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Weibo Watch: Frogs in Wells

Taiwan elections discussions remained relatively muted on Weibo, with limited hashtags and controlled narratives. Read more about what’s trending, from Harbin to Xinjiang, in this 22nd edition of Weibo Watch.

Published

3 years ago

January 14, 2024

What's on Weibo Team

PREMIUM NEWSLETTER | ISSUE #22

This week’s newsletter:
◼︎ 1. Editor’s Note – Frogs in wells
◼︎ 2. What’s Been Trending – A closer look at the featured stories
◼︎ 3. What More to Know – Five bit-sized trends
◼︎ 4. What’s the Drama – Top TV to watch
◼︎ 5. What Lies Behind – Xinjiang as copy cat
◼︎ 6. What’s Noteworthy – Balloons up in the air
◼︎ 7. What’s Popular– Jia…

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What's on Weibo Team

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.

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China Digital

How Chinese AI Videos Turned Foreigners into Villains

How viral AI videos turn racialized outsiders into threats and violent Chinese heroes into defenders of social order, China’s first nationally broadcast AI drama, and why a newspaper is being sold for 50 times its original price.

Published

2 weeks ago

August 3, 2026

Manya Koetse

Welcome to China Trend Watch (Week 30–33 | 2026), where I bring you the latest trends, memes, and debates driving conversation across Chinese social media. Subscribe here to receive future editions.

Over the past few weeks, a noteworthy amount of AI-related news has been trending on Chinese social media, which is reflected in this week’s edition.

Now that AI has entered every corner of media consumption and online life, related discussions seem…

China Trend Watch

“God Won’t Save Us, but the PLA Will”: Floods, Faith, and Kung Fu Soccer Nostalgia

Also: the Hong Kong bookstore arrests that did not go trending, AI bank cards, Haaland becoming China’s summer meme king, and a delivery rider winning the Lu Xun Literature Prize.

Published

4 weeks ago

July 19, 2026

Manya Koetse

Welcome to China Trend Watch (Week 28–29 | 2026), where I bring you the latest trends, memes, and debates driving conversation across Chinese social media. Subscribe here to receive future editions.

In this issue, I’m catching you up on the stories you need to know about, including the extreme weather and the noteworthy narratives surrounding it, China’s second “DeepSeek moment,” the nostalgic summer hit at the cinemas, how the Hong Kong bookshop…