Palestine stance is also driven by a sense of reciprocity. The Chinese, he argues, show favoritism toward Palestinians because Arab countries supported China on the international stage during the 1960s and 1970s, a period when China was otherwise isolated due to strained relations with the West.
Alongside the recent surge in pro-Palestine sentiments on Chinese social media, there has also been a clear rise in anti-Semitic expressions, including hate-filled comments and images targeting Jews, often referencing to Nazi Germany or the Holocaust. This online anti-Jewish sentiment is surprising given the historical ties that China shares with the Jewish community, a connection that has experienced a “memory revival” both in China and Israel over the past two decades, coinciding with the blossoming of China-Israel bilateral relations.
In 1938, when Europe became increasingly perilous for Jews, around 20,000 Jewish refugees sought sanctuary in Shanghai, and the great majority survived the war. The history of Jews in Shanghai during World War II is preceded by a long history of the Jewish diaspora in China. China is the only country in East Asia where Jews have consecutively lived for the last 1000 years. Although the first Jewish population in Shanghai arrived much later in history, it rapidly grew into one of China’s most vibrant Jewish communities.
While portions of the old Jewish neighborhood in Shanghai have now disappeared, new initiatives are keeping its memories alive. The former synagogue in the neighborhood now houses the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum, established in 2007 to commemorate the Jewish refugees who sought shelter in Shanghai. The museum frequently hosts new exhibits and events to engage the public. The historical revival of Shanghai’s Jewish history also takes place outside museums, as stories of war are narrated in popular culture and in online media.

Statue commemorating Jewish community in Shanghai outside of the Jewish Refugee Museum (photo by Whatsonweibo).
Beyond China’s historical role in providing a safe haven for Jewish refugees during the war, the Jewish-Chinese friendship also has a deeper dimension. Similar to how Chinese link their own scars of national humiliation to the present realities of Palestians, many Chinese also align the historical sufferings of China with the hardships endured by the Jewish community.
In light of the recent Israel-Hamas conflict, some Chinese commenters posting anti-Semitic comments and sharing hateful WWII-related images appear to have forgotten their Jewish friends and warm relations with Israel. The suffering they now mock is something that China has related to before. Simultaneously, these commenters are shifting their focus to the struggles of their other ‘forgotten’ allies on the opposing side of the conflict.
Chinese online reactions to the ongoing war in the Middle East, and the shifting alliances they remember or forget, are deeply intertwined with echoes of China’s own national suffering and its modern history, and reflects the intricate interplay of factors such as collective memory, foreign policy, and reciprocity. As these dynamics play out all over the world in different ways and national contexts, in a moment marked by confusion, anger, and intense emotions, it becomes increasingly important to recognize that while historical parallels and associations matter, these perspectives, preconceptions, and reflections also obstruct nuanced understandings that can actually contribute to less black-and-white thinking and more constructive discussions.
For more about this, also check out our feature article on Chinese reactions to the Israel-Hamas War. Miranda Barnes contributed to this week’s newsletter. As always: please don’t hesitate to reach out to me about the latest China trends you spotted and would like to know more about. Contact me via email or DM, or follow me on X for the latest news and trends (or on Instagram here and here).
Best,
Manya
* Chen, Yiyi. 2013. “The Basis of China’s Pro-Palestine Stance and the Current Status of Its Implementation.” Digest of Middle East Studies 22 (2): 215-228.
What’s Trending

1. Pro-Palestine Sentiments | The Israel-Hamas war has been dominating discussions on Weibo. Amid the different Chinese responses to what’s happening in Israel and Gaza, recurring trends and narratives highlight how social media reactions and their pro-Palestine stance are connected to China’s own historical context and perceived global role, as well as Chinese anti-Jewish prejudices. We explore these dynamics in this latest (premium) article.

2: Singapore Slang | Interesting debate on terminology: is it time to rethink how Singapore is nicknamed in Chinese? In a recent column for Lianhe Zaobao, prominent author Wang Huidi argued that it’s time to stop referring to Singapore as “坡县” (Pōxiàn), which means “Slope County”. The Chinese slang term implies that Singapore is a small part of China. Wang highlights the power of words, suggesting that such terminology can negatively impact both Singapore and those who use it.

3: A Leak at Tsingtao | A video that has circulated on Chinese social media since October 19 shows how an alleged worker at a Tsingtao Beer factory climbs over a wall at the raw material production site and starts to urinate. On Weibo, many people think it’s an undercover operation orchestrated by a rivaling company: one person peed, another leaked the video?

4: Featured by VOA | What’s on Weibo was featured on Voice of America News earlier this week. This article, by Liam Scott, focuses on the mission of What’s on Weibo, which celebrates a decade since its launch this year. This article highlights how it all started, the focus of our work, and the transformation of Chinese social media.
What More to Know

Controversy over the Dalian marathon.
◼︎ 🌐 1. Belt and Road Forum. The third Belt and Road Forum was held in Beijing this week, with the One Belt, One Road Initiative celebrating its 10th anniversary. On October 17th, various foreign heads of state and government leaders who were attending the forum arrived at the Great Hall of the People. The next day, Xi Jinping delivered his opening speech on “Building an Open, Inclusive and Interconnected World For Common Development” (link). While the two-day global gathering was enthusiastically promoted on Chinese social media, it was overshadowed by the ongoing major crisis in the Middle East. The event was attended by 23 heads of state and government. (Hashtag:”10 Years of Belt and Road” #一带一路十周年# , 51+ million views; Belt and Road International Cooperation Forum #一带一路国际合作高峰论坛#, 83 million views).
◼︎ 🇷🇺 2. Putin in China . On the morning of October 17th, Russian President Putin landed at Beijing Capital International Airport, marking his arrival for the Belt and Road Forum. His visit was highly anticipated, and various details surrounding his trip received close scrutiny on Chinese social media. One such detail was the alleged ‘nuclear suitcase’ that accompanied him during his trip, carried by officers, and which was caught on camera. Another moment that drew widespread attention was the news conference Putin gave at Diaoyutai. With the backdrop of red lanterns, that news conference had a strong Chinese ambiance. The uncommon and unique moment of seeing the Russian leader at this historic state guesthouse made many netizens feel proud of China and its role on the world stage. (Hashtag Putin Arrives in China #普京总统抵达北京#, 280 million views on Weibo).
◼︎ 🦸 3. Real Name Influencers. Chinese social media has been buzzing with discussions regarding a rumored upcoming implementation of a real-name system for Weibo influencers. If such a system were implemented, it would mean that the ‘Big Vs’, social media influencers with a substantial following and a verified account, would have to display their real name on their Weibo account page. This system appears to be on the verge of becoming a reality, as Weibo’s CEO, Wang Gaofei, personally tested it on his own page, stating that the rule would only apply to those influential self-media accounts with more than a million fans. Weibo already had a back-end real name registration policy, but this would be the first time that people would be obliged to also show their actual names on the front end. (Various discussions without hashtags, one Weibo hashtag is “It’s Time for Big Vs to Take Their Masks Off“ #大V早该卸马甲了#, 36.4 million views).
◼︎ 🐕 4. Dog Bite Incident. One topic that has emerged as a major social concern in China recently is the issue of dog safety and the increasing incidence of dogs biting humans. Although the topic is a recurring one on Chinese social media over the years, it has now again garnered considerable attention due to an incident in Chengdu’s Chongzhou, Sichuan Province, where a two-year-old girl was severely bitten by a dog on October 16. While the girl is being treated for her serious injuries at a local injuries, her family has crowdfunded 2 million yuan for her medical costs ($273.5k). As a result of this incident, other places in China, such as Hefei, have also increased their law enforcement efforts and punish dog owners who walk their dogs without a leash, either by capturing the dogs or imposing fines. (Various weibo hashtags, including “Police Notification Regarding Young Girl Bitten by Dog” #警方通报女童被狗咬伤#, 200 million views; #Family of the Girl Bitten by a Dog in Sichuan Has Raised 2 Million Yuan# #四川被狗咬伤女童家属已筹得200万元#, 170 million views).
◼︎ 🐣 5. Social Media Influencer Faking her Cheap Breakfast. A Chinese social media influencer named Zhang Tianqi (4+ million fans) triggered some online controversy this week for a video she did on doing a challenge by using only 100 yuan ($13.6) to have all kinds of breakfast at a traditional Dongbei Morning Market in Heilongjiang. However, people soon pointed out that the vlogger was misleading by making it seem that all the products she consumed were much cheaper than they actually are, and she was accused of hyping the market’s “low prices” for clout – which could be damaging to local stall owners and negatively impact local tourism. Zhang later admitted that she only got such low prices because she got a discount and got some items for free, and she soon deleted the video. But many commenters were not as forgiving, and suggested she should be banned for misleading the public. (Weibo hashtag “Apologies for 100 Yuan Breakfasts All over Dongbei Morning Market” #100元吃遍东北早市当事人道歉#, 96 million views).
◼︎ 🐺 6. “Celebrity Wolf”. A wolf in Kekexili, a natural reserve in Qinghai Province, bordering Tibet, has become known as a ‘celebrity wolf’ recently. The wolf was first known as an injured, lonely and skinny wolf who was separated from his pack. He rose to fame after he was fed by tourists who came across the wolf, lying by the side of the road, and felt bad for him. The wolf then seemingly discovered a new way of living and started begging other tourists for food, even wagging its tail when it sees cars arriving. The wolf is now looking well-fed and shiny as new, and his transformation has become a social media sensation. (Hashtag Kekexili Celebrity Wolf Fed by Tourists #可可西里网红狼被游客投喂# 5,3 million views; Kekexili Wild Wolf Famous after Being Fed #可可西里一头野狼被投喂成网红#, 4,8 million views).
◼︎ 🕊 7. Coco Lee’s Final Resting Place. On October 21, Chinese-American superstar Coco Lee, who passed away in July of this year, was buried in Wuhan, her ancestral hometown. A commemorative exhibition celebrating the life of the singer was held on the same day, drawing groups of devoted fans who came to bid their final farewell. Coco Lee started her career in Hong Kong in the 1990s but also achieved international recognition in the United States and beyond after recording her debut English-language album. Lee, who suffered from health issues and depression, took her own life at the age of 48. One trending topic that captured significant attention on Saturday revolved around the speech delivered by Lee’s mother, in which she openly denounced her former son-in-law for cheating on her daughter for “many years.” (Hashtags “Coco Lee Buried in Wuhan Today” #李玟今日将安葬于武汉#, 22 million views;
“Coco Lee’s mother strongly condemns Li Wen’s husband’s affair” #李玟母亲痛斥李玟丈夫出轨#, 260 million views).
◼︎ 🏃🏽♂️ 8. A Controversial Marathon Finish. The 33rd Dalian Marathon, held on October 15, gained widespread attention on Weibo due to a controversial incident involving Chinese marathon runner Yin Shunjin. During the race, Yin Shunjin appeared to be intentionally obstructed by a support vehicle, forcing him to navigate around it and costing him valuable time in the crucial final two minutes of the marathon. He ultimately finished in 7th place, with just seconds separating him from those who finished ahead of him. Many netizens expressed suspicions that this incident was a deliberate act, suggesting the possibility of marathon fraud. However, the event’s organizers and those responsible for the support vehicles have since maintained that it was an unfortunate mistake and not a deliberate act. This incident was not isolated, as several other marathons have also faced suspicious incidents and bizarre behavior. In response to these concerns, the Chinese Athletics Association has issued an emergency notice to standardize and regulate China’s national marathon and running events more effectively in order to prevent such incidents in the future. (Weibo hashtag “Dalian Marathon Responds to Yin Shunjin Being Obstructed by Car” #大连马拉松回应尹顺金被车挡#, 25 million views).
What’s Noteworthy

Taiwanese “Self-Developed” AI Claims It’s from Mainland China. | Earlier this month, Taiwan’s Academia Sinica (中央硏究院), the national academy, launched an AI chat model, the CKIP-Llama-2-7b chat AI, that had been promoted by several Taiwanese media outlets as a “new generation product independently developed by Taiwan.”
However, when users started asking the chatbot some particular questions, it gave unexpected answers. Upon asking which nationality it had, the bot stated it was from China and that Taiwan is part of China. Asked to name the national anthem, it replied “The March of the Volunteers” – China’s communist anthem.
In response to these issues, Academia Sinica in Taiwan stated that the model experienced “hallucinations” and took down the test version of the model. According to a report by RFA, party lawmaker Fan Yun commented on that the AI issue was “an information security issue and an issue of cognitive warfare.” Meanwhile on Chinese social media, the story caused some banter, and people humorously praised the AI model for staying true to its alleged Chinese roots.
What’s Popular

Bad at reading maps? Baidu’s got you covered | Baidu has been getting a lot of traction this week as it launched its “Prompt the World” flagship event at Beijing’s Shougang Park on October 17, where it unveiled multiple AI-native applications.
It was its first offline event since Covid-19, and a much-anticipated one since the tech giant announced its ambitious plan to reconstruct all of its products with AI-native thinking. Apart from announcing its new Ernie Bot 4 (文心大模型4.0), which allegedly is no longer inferior in performance compared to Open AI’s ChatGPT, and its renewed Baidu Wangpan (Baidu Cloud Drive) and other products, the announcement of its AI-native map powered by Ernie was especially well-received as “the world’s first artificial intelligence map” (#全球首个AI原生地图即将面世#, Weibo hashtag received 23+ million views).
The AI map comes with a personalized digital human image and is equipped with natural language interaction capability, offering flexible answers that claim to mimic “real human communication,” promising to enhance travel and decision-making efficiency. As the map learns as you go, it will also get to know you and predict where you’re going and which road to take. Even those who are bad at using other (digital) maps and navigation apps should be able to use it effectively. The application will be available on the market before the end of the year.
What’s Memorable

Shanghai’s Jewish history | In light of this week’s surge of anti-Semitic sentiments on Weibo, we’ve selected this pick from our archives which highlights a very different perspective on Chinese-Jewish relations and the shared Chinese-Jewish history. As modern buildings mushroom and old neighborhoods disappear, the traces of Jewish history are fading in today’s Shanghai. But the past decade a seen a series of initiatives, such as a Jews in Shanghai musical and the launch of a Shanghai Jewish diaspora website, to keep the memories of China’s Jewish heritage more alive than ever. This is a very short history of Jews in Shanghai and how their history is remembered in 21st century China.
Weibo Word of the Week

“Reverse Consumption” | Our Weibo Word of the Week is “反向消费” (fǎnxiàng xiāofèi), meaning ‘reverse consumption.’
As China’s biggest online shopping festival is coming up on 11.11 (Single’s Day), with pre-sales starting soon, the concept of Chinese young people engaging in ‘reverse spending’ or ‘reverse consumption’ – also known as ‘rational consumption,’ – became a hot topic on Weibo this week, with one related hashtag attracting over 380 million views (#年轻人开始反向消费了#).
‘Reverse consumption’ is a recent trend that is especially popular among Chinese young people, and that is all about pursuing sustainable and cost-effective products instead of focusing on consuming for the sake of buying brands or spending money. The trend does not necessarily suggest a focus on cheap products, but rather a refusal to celebrate consumerism and overpay for products that lack value for the price.
Some Weibo users view this trend as a reaction to the constant shopping festivals and the pressure on young people to keep buying more in the thriving Chinese e-commerce market, leading to increased luxury consumption. As consumer attitudes gradually begin to change, young people no longer simply believe that “expensive means good,” and are now being more rational in their shopping behavior that is more about ‘value for money.’
Chinese companies are responding to this trend. For instance, JD.com has themed this year’s online shopping festival around “Truly Affordable,” assuring customers of the best prices and a promise not to overcharge. Tmall is also adjusting to changing consumer sentiments and buying behavior by offering ways to save money on purchases and introducing a one-click price guarantee. This means that even if sellers fluctuate their prices during the festival, buyers will receive a refund for the price difference if they notice a drop in the price of an item they’ve already purchased.
This is an on-site version of the Weibo Watch newsletter by What’s on Weibo. Missed last week’s newsletter? Find it here. If you are already subscribed to What’s on Weibo but are not yet receiving this newsletter in your inbox, please contact us directly to let us know.
Stories that are authored by the What's on Weibo Team are the stories that multiple authors contributed to. Please check the names at the end of the articles to see who the authors are.
Dear Reader
Eye on Digital China: How Chinese Social Media Evolved from the Blog Era to the AI-driven Age
A look back at the three major phases of China’s social media — and why What’s on Weibo is evolving into Eye on Digital China.
Published
3 months agoon
November 12, 2025
This edition of the Eye on Digital China newsletter by Manya Koetse was sent to premium subscribers. Subscribe now to receive future issues in your inbox.
“Do you still remember going to the internet cafe, paying 2 yuan ($0.30) per hour during the day or 7 yuan ($1) for an all-nighter? Staying up playing games and surfing around?”
It’s the kind of content you’ll often see today on platforms like Douyin or Bilibili — nostalgic videos showing smoky internet cafes (wangba 网吧) from the early 2000s, where people chatted on QQ or played World of Warcraft on old Windows PCs while eating instant noodles. These clips trigger waves of nostalgia, even among internet users too young to remember that era themselves.

Internetcafe in 2005, image via 021zhaopin.com
The current nostalgia wave you see on Chinese social media is indicative of how China’s digital world has evolved over the past 25 years, shifting from one era to the next.
As I welcome a new name for this newsletter and say goodbye to ‘Weibo Watch’— and, in the longer run, to the ‘What’s on Weibo’ title, I’m feeling a bit nostalgic myself. It seems like a good moment to look back at the three major stages of Chinese social media, and at the reason I started What’s on Weibo in the first place.
1. The Blogging Boom (2002–2009): The Early Rise of Chinese Social Media
When I first came to China and became particularly interested in its online environment, it was the final phase of the early era of Chinese social media — a period that followed soon after the country had laid the foundations for its internet revolution. By 1999, the first generation of Chinese internet giants — Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, and Sina — had already been founded.
China’s blogging era began with the 2002 launch of the platform BlogChina.com (博客中国), followed by a wave of new platforms and online communities, among them Baidu Tieba and Renren. By around 2005, there were roughly 111 million internet users and 16 million bloggers, and the social impact was undeniable. 2005 was even dubbed China’s “year of blogging.” 1
Chinese writer Han Han (韩寒, born 1982), a high-school-dropout-turned–rally car racer, became one of the most-read figures on the Chinese internet with his sharp and witty blogs. He was just one among many who rose to fame during the blog era, becoming the voice of China’s post-1980s youth.

The rebel of China’s blog era, Han Han, became of voice of his generation.
When I moved to Beijing in 2008, I had a friend who was always out of money and practically lived in an internet cafe in the city’s Wudaokou district, not far from where I studied. We would visit him there as if it were his living room — the wangba was a local hangout for many of us.
Not only online forums and blogging sites were flourishing at the time, but there was also instant messaging through QQ (腾讯QQ), online news reading, and gaming. Platforms like the YouTube equivalents Tudou (土豆) and Youku (优酷) were launched, and soon Chinese companies began developing more successful products inspired by American digital platforms, such as Fanfou (饭否), Zuosa (做啥), Jiwai (叽歪), and Taotao (滔滔), creating an online space that was increasingly, and uniquely, Chinese.
That trajectory only accelerated after 2009, when popular Western internet services, including Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, became inaccessible from within mainland China.
⚡ The launch of Sina Weibo in 2009 came at a crossroads for China’s social media landscape: it was not only a time when many foreign platforms exited China, but also when internet cafes faced major crackdowns.
As a foreigner, I don’t think I ever visited internet bars in Beijing anymore by that point — internet use had largely shifted to home connections. Laptop ownership was rising, and we all had (pre-smartphone) mobile phones, which we used to text each other constantly, since texting was cheaper than calling.

Some of the mobile phones in China’s 2009 top 10 lists.
Weibo came at just the right time. It filled the vacuum left by the online crackdowns across China’s internet while still benefiting from the popularity of blogging. Weibo (微博), after all, literally means “micro-blog” — micro because the number of characters was limited, just like Twitter, making short-form posts the main way of communication.
Weibo quickly became hugely successful, for many more reasons than just timing. Its impact on society was so palpable that its trending discussions often seeped into everyday conversations I had with friends in China.
In English-language media, I kept reading about what was being censored on the Chinese internet, but that wasn’t necessarily what I wanted to know — I also wanted to know what was on Weibo, so I could keep up with my social circles.
That question planted the seed for What’s on Weibo: the simple curiosity of “What are people talking about?” What TV series are popular? What jokes and controversies are everyone discussing (but that I never fully grasped)? I wanted to get a sense of an online world that was, in many ways, intangible to outsiders — including myself. As I had moved back to Europe by then, it was also a way for me to stay connected to those everyday conversations unfolding online in China.
With scissors, glue, and some paper, I started sketching out what a future website might look like.

Papercrafting the idea for a website named ‘What’s on Weibo’ in 2012.
And in March 2013, after doing my best to piece it together, I launched What’s on Weibo and began writing — about all kinds of trends, like the milk powder crisis, about China’s many unmarried “leftover men” (shengnan 剩男), and about the word of the moment, “Green Tea Bitch” (lǜchá biǎo 绿茶婊) — a term used to stereotype ambitious women who act sweet and innocent while being seen as calculating or cunning.
2. From Weibo to the Taobao Moment: China’s Mobile Social Era: (2010–2019)
Around 2014–2015, people started saying Weibo was dead. In fact, it hadn’t died at all — some of its most vibrant years were still ahead. It had simply stumbled into the mobile era, along with China’s entire social media landscape.
As mobile internet became more widespread and everyone started using WeChat (launched in 2011), new mobile-first platforms began to emerge.2 In 2012–2013, for example, apps like Toutiao and Xiaohongshu (小红书, RED) were launched as mobile community platforms. With the rapid rise of China’s new tech giants — Bytedance, Meituan, and Didi — a new mobile era was blossoming, leaving the PC-based social media world far behind.
Spending another summer in Beijing in 2014, I called it the “Taobao Moment” — Taobao being China’s most successful online marketplace, a platform for buying and selling practically everything from clothes and furniture to insurance and even Bitcoins. At the time, I thought Taobao captured everything Beijing was at that moment: a world of opportunities, quick decisions, and endless ways to earn and spend money.
On weekends, some of my friends would head to the markets near the Beijing Zoo to buy the latest dresses, purses, jeans, or shoes. They’d buy stock on Saturday, do a photo shoot on Sunday, and sell the goods online by Monday. You could often spot young people on the streets of Beijing staging their own fashion shoots for Taobao — friends posing as models, Canon cameras in hand.
During that period, What’s on Weibo gradually found its audience, as more people became curious about what was happening on Chinese social media.
Around 2016, Weibo entered another prime era as the “celebrity economy” took off and a wave of “super influencers” (超级红人) emerged on the platform. Papi Jiang stood out among them — her humorous videos on everyday social issues made her one of China’s most recognizable online personalities, helping to drive Weibo’s renewed popularity.

Witty Papi Jiang was a breath of fresh air on Weibo in 2016.
People were hooked on social media. Between 2015 and 2018, China entered the age of algorithm- & interest-driven multimedia platforms. The popularity of Kuaishou’s livestreaming and Bytedance’s Douyin signaled the start of an entirely new era.
3. The New Social Era of AI-fication and Diversification (2020–Current)
China’s social media shifts over the past 25 years go hand in hand with broader technological, social, and geopolitical changes. Although this holds true elsewhere too, it’s especially the case in China, where central leadership is deeply involved in how social media should be managed and which direction the country’s digital development should take.
Since the late 2010s, China’s focus on AI has permeated every layer of society. AI-driven recommendation systems have fundamentally changed how Chinese users consume information. Far more than Weibo, platforms like Douyin, Kuaishou, and Xiaohongshu have become popular for using machine-learning algorithms to tailor feeds based on user behavior.
China’s social media boom has put pressure on traditional media outlets, which are now increasingly weaving themselves into social media infrastructure to broaden their impact. This has blurred the line between social media and state media, creating a complex online media ecosystem.
At the same time, it’s not just AI and media convergence that are reshaping China’s online landscape — social relationships now dominate both information flows and influence flows. 3 Not everyone is reading the same headlines anymore; people spend more time within their own interest-based niches. It’s no longer about microblogging but about micro-communities.
China now has 1.12 billion internet users. Among new users, young people (aged 10–19) and the elderly (60+) account for 49% and nearly 21%, respectively. The country’s digital environment has never been more lively, and social media has never been more booming.
As a bit of a dinosaur in China’s social media world, Weibo still stands tall — and its trending topics still matter. But the community that was once at the heart of the Chinese internet has dispersed across other apps, where people now engage in more diverse ways than ever.
In China, I notice this shift: where I once saw the rise of Weibo, the Taobao boom, or the Douyin craze, I now see online and offline media increasingly converging. Social media shapes real-life experiences and vice versa, and AI has become integrated into nearly every part of the media ecosystem — changing how content is made, distributed, consumed, and controlled.
In this changing landscape, the mission of What’s on Weibo — to explain China’s digital culture, media, and social trends, and to build a bridge between Western and Chinese online spaces — has stayed the same. But the name no longer fits that mission.
Over the past few years, my work has naturally evolved from Weibo-focused coverage to exploring China’s digital culture through a broader lens. The analysis and trend updates will continue, but under a new name that better reflects a time when Weibo is no longer at the center of China’s social media world: Eye on Digital China.
For you as a subscriber (subscribe here), this means you can expect more newsletter-based coverage: shorter China Trend Watch editions to keep you up to date with the latest trends, along with other thematic features and ‘Chapter’ deep dives that explore the depth behind fleeting moments.
For now, the main website will remain What’s on Weibo, but it will gradually transition into Eye on Digital China. I’ll keep the full archive alive — more than twelve years of coverage that helps trace the digital patterns we’re still seeing today. After all, the story of China’s past online moments often tells us more about the future than the trends of the day.
Thank you for following along on this new journey.
By Manya Koetse
(follow on X, LinkedIn, or Instagram)
1 Liu, Fengshu. 2011. Urban Youth in China: Modernity, the Internet and the Self. New York: Routledge, 50.
2 Mao Lin (Michael). 2020. “中国互联网25年变迁:两次跃迁,四次浪潮,一次赌未来” [25 Years of China’s Internet: Two Leaps, Four Waves, and a Gamble on the Future]. 人人都是产品经理 (Everyone Is a Product Manager), January 3. https://www.woshipm.com/it/3282708.html.
3 Yang, Shaoli (杨绍丽). 2025. “研判2025!中国社交媒体行业发展历程、重点企业分析及未来前景展望:随着移动互联网兴起,社交媒体开始向移动端转移 [Outlook for 2025! The Development History, Key Enterprises, and Future Prospects of China’s Social Media Industry: With the Rise of Mobile Internet, Social Media Has Shifted to Mobile Platforms].” Zhiyan Consulting (智研咨询), February 7. https://www.chyxx.com/industry/1211618.html.
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China Media
IShowSpeed in China: Streaming China’s Stories Well
Published
10 months agoon
March 30, 2025
“This man is doing God’s work. In just six hours, he eliminated all Western media propaganda about China,” Chinese influencer Li Sanjin (李三金) said in one of his videos this week. The man he referred to, allegedly doing ‘God’s work,’ is the American YouTuber and online streamer Darren Watkins, better known as IShowSpeed or Speed, who visited China this week and livestreamed from various locations.
With 37 million followers on his YouTube account, Watkins’ visit hasn’t exactly flown under the radar. His streams from China have already accumulated over 17.5 million views on YouTube alone, and he also became the talk of the week on Chinese social media.
In China, the 20-year-old IShowSpeed is known as Jiǎkànggē (甲亢哥), or “Hyper Bro,” since the immensely popular YouTube star is known for being highly energetic.
Although IShowSpeed is originally known for soccer and gaming-related content, he’s been streaming live from various countries over the past year, from Ecuador to Bolivia, from Australia to Indonesia, from Romania to Japan, and also from the Netherlands, where a mob of fans harassed the YouTuber to such an extent that the influencer fled and panicked, until the police intervened and asked him to shut down the livestream for safety reasons — which he did not comply with.
It was not the only time IShowSpeed’s visit got chaotic. He also got into trouble during livestreams from other countries. While streaming from Norway, he injured his ankle and was swarmed by a crowd while trying to get out. In Greece and Indonesia, he had to ask for police support as well. In Thailand, he crashed a tuk-tuk into a temple wall.
In China, IShowSpeed’s livestreams went far more smoothly, and netizens, state media, and other official channels raved about his visit and its favorable portrayal of the country and its culture.
🔹 Symbol of Cultural Exchange & Positive Diplomacy
“Jiǎkànggē” became one of the viral terms of the week, on Weibo, Kuaishou, Douyin, and Toutiao. During his China trip, the livestreamer hit several YouTube milestones — not only breaking the 37 million subscriber mark while on stream, but also surpassing the magic number of 10 million views in total.
Watkins, also known for being (sometimes aggressively) loud and chaotic, suddenly emerged as a symbol of cultural exchange and positive diplomacy. The past week saw hashtags such as:
#️⃣”IShowSpeed gives young foreigners a full-window view into China” (#甲亢哥给国外年轻人开了全景天窗#)
#️⃣”IShowSpeed’s Shanghai livestream breaks Western filter on China” (#甲亢哥上海直播打破西方对中国滤镜#)
#️⃣”American influencer IShowSpeed amazed by stable wifi on China’s high-speed train” (#美国网红甲亢哥被高铁稳定网络震惊#)
#️⃣”IShowSpeed praised deep tried tripe for being incredibly delicious” (#甲亢哥赞爆肚太好吃了#), or
#️⃣ “IShowSpeed bridges the cultural divide” (#甲亢哥弥合文化鸿沟#).
While in Chinese media, Watkins was lauded for shining a positive light on China, this message was also promoted on English-language social media, where he was praised by the Chinese embassy in the US (#驻美大使馆称赞甲亢哥中国行#), writing:

Post by Chinese Embassy in the US on X, March 26.
“This 20-year-old American internet star is bridging cultural gaps through digital means and creating new channels for foreign audiences to better understand China.”
So what exactly did IShowSpeed do while in China?
On March 24, Watkins livestreamed from Shanghai. He wandered around the city center, visited a KFC, danced with fellow streamers, stopped by a marriage market, ate noodles, played ping-pong, had hotpot, joined a dragon dance group and got acquainted with some traditional Chinese opera performance, and walked along the Bund.

On March 26, he streamed from Beijing, starting in Donghuamen before briefly entering the Forbidden City—dressed in a Dongbei-style floral suit. He later took a stroll around Nanluoguxiang and the scenic Houhai lake, rode a train, and finally visited the Great Wall, where he did backflips.

In his stream on March 28, Watkins traveled to Henan to visit the famous Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng, hoping to find a master to teach him kung fu. He trained with Shaolin monks—footage that quickly went viral.
Lastly, on March 29, he opened his own Weibo account and published his first post. On Douyin, he shared a video of his visit to Fuxi Mountain in Zhengzhou, featuring the popular “Stairway to Heaven” tourist spot.
On social media, many viewers were captivated by the content. One major talking point was the remarkably strong internet connection that allowed him to livestream for six-hour stretches without losing signal in Shanghai. (Though his Beijing stream started off patchier, the drop was minor.) For many, it symbolized the quality of China’s 5G services.
Foreign viewers also praised how safe, friendly, and clean the country appeared, and how his streams highlighted various aspects of Chinese culture—from everyday people to traditional arts and local cuisine.
🔹 Telling & Spreading China’s Stories Well
It is no wonder the success of the Jiǎkànggē livestreams is celebrated by Chinese official media in an age where China’s foreign communication aims to increase China’s international discourse power, shaping how the world views China and making that image more credible, more respectable, and more lovable.
That’s not just an observation — it’s an official strategy. Introduced by Xi Jinping in 2013, “Telling China’s Story Well” (“讲好中国故事”) is a political slogan that has become a key propaganda strategy for China and continues to be a priority in finding different ways of promoting Chinese culture — new ways of telling China’s story in the social media age – while countering Western dominant narratives about China.
In increasingly digitalized times, it is not just about telling China’s story well, but also spreading China’s message effectively — preferably through genuine and engaging stories (Cai 2013; Qiushi 2021).
Especially young, non-official ‘storytellers’ can make China’s image more relatable and dynamic. One major example, highlighted in a 2022 case study by Zeng Dan (曾丹), is Chinese influencer Li Ziqi (李子柒). You’ve probably heard of her, or seen snippets of her videos: she creates soothing, cinematic content depicting China’s countryside lifestyle, focused on cooking, crafts, and gardening. With 26 million followers on YouTube, Li Ziqi became a viral sensation who successfully communicated an authentic and appealing ‘China story’ to a broad global audience.

Li Ziqi in one of her YouTube videos.
Although the calm and composed Li Ziqi and the loud, chaotic IShowSpeed couldn’t be more different, they have some things in common: both have large international fanbases, including their millions of YouTube subscribers; they offer perspectives that differ from Chinese state media or official channels; and they have the capacity not just to tell China’s story well, but to spread it effectively through videos and livestreams.
🔹 Spontaneous Stream or Scripted Propaganda?
IShowSpeed’s China streams have triggered a wave of responses from fans and viewers, sparking discussions across international social media and even making newspaper headlines.
In English-language online media spheres, there appear to be a range of perspectives on Watkins’ China trip:
📌 One prominent view—also echoed by various foreign influencers on YouTube and other platforms—is that IShowSpeed’s visit counters “Western media lies” about China and has successfully shown the “real China” through his livestreams. The Shanghai-based media outlet Radii claimed that “IShowSpeed’s China Tour is doing more for Chinese Soft Power than most diplomats ever could.”
📌 Others challenge this narrative, questioning which dominant Western portrayals of China IShowSpeed has actually disproven. Some argue that the idea of China being a “bleak place with nothing to do where people live in misery” is itself a false narrative, and that presenting IShowSpeed’s livestreams as a counter to that is its own form of propaganda (see: Chopsticks and Trains).
📌 There are also those who see Watkins’ trip as a form of scripted propaganda. To what extent were his livestreams planned or orchestrated? That question has become one of the central points of debate surrounding the hype around his visit.
These rumors have been addressed by cameraman Slipz (@shotbyslipz), who took to X on March 28, 2025. Slipz posted that the team is “(..) not making political content, not any documentary and no journalism,” and later added: “Fact: amount of money IShowSpeed has received from Chinese Government = $0.”

But does the fact that IShowSpeed did not receive money from the Chinese government mean that it wasn’t also a form of China promotion?
➡️ Organized — it definitely was. Any media trip in China has to be. IShowSpeed would have needed a visa, he had translators with him, and throughout the streams it’s evident that local guards and public security officers were present, walking alongside and helping to keep things under control, especially in crowded areas and at major tourist spots — from Nanjing Road in Shanghai to an entire group of guards seemingly accompanying the entourage in the Forbidden City.
One logistical “advantage” to his visit was the fact that YouTube is blocked in China. While some Chinese fans do bypass the Great Firewall to access the platform, IShowSpeed remains far less known in China than in many other countries — a factor that likely contributed to how smoothly the streams went and helped prevent chaos. The team also launched a Douyin account during the trip, where he now has over two million followers. (To stream directly to their 37 million followers on YouTube, Watkins’ team either needed a VPN to access WiFi or had arranged roaming SIM cards to stay connected.)
➡️ Was it staged? Many parts clearly weren’t: casual public conversations, spontaneous barber visits in both Shanghai and Beijing (with barbers looking unsure of how to handle the situation), and wholesome fan encounters. There was even a moment when Watkins walked into a public restroom and forgot to mute the sound.
But other parts of the trip were undeniably staged — or at least framed to appear spontaneous. When visiting a marriage market in Shanghai, for instance, two actors appeared, including one woman with a sign stating she was looking for someone “capable of doing backflips.”
When Watkins took a “random” ride in what was described as the fastest car in China — the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra — the vehicle appeared to be conveniently parked and ready.
Similarly, when the streamer “ran into” Chinese-American TikTok influencer Miles Moretti (李美越) in Beijing, it turned out to be the person who would give him the now-iconic bright Dongbei flower suit and accompany him on his journey.

The ping-pong, the kung fu, the Peking opera, the hotpot, the Forbidden City tour — it all plays into the kinds of experiences that official channels also like to highlight. While likely planned by Watkins’ team in coordination with local partners, it was all far more orderly and tourism-focused than, for example, Watkins’ chaotic visit to the Netherlands.
Watkins and his entourage were also well-informed about the local dos and don’ts. At one point, Watkins even mentions “following the rules,” and when Moretti tells him mid-stream that “somebody very important lives on our left,” Watkins asks “Who?” — but the camera zooms out and the question goes unanswered, suggesting they may have been reminded that certain names or topics were off-limits (judge the moment for yourself here).
The livestream didn’t always go exactly the way Watkins wanted, either. When he attempted to take more random walks around the city, the crew appeared to be informed that some areas were off-limits, and he was asked to return to the car to continue the trip (clips here and here).
🔹 The “Nàge” Song
One major talking point surrounding IShowSpeed’s China livestreams was “the N-word.” No, not that N-word — but the Chinese filler word “nàge” or “nèige” (那个). Like “uhm” in English or “eto” in Japanese, “nàge” is a hesitation marker commonly used in everyday Mandarin conversation. It also functions as a demonstrative pronoun meaning “that.”
The word has previously stirred controversy because of its phonetic resemblance to a racial slur in English. In 2020, an American professor at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business was even temporarily suspended after using the word during an online communications class — some students misunderstood its context and took offense.
The word — and the song “Sunshine, Rainbow, White Pony” (阳光彩虹小白马) by Chinese singer Wowkie Zhang (大张伟), which repeatedly features the word nàge in its chorus — popped up multiple times during Watkins’ trip. The catchy tune essentially became the theme song of his visit.
The first nàge moment actually already appeared within the first five minutes of Watkins’ Shanghai stream, when a Chinese comedian approached him on the street, trying to recall a joke. “What?!” Watkins reacted, with laughter in the background. “That’s not a joke, you said n**! It’s my first five minutes in China!” he exclaimed, before patting the man’s back in a friendly gesture, clearly not offended.
🔄 It resurfaced again within the first hour when Watkins visited a marriage market and one of the performers sang the Wowkie Zhang song. Watkins initially acted shocked, then demanded they sing it again — only to burst out laughing and start singing along.
🔄 Later, he sang the song again with a street saxophonist and encouraged others to join in.
🔄 At other moments, he played up the drama again, feigning anger when a crowd broke into the chorus, and it became a recurring gag throughout the streams.
These incidents all seem staged. One of the main reasons Watkins is known to many netizens in China is because of an older video clip showing his exaggerated reaction to the nàge song — dating back to at least 2022. So while it may have looked spontaneous, Watkins was already familiar with the word and the viral song long before his China trip.The attention given to the nàge ‘controversy’ was likely amplified for views and engagement.
While Watkins was clearly in on this part of the show — as with others — he also seemed genuinely, and at times amusingly, unaware of many things in China. He repeatedly referred to RMB as “dollars,” mistook elderly women for retired YouTube streamers, and even assumed that a woman livestreaming near the Forbidden City was reading his chat and trying to collaborate with him — although she seemed totally uninterested and was just minding her own business.
🔹 A Win-Win Situation
In the end, IShowSpeed’s visit highlighted two sides effectively doing their job. Watkins and his team successfully arranged a YouTube trip that generated high ad revenue, attracted millions of new subscribers, and boosted his brand and global fame.
On the Chinese side, there was clearly coordination behind the scenes to ensure the trip went smoothly: avoiding controversy, ensuring safety, and showcasing positive aspects of Chinese culture. From traditional opera and kung fu to ping pong, IShowSpeed’s content gave center stage to the kinds of cultural highlights that align closely with China’s official narratives and tourism goals. Even if the government didn’t pay the YouTuber directly, as his team has emphasized (and there’s no reason to doubt them), the trip still fit seamlessly into China’s soft power strategy.
IShowSpeed’s China visit has created a unique media moment that resonates for several reasons: it’s the encounter of a young modern American with old traditional China; it is a streamer known for chaos visiting a nation known for control. And it brings different benefits to both sides: clicks and ad revenue for IShowSpeed, and free foreign-facing publicity for China.
No, IShowSpeed didn’t undo years of critical Western media coverage on China. But what his visit shows is that we’ve entered a phase where China is becoming more skilled at letting others help tell its story — in ways that resonate with a global, young, online audience. He didn’t do “God’s work.” He simply did what he always does: stream. And with China’s help, he streamed China very well.
There’s so much more I want to share with you this week — from Chinese reactions to the devastating Myanmar earthquake, to a recent podcast I joined with Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf (link in Dutch, for those interested). But it also happens to be my birthday today, and I’m really hoping to still grab some birthday hotpot — so I’ll wrap this up here. I’ll keep you informed on the other trends in the next newsletter.📨.
Best,
Manya
(@manyapan)
References:
Cai, Mingzhao 蔡名照. 2013. “Telling China’s Stories Well and Spreading China’s Voice: Thoroughly Studying and Implementing the Spirit of Comrade Xi Jinping’s Important Speech at the National Conference on Propaganda and Ideological Work [讲好中国故事,传播好中国声音——深入学习贯彻习近平同志在全国宣传思想工作会议上的重要讲话精神].” People’s Daily 人民日报, October 10. http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2013/1010/c1001-23144775.html. Accessed March 29.
Qiushi 求是网. 2021. “Xi Jinping: Telling China’s Story Well, Spread China’s Voice Well [习近平:讲好中国故事,传播好中国声音].” Qs Theory, June 6. http://www.qstheory.cn/zhuanqu/2021-06/02/c_1127522386.htm. Accessed March 29.
Zeng Dan 曾丹. 2022. “How to Tell China’s Story Well: Taking Li Ziqi as an Example [如何讲好中国故事——以李子柒为例].” Progress in Social Sciences 社会科学进展 4 (1): 10–19. https://doi.org/10.35534/pss.0401002.
What’s Featured

Quite terrifying and interesting, as this trending story touched upon so many different issues.
What started as a single snarky comment on Weibo spiraled into an online witch hunt, exposing not just some dark sides of online Kpop fandom but also, most importantly, the vulnerabilities in China’s digital privacy.
Read the story, the latest by Ruixin Zhang 👀
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