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Weibo Watch: The Land Rover Woman Controversy Explained
‘Land Rover Woman’ is more than just the Chinese equivalent of the American ‘Karen’ meme. Understand why this viral story is shaking things up, and read about the trending topics that matter this week.
PREMIUM NEWSLETTER | ISSUE #36
This week’s newsletter:
◼︎ 1. Editor’s Note – Landrover Woman Controversy
◼︎ 2. What’s New and Noteworthy – A closer look at featured stories
◼︎ 3. What’s Trending – Hot highlights
◼︎ 4. What’s Noteworthy – South Korean women ask for help on Weibo
◼︎ 6. What’s Popular – The contagious success of Black Myth: Wukong
◼︎ 7. What’s Memorable – Train Tyrant Woman
◼︎ 8. Weibo Word of the Week – Armless Flying Fish
Dear Reader,
One can become a meme overnight. There are many people who could tell you all about it, from the Subway Judge to the Train Tyrant. This week, it’s ‘Land Rover Woman’ who has become the latest addition to the Chinese Lexicon of Viral Incidents.
The incident, which we detailed in our recent article, occurred on August 28. In short: a woman in a white Range Rover, complete with a Chanel logo, became enraged when another driver refused to yield as she attempted to force her way into traffic while driving in the wrong direction. In the middle of a congested road, she exited her vehicle and caused a scene. She screamed, pointed, kicked the other car, and ultimately yanked open the driver’s door of the man who blocked her path, proceeding to hit him in the face. She then drove off (see video here).
Land Rover Woman during the incident.
The man, blood dripping from his nose, remained calm and did not retaliate, explaining afterward that he chose not to strike back because his children were in the back seat. The woman, identified as 36-year-old Wang from Qingdao’s Laoshan district, was subsequently handed 10 days of administrative detention and fined 1,000 yuan (approximately $140).
As footage of the incident went viral on Chinese social media, it sparked widespread debate.
The man, later revealed to be a former member of the military, spoke to reporters a day after the altercation, stating that it had left him not only physically hurt but also mentally distressed. He announced that he was preparing to take legal action against the woman and would not accept mediation.
The man, Lin, received overwhelming support from Chinese netizens, who saw the situation as an injustice on multiple levels.
Gender Dynamics
The woman physically assaulted the man, who chose not to defend himself—not because he couldn’t, but because of social norms, his responsibilities as a father, and his background in the military.
This dynamic has triggered discussions about the double standards in how aggression is viewed depending on gender and how a “real man” (真汉子) would and should respond in such a situation.
Some commenters suggested that the man “lost face” by being hit by a woman without fighting back, especially given his military background. Others argued the opposite, saying his restraint proved he truly was a “real man.”
Regardless, both perspectives agree that Chinese societal norms put the man in an unfair, vulnerable position.
Social Privilege
A major factor in the controversy revolves around social privilege. The woman’s entitled behavior—saying “So what if I hit you?” (“打你怎么了”)—and her driving a luxury 1.3 million yuan ($180,000) Range Rover with a Chanel logo contrasted sharply with Lin, a decommissioned soldier running a local guesthouse who was simply traveling with his children.
Many netizens saw this as a clear example of social class injustice, a power imbalance between a wealthy woman and a working-class man. Wang’s sense of entitlement allowed her to believe she could act violently without facing real consequences. The outrage was further amplified by Lin’s former military service, a profession meant to protect others, making the incident feel even more unjust.
Legal Disparities
Perhaps the biggest point of contention in the Land Rover Woman controversy is the perceived leniency of the punishment. The woman received 10 days of administrative detention and a small fine, but many netizens feel her actions amount to disorderly behavior (“picking quarrels and provoking trouble” 寻衅滋事罪), which has seen far harsher penalties in cases with less public impact.
The light sentence is viewed by many as a failure of the legal system to adequately address the severity of the incident, especially given the public nature of the attack and its broader social implications.
This has led to people seeking justice in their own ways. Some people started calling the Qingdao city hotline, directly expressing concerns to local authorities that the sentence given to ‘Land Rover Woman’ is too lenient. Others took matters into their own hands through digital vigilantism, attempting to track Wang’s whereabouts to ensure she was being properly detained. Earlier this week, her license plate went viral, with livestreamers filming her car as it was spotted in the streets.
Beyond the “Karen” Meme
As this incident has sparked online conversations about fairness and accountability, ‘Land Rover Woman’ has also become an internet meme.
With her black face mask, summer hat, long hair and white dress, she has become a recognizable figure, embodying the kind of woman everyone loves to hate. She’s poppping up in various photoshopped images and AI-generated videos. Even car stickers have been made featuring her image alongside the now infamous quote, “So what if I hit you?””1
Various “Land Rover Woman” AI-generated images published on Xiaohongsu.
Car sticker “So What If I Hit You?”
‘Land Rover Woman’ is more than just the Chinese equivalent of the American “Karen” meme, which depicts a stereotypically entitled, middle-aged white woman who often complains or picks fights. Land Rover Woman is not just entitled and rich, she also embodies netizens’ frustration over what they see as an imbalance in how justice is applied across gender and social class.
‘Film poster’ published on Weibo: “逆行的血案“: “The Bloody Wrong-Way Incident”
Turning her into a meme has become a form of social critique. By making Land Rover Woman part of China’s larger digital discourse, it has also become a way for netizens to seek justice. For Wang, becoming an internet meme and a target of public outrage is likely to have a far greater impact on her daily life than a ten-day detention.
Miranda Barnes contributed to the compilation and interpretation of some topics featured in this newsletter. Ruixin Zhang has authored the ‘What’s Noteworthy’ section.
Personal Note: I’ll be traveling in China for the next two weeks, so the upcoming newsletter might arrive a bit later than usual. However, rest assured, I’ll return with fresh insights. Not long ago, I covered the ‘robotaxi revolution’ in Wuhan, now the world’s largest city for driverless taxis. I’ll be heading there to explore the latest AI trends and see the developments firsthand. Have any specific questions about robotaxis? Let me know!
Best,
Manya Koetse
(@manyapan)
1 AI images from Xiaohongshu by AI老白, 忙到七点的麻辣香锅, 视野洞见PPT. Car sticker images by 小文分享.
What’s New
The Paralympic File | Following China’s golden success at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the spotlight now shifts to the Paralympics (残奥会), running from August 28 to September 8, 2024. While not as widely followed as the Olympics, the Paralympics still garnered significant attention on Chinese social media, where many athletes are celebrated not so much as national heroes, but as champions of their home regions.
Road Rage | What possessed the female driver of a Land Rover to drive against traffic, cut in line, and assault another driver? This incident has dominated trending topics on Chinese social media over the past week—not just because of the woman’s behavior, but also because of how the victim responded and the legal fallout. See article, video link included.
Bump in the Road | A viral court case in China has sparked debate after a female employee was fired shortly after announcing her pregnancy. While the company cited “poor performance,” the courts ruled in her favor. The case highlights the ongoing issue of pregnancy discrimination in Chinese workplaces, but also reveals the mixed feelings people have about women who may be seen as taking advantage of the system.
What’s Trending
🛑 Edible Oil Scandal Update & Goji Controversy
On August 25, China’s State Council Food Safety Office, alongside several other government agencies, released the results of their investigation into a cooking oil scandal that shocked the nation earlier this year. The scandal involved edible oil being transported in tankers that had previously carried chemicals and waste, raising serious food safety concerns. The investigation uncovered multiple violations of food safety laws across Hebei, Tianjin, Inner Mongolia, and Shaanxi, including failures to properly clean tankers before transporting food products and attempts to cover up these actions. Nationwide inspections reportedly have not found similar issues in other regions so far. The government has since imposed significant penalties, including a $400,000 fine on Sinograin Oil and a total of $1.1 million in fines on six other logistics and edible oil companies. Additionally, criminal charges have been filed against two drivers involved in the illegal activities.
While people are still concerned about the safety of their cooking oil, another food safety controversy has popped up again. CCTV-2 recently exposed that some merchants in Gansu have been illegally using industrial sulfur to fumigate goji berries to enhance their appearance and boost profits. Industrial sulfur, which contains high levels of arsenic, is not approved for food processing. Though the berries may look appealing, they are toxic, further fueling netizens’ fears about hidden dangers in other food products.
💍 Huang Zitao’s Three Years of Mourning
Chinese celebrity Huang Zitao (黄子韬) has been the center of attention lately. The former EXO member recently announced his engagement to fellow singer Xu Yiyang (徐艺洋). Both artists appeared on the reality show Dare Or Not, where Huang’s proposal to Xu was featured in the final episode. The couple had publicly confirmed their relationship in July, following years of dating rumors.
It has now come to light that Huang Zitao allegedly chose to observe a three-year mourning period in honor of his late father before announcing any major personal news. After the mourning period ended, he began preparing to publicly share his relationship and marriage plans. Huang’s father unexpectedly passed away in 2020, and the revelation about Huang observing a mourning period has sparked conversations about upholding traditional family values. However, some skeptical voices suggest that Huang is only using filial piety as a way to explain why he previously denied being in a relationship.
🙏 Man Killed at Gaomi Nightmarket
A shocking incident took place on August 28th in Gaomi (高密), a county-level city in eastern China’s Shandong Province. Videos shared online captured how a seemingly minor argument between two men at a night market escalated into a horrifying tragedy.
Initially, the altercation seemed minor, as a man argued with a market vendor who was there with his wife and child. However, the situation took a tragic turn when the man suddenly grabbed a large knife and fatally attacked the vendor in front of his family and numerous bystanders. The man was decapitated in the attack. Police have urged people to stop sharing videos of the incident. The attacker, a 36-year-old local, has been detained. Social media discussions have largely centered on the idea that the crime occurred in a moment of uncontrollable rage. While one life was lost and another family devastated, the lives of the wife and young son, who witnessed the horrific killing of their husband and dad, will be forever changed.
🐸 From Eyelid Surgery to Sad Frog
“How am I supposed to face people looking like this?” The story of a certain Ms. Yuan from Guiyang went top trending on Weibo recently. The Chinese woman spent 20,000 yuan ($2820) on a double eyelid surgery, a procedure that creates a crease in the upper eyelid to give the appearance of larger, more defined eyes – it’s very popular among women in East Asia for cosmetic reasons. However, in this case, the procedure turned out differently than expected.
The procedure was poorly executed and had created an overly wide crease, which gave the woman’s eyes a somewhat exaggerated, bulging appearance. “I look like a sad frog,” the woman told reporters. She made the news after filing an official complaint about the wide crease. The topic became popular because the “Sad frog” is a well-known online meme, but others also took this news as a warning: be careful about choosing a reputable clinic for cosmetic surgeries.
⚽ 0-7 Soccer Match Between China and Japan
One Weibo hashtag about China’s national soccer team losing 0-7 to Japan in the third round of the 2026 World Cup Asian qualifiers garnered over 360 million views in a single day on Thursday (#国足0比7日本#). Regardless of what is said about the spirit of sports, soccer inevitably gets dragged into the political arena, and in the case of China versus Japan, this match is particularly sensitive for Chinese audiences, bringing up associations of national pride linked to historical conflicts and more recent geopolitical tensions. Perhaps losing wasn’t the biggest issue, but losing with a 0-7 score—the biggest-ever loss to Japan in Chinese soccer—certainly was.
On Weibo, many found the outcome of the match unacceptable, not just because it was against Japan, but because they felt China’s overall performance was disappointing and ill-prepared for Japan’s attacking strategies. All things considered, 0-7 isn’t too bad—there was a trending match in 2014 during the Beijing Cup between Haidian and Fangshan junior teams that ended with a 47-0 score.
What’s Noteworthy
An unusual plea recently appeared on Weibo as several South Korean accounts urgently called for help. Using translation tools, these women reached out to Chinese netizens, raising awareness and seeking support to combat the sexual exploitation of girls and women in South Korea related to the ongoing “Deepfake Room” scandal.
The deepfake scandal centers around online chat groups where AI was used to generate countless pornographic images by manipulating real photos of South Korean female students and schoolgirls, all without their consent. These images were then shared in Telegram chatrooms, some with thousands of members—one reportedly had 220,000 participants. The scandal has ignited national outrage, with growing calls for stricter regulations on apps like Telegram and harsher punishments for those involved.
These posts quickly gained significant attention on Chinese social media, sparking discussions about similar issues in China, such as the widespread problem of men secretly filming women with hidden cameras in places like dressing rooms and public transport, with the footage often shared online. Many Chinese netizens voiced their support, urging East Asian women to stand together and protect each other from such threats.
What’s Popular
The success of the Chinese game Black Myth: Wukong (黑神话悟空) continues to snowball, becoming a true national sensation. Officially released on August 20 after years in development, the game has exceeded all expectations. Within an hour of its release, it topped Steam’s “Most Played” list, with over 2 million concurrent players.
According to recent data, the game, based on the classic Chinese tale Journey to the West, has been selling around 400,000 copies per day on the American gaming platform Steam over the past two weeks, with no signs of slowing down.
Chinese brands and tourism sites are also benefiting from the success of Black Myth: Wukong, China’s first major ‘AAA’ blockbuster game. The Luckin Coffee chain collaborated with the game to launch a special drink and merchandise. The collaboration drew huge crowds, and the merchandise sold out nationwide in seconds, reportedly almost crashing Luckin’s system. Various scenic sites in Shanxi that appear in the game, from temples to gorges, have also seen a significant boost in tourism.
What’s Memorable
In light of the Land Rover Woman controversy, our archive pick this week takes us back to a popular story from September 2018. A female passenger’s refusal to give up her seat on a high-speed train ignited a wave of reactions on Chinese social media. Dubbed the “High-Speed Train Tyrant Woman” (#高铁霸座女#), her rude behavior quickly went viral. Netizens drew comparisons to a similar incident involving a male passenger earlier that year, sparking a flood of memes featuring the two “train tyrants.”
Weibo Word of the Week
Armless Flying Fish | Our Weibo word of the week is 无臂飞鱼 (wú bì fēi yú), which translates to ‘Armless Flying Fish.’
During the Paralympics, some Chinese athletes have been nicknamed “Armless Flying Fish” by Chinese netizens and media to metaphorically describe their extraordinary ability to “fly” underwater despite their disabilities.
The athlete currently receiving the most attention with this nickname is Para swimmer Guo Jincheng (郭金城), who won five medals, including three gold, at the Paris 2024 Paralympics. The 23-year-old from Hebei Province lost both arms in an accident at the age of five. Since joining the swim team at age 12, Guo has trained nearly every day, focusing not only on body strength but also on breathing techniques to help him swim longer without needing to come up for air.
Another Chinese para athlete, Lu Dong (卢冬), has also been dubbed the ‘Armless Flying Fish’ for her incredible speed in the water despite her disability. At 32, Lu continues to excel—having already won numerous medals throughout her career.
Para swimmer Yuan Weiyi (袁伟译) is another athlete who has earned the “Armless Flying Fish” nickname for transcending boundaries and winning multiple medals over the course of his career.
The original ‘Armless Flying Fish’ is Chinese swimmer Zheng Tao (郑涛), who set a world record by winning four gold medals at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. Zheng lost his arms due to an electric shock when he was a child but did not let this prevent him from achieving remarkable success.
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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.
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 raids did not go trending, and why “grassroots plagiarism-detection” is the word of the week.
🗞️ QUICK SCROLLS
😷 COVID-19 returned to the top of Weibo’s hot lists. Mainland China recorded 79,000 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases between June 1-30, including 130 severe cases and 1 death. In July, COVID numbers have continued to climb. This summer surge reignited discussions about wearing face masks and other precautions to avoid contracting COVID (again). One commenter wrote: “What do you mean, “COVID is back? It never completely went away!”
💳 Chinese banks are giving away AI tokens as loyalty rewards. Six of China’s major banks are launching “AI bank cards” – debit and credit cards – that come with token allowances and AI memberships from companies such as Kimi, MiniMax, Alibaba Cloud, and Tencent instead of traditional perks like coffee coupons or travel benefits. The moves show new ways for traditional banks to embrace the AI boom.
👑 Erling Haaland has become China’s meme king for summer 2026. The Norwegian striker became the biggest viral sensation of the 2026 World Cup on Chinese social media, where his combination of monstrous goal-scoring, Viking-like appearance, and cheeky behavior (such as drinking his opponent’s water during matches) made him irresistible and highly ‘memeable’ to netizens. Haaland also joined the fun on Douyin, where he soon had over 7.3 million followers (& counting).
📚 China’s best-known “delivery poet” has won one of the country’s highest literary awards. Former delivery rider Wang Jibing (王计兵), known as China’s “delivery rider poet” (外卖诗人), is receiving renewed attention after his poetry collection Flying Low (低处飞行) was first shortlisted and then won the prestigious Lu Xun Literature Prize. The 56-year-old first rose to fame in 2022 for writing relatable poems on scraps of paper between food deliveries, and he is the first delivery rider to ever win the award.
🚗 A parking dispute between an ordinary citizen and a local official turned into one of China’s biggest online discussions recently. What started with a Changsha resident finding his privately owned parking space occupied by the car of a government official spiraled into a days-long standoff involving police, mediation, and a social media circus. For netizens watching the story unfold, it wasn’t about parking space but about abuse of power and privilege.
📸 An AI-generated “photo” won first prize in a much-discussed photography contest. The contest was organized by the Federation of Literary & Art Circles in Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia. It was only after it became the winning entry that the picture, showing sanitation workers laughing in the sun, was discovered to be AI-generated. For now, the federation has not only revoked the award but also canceled the entire competition to reflect and do some soul-searching (officially: “carrying out a comprehensive review and rectification process”) in these confusing AI times.
The “photo” that originally won the contest in Hohhot before the organizers discovered it was AI-generated.
🚖 Baidu is doing the Belt and Road by robotaxi. On the sidelines of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (=WAIC, where Xi Jinping personally delivered the opening keynote), Baidu signed a partnership deal to bring its robotaxi service, Apollo Go (萝卜快跑), to Kazakhstan, marking its first major expansion into Central Asia. Apollo Go, with a strong focus on international expansion from Germany to Dubai, has already facilitated 22 million rides worldwide.
🌙 Overnight, everybody is talking about K3, the latest model by the Beijing-based Moonshot AI (月之暗面). Released just before the WAIC, Kimi K3 is now the world’s largest open-source model with 2.8 trillion parameters. Compared to Western counterparts, it stands out for its affordability and coding capabilities. Kimi K3 is available through Moonshot’s own website and API, but they promised to release the full downloadable version around July 27. That would make it the largest, most powerful AI model ever made freely available for download. Some are already calling this a second “DeepSeek moment.”
👁️ EXPLAINER
“God Will Not Save Us, the PLA Will”: Extreme Weather Highlights Divisions, but Official Narratives Stress Unity
“Dear, you Chinese are very strange,” says a Western woman at the start of a video recently posted on social media, questioning why Chinese people don’t share a collective belief in God.
The video appeared after the floods in Guangxi earlier this month—marking the beginning of an extreme summer weather period that disrupted daily life, flooded villages, and caused buildings to collapse.
Starting on July 4, Typhoon Maysak wreaked havoc in Guangxi, where the breach of the Liulan Reservoir led to massive floods (see videos). Farms became completely submerged, while snakes escaped from breeding facilities into nearby villages (one woman in Hengzhou died after getting bitten). At least 39 people were killed in the floods.
Severe storms also killed eleven people in Hubei, while a rain-triggered landslide left 21 dead in Gansu. In Liaoning, more than 260,000 people had to evacuate their homes as Typhoon Bavi brought intense flooding. On July 17, a massive hillside collapse in Pengshui County, Chongqing, left at least eight people dead and 34 missing.
Despite the devastation, there were also more lighthearted moments surrounding the extreme weather. Residents in Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang prepared for Bavi with the so-called “Bavi Shopping Festival” (巴威购物节), using the weather as an excuse to stock up on food and snacks and treat themselves while staying indoors.
Although many joined in on the fun, the trend also triggered criticism. Some argued that turning a natural disaster into a “festival” trivialized the suffering of those affected. It also highlighted a rural-urban and labor divide. While some residents in Shanghai’s high-rise buildings could turn the weather into a moment of comfort, delivery riders and public cleaners had to continue working. Meanwhile, farmers in Guangxi (affected by Maysak) saw their livestock drown.
There was also criticism that celebrity gossip climbed higher on the trending charts than the deadly Guangxi floods. Questions arose about why the Liulan Reservoir, a major water infrastructure project, had suffered a breach and why residents of local villages allegedly weren’t told to evacuate.
But the main message from Chinese officials was one of unity, strength, and collective faith in times of crisis.
One particularly noteworthy 3.5-minute AI-made video contrasted Western spiritual beliefs with Chinese trust in the authorities. Posted on X by the Chinese Consul in Osaka and also shared across Douyin, Bilibili, Facebook, and Instagram, it was titled: “Your God May Not Save You, but the People’s Liberation Army Will” (你的神或许不会救你！但是人民子弟兵会!).
The video shows a Western woman and Chinese man having a romantic dinner after which the sky darkens and a dam breaks. Calling the flood “Satan’s tears,” she insists that God will save them.
“God won’t save us,” he says. “But…”
The video then shows the PLA coming to the aid of people in need. As the Chinese man carries a little girl out of a flooded school, she asks: “Will we die, uncle?”
“No,” he says. “The PLA has already come.”
After being rescued, the woman observes the soldiers working in the rain and sacrificing their own needs to serve the people. She says:
“That day, I saw a miracle. They didn’t come down from the sky, and there was no parting of the Red Sea. But whenever they heard someone crying out, they rushed over. When they saw danger, they stepped up. They don’t believe in God, but they believe in the people.”
Mixing actual footage of PLA rescue operations with AI-generated scenes, the video portrays the PLA as a “miracle” of modern-day China. In doing so, it creates a dichotomy between passive, hopeless Western belief in divine intervention and proactive, optimistic Chinese trust in the power of the Party and the PLA.
Similar narratives are widespread on Chinese social media, where hashtags such as “The Chinese-style unity foreigners will never understand” (#外国人永远无法理解的中国式团结#) are used to share images of rescue workers helping people.
Although narratives of unity are part of the propaganda playbook in times of crisis, these state-centered stories of national resilience and strength truly resonate, especially among netizens whose brothers, fathers, cousins, or friends are serving in the military or involved in rescue efforts.
These messages draw on public solidarity and boost collective belief that China is strong because the people, the Party, and the PLA stand together in times of disaster. In doing so, they also redirect attention away from more uncomfortable questions of responsibility and the divisions exposed during times of crisis.
One Douyin commenter replied:
“Please remember that the People’s Army we cherish and support is led by the Communist Party of China. So don’t let the trivial frustrations of everyday life, personal disappointments, or attempts by internet trolls, agenda-pushers, and ‘[foreign] colonizer dogs’ to sow division and make you abandon our true faith.”
Another person wrote:
“The gods will not save the people, but the people will save the people.”
📱ON THE FEEDS
“Kung Fu Soccer” Scores for Cartoonish Moves and a Sense of Nostalgia
The latest movie by Hong Kong comedy legend Stephen Chow (周星驰), Kung Fu Soccer (功夫女足), has become a social media breakout hit this summer.
The film is a spiritual successor to Chow’s 2001 classic Shaolin Soccer (少林足球), this time swapping genders and focusing on a Chinese women’s team that combines kung fu with football and competes in the AFC Women’s Champions League.
Scenes from “Kung Fu Soccer”
Although opinions on the comedy are polarized (it has only received a 6.5 rating on Douban), the film, featuring stars such as Zhang Xiaofei (张小斐), Dilraba Dilmurat (迪丽热巴), and Lay Zhang (张艺兴), passed 1.2 billion yuan (US$177.1 million) at the box office within a single week. It is also all over Chinese social media feeds thanks to its anime-like moves, comic dialogue, and numerous Easter eggs.
For many viewers, the film evokes a sense of nostalgia, bringing back memories of Shaolin Soccer and how it made them feel at the time.
From 2001 Shaolin Soccer
One Xiaohongshu user wrote after seeing the film:
“The fire inside me is still there. As a kid, I watched Shaolin Soccer and remembered the line: ‘If a person has no dreams, what’s the difference between them and a salted fish?’ (做人如果没有梦想，跟咸鱼有什么分别) […] Maybe the fire doesn’t burn as fiercely as it did when I was younger. But it hasn’t gone out.”
WHAT’S NOT TRENDING
Hong Kong’s Bookstore Arrests and the Silence on China’s Social Media
One story of great significance this week, despite not trending at all, is the recent round of bookstore arrests in Hong Kong. Following similar operations in March and June this year, authorities targeted the “Have a Nice Stay” (留下书舍) and “Greenfield Bookstore” (田园书屋) shops in the Mong Kok area this time. Both are being investigated for selling “seditious” publications, and five people were arrested.
One much-shared clip showed a female bookstore employee being taken away wearing a simple black T-shirt with the words “I am bookstore staff”, almost turning the phrase into a defiant slogan.
It’s noteworthy that although news of the raids has been widely discussed on X and covered by international media, it has barely circulated on mainland Chinese social media. At the time of writing, I could find just two Weibo posts about the arrests. One was published by a nationalist blogger who wrote: “Good work! Crack down as soon as they rear their heads! ✊”
Another commentary by pro-Beijing Hong Kong commentator “Ko Sir” (@香港高Sir高松杰) described the bookstore employee’s T-shirt as a deliberate attempt to “win sympathy” and “conceal a crime.” Ironically, Ko Sir also saw his own post censored, as two of the four images he posted were taken offline.
🀄 ONLINE PHRASE OF THE WEEK
“Grassroots plagiarism-detection”
民间鉴抄 (mínjiān jiànchāo)
Recently, the phenomenon of “grassroots plagiarism-detection” 民间鉴抄 (mínjiān jiànchāo) and “plagiarism-checking bloggers” 鉴抄博主 (jiànchāo bózhǔ) have received spotlight attention in China.
民间鉴抄 (mínjiān jiànchāo) is a word to describe how ordinary internet users independently scrutinize books, theses, and other publications for signs of plagiarism.
The phenomenon first gained attention in 2024 and reached a climax this week, when two well-known writers were exposed for plagiarism and had their academic degrees revoked. The cases concern Jia Qianqian (贾浅浅), a poet and the daughter of the famous Chinese author Jia Pingwa (贾平凹), and Jiang Fangzhou (蒋方舟), a former child prodigy-turned-writer.
The reason both writers lost their credentials within just a few days of each other is that their theses were flagged for plagiarism by the enthusiastic book blogger Wang Hao (王浩). Writing under the alias “Lyrical Forest” (抒情的森林), he began checking well-known literary authors for academic plagiarism in 2024 after discovering a plagiarized passage in a book by coincidence. He has since uncovered suspected plagiarism involving nearly forty well-known authors, including Jia Qianqian and Jiang Fangzhou.
In this case, both Renmin University, where Jiang earned her master’s degree, and Shaanxi Normal University and Northwest University, where Jia earned her degree and obtained her teaching qualifications, took action following the allegations.
Many netizens applaud this kind of plagiarism detection: if the authorities do not check, it is up to the people. In their eyes, this is not just about individual cases of plagiarism, but about a deep-rooted problem of academic misconduct in China and the power dynamics that perpetuate it. For now, it looks like “grassroots plagiarism detection” is here to stay, especially as long as formal institutions fail to address these problems.
That’s a wrap! Thanks to Miranda Barnes, who contributed to multiple topics discussed in this edition.
Eye on Digital China, by Manya Koetse, is co-published on Substack and What’s on Weibo. Both feature the same new content — so you can read and subscribe wherever you prefer. Substack offers community features, while What’s on Weibo provides full archive access.
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As Europe struggles through record heat, Chinese social media is turning the story into something much bigger than the weather. Plus: the graduation speech everyone is talking about & more.
🔥 China Trend Watch (week 26/27 | 2026) Part of Eye on Digital China, this is my premium newsletter where I explain the stories, memes, debates, and viral moments shaping online conversations in China. This edition was sent to paid subscribers — subscribe to receive the next issue in your inbox.
Here’s your weekly update on what’s been trending. In case you missed it, earlier this week I published a deep dive into the CITIC Tower plane crash and how its immediate aftermath was handled online. In this newsletter: Louis Vuitton’s victory in a noteworthy trademark case against a Chinese tea brand; how and why the European heatwave has become a major topic in China; a controversial gaming character; and an inspiring must-know phrase of the week.
🗞️ QUICK SCROLLS
🍉 Don’t buy precut watermelons. During these hot days, watermelons are a popular snack, but this stern warning went viral: avoid pre-cut watermelons sold by roadside vendors, as they’re a potential health hazard due to improper refrigeration and cross-contamination from cutting surfaces and knives —you have no idea what else they’ve been used for 😬.
🇯🇵 China blames Japan for ties hitting a new low. During a July 1st press briefing, China’s Foreign Ministry said Sino-Japanese relations are facing “severe difficulties,” blaming Tokyo’s stance on Taiwan and security issues. The remarks come amid renewed tensions, including Japan’s announcement that multiple Chinese naval vessels had transited waters near the country and the reported formal arrest of a Japanese citizen detained in Dalian.
🌾 No messing around with China’s heroes. A Chinese agricultural influencer with over 2 million followers has been permanently banned from Douyin after posting negative remarks about the hybrid rice breeding technology developed by the late Yuan Longping (袁隆平), China’s national hero and “Father of Hybrid Rice,” widely praised for his role in combating poverty and hunger.
🛎️ The 24-hour checkout as a new hotel standard? Check in at 3 pm, check out at 3 pm the next day—that’s the idea behind a viral checkout policy introduced by the Chinese hotel chain Qinzhu Hotel (沁住酒店). The policy breaks with the long-standing industry practice of requiring guests to check out before noon. Instead, checkout is calculated from the guest’s actual check-in time, allowing them to stay for a full 24 hours before checking out. The policy is generating discussions, with many wondering if this could point towards changing policies in the broader industry.
🎖️ The Party turns 105. July 1 marked the 105th founding anniversary of the Communist Party, an occasion heavily promoted across Chinese social media as eight Party members received the “July 1 Medal” (七一勋章), the Party’s highest honor. Among them was Henan village Party secretary Li Liancheng (李连成), who transformed a poor village into a model of rural development. July 1 also marks 29 years since Hong Kong’s return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.
📅 Interesting fact: July 1 is not the Communist Party’s actual founding date. The 1st National Congress opened in Shanghai on July 23, 1921. The Party settled on July 1 as its anniversary in 1938 only because the Yan’an-based delegates who had attended the congress, including Mao Zedong and Dong Biwu, could remember that it had taken place in July, but not the exact day (and wartime conditions made archival verification difficult).
🌸 Whose flower is it anyway? The French luxury house Louis Vuitton won a first-instance trademark infringement case against the new Chinese tea chain Molly Tea (茉莉奶白) this week. The Chinese brand was sued over the four-petal flower symbol in its logo, similar to LV’s core floral element. But many netizens disagree with the judge’s decision, arguing that the flower can be traced to the iconic Baoxianghua (宝相花) motif that flourished during the Tang Dynasty (618-907).
👁️ WHAT STOOD OUT
Nationalism, Soft Power, and the European Heatwave in China
AI-generated images posted on Chinese social media showing Europeans suffering in the heat while Chinese pigs are relaxing with cool units (left) and Chinese manufacturers selling out (right).
The high temperatures in Europe have become a hot topic in China, where the heatwave across France, Belgium, Germany, and other countries has been one of the biggest international stories of the past two weeks, with China cast in a particularly prominent role.
In China, the European heatwave, with temperatures reaching 40–45°C and causing deaths across several countries, is discussed from various angles and is also used to make broader geopolitical, economic, and ideological points about Europe and China-EU relations. These are the three dominant ways in which the heatwave is currently being discussed on Chinese social media:
🌡️ 1. “China Is Keeping Europe Cool”: European Heat Through the Lens of Chinese Soft Power and Anti-”De-Risking” Narratives
Chinese state media have framed the European heatwave by emphasizing the role of Chinese-made air conditioners. In countries such as Spain, Germany, and France, air-conditioner sales have nearly doubled compared to last year, with Chinese manufacturers such as Haier and Midea reporting sales increases of up to 70% while ramping up production to meet demand.
A main narrative is that China is helping Europe by meeting demand at a critical time. A similar narrative emerged during the 2022 energy crisis, when Chinese media emphasized how made-in-China products, from blankets to heaters, were keeping Europeans warm.
As a recent Xinhua commentary argued, the current shortage demonstrates that Chinese manufacturers are filling a gap where European companies are falling short. While Europe increasingly frames China-EU trade in terms of “de-risking,” the article argues that Chinese manufacturing actually provides resilience during times of crisis and should therefore be seen as an asset rather than a risk.
🌡️ 2. “Even Pigs Have Air Conditioning in China”: Schadenfreude and Nationalism
The heatwave story and the fact that most European homes do not have air conditioning have also been met with ridicule and disbelief on Chinese social media, where one recurring joke is that while Europeans are suffering through extreme heat, even pigs have air conditioning in China.
The story partly originated on Chinese social media but was also fueled by posts on X. Around June 24, one tweet showing Chinese pigsties equipped with air conditioners received thousands of likes.
Chinese netizens also had plenty of banter over other X posts in which Europeans proudly showed off their newly purchased air conditioners, as though they had just discovered a new technology. For many Chinese commenters, it is simply unimaginable that air conditioning is still considered a luxury in much of Europe.
A local Hai’er account on Xiaohongshu joked:
💬 “Europeans spend hundreds of euros on an AC and still have to check the regulations; we spend a few thousand yuan (…) and enjoy wrapping ourselves in a quilt while eating watermelon in the middle of summer.”
A recurring theme in these discussions is that China once admired Western technology and modernity, whereas today the roles seem reversed. Now, some commenters say, Europeans are marveling at Chinese-made air conditioners. As one Weibo wrote: “It’s like our ancestors when they first saw cars.”
🌡️ 3. Europe Is Putting Climate Policy Ahead of Ordinary People: Criticism of EU Governance
Another dominant theme is the idea that Europe has become hypocritical—or excessively “politically correct”—in its environmental policies. Many commenters argue that the low prevalence of air conditioning in European homes is partly the result of regulators’ longstanding skepticism toward air conditioning on environmental grounds.
This has fueled the narrative, amplified by Chinese media this month, that Europeans are now suffering and even dying during heatwaves because green ideology has stigmatized air conditioning.
At the same time, many users mock what they see as the EU’s willingness to criticize other countries over greenhouse gas emissions while failing to protect its own citizens from extreme heat.
One AI-generated meme showed crying polar bears, monkeys, and penguins alongside the slogan:”Save nature! Save the animals! Oppose Europe installing air conditioning—this is a betrayal of Mother Nature.” One of the meme’s posters wrote on Weibo:
💬 “Europeans have been preaching the gospel of environmentalism (环保圣经). Now, it’s finally coming back to bite them.”
Another depicted Ursula von der Leyen relaxing beneath a powerful Midea air conditioner, comfortably enjoying the very equipment that her policies supposedly discourage.
All in all, for some, the debate over air conditioning is about something much bigger. The lack of air conditioning in many European countries—along with the regulations, infrastructure constraints, and electricity costs surrounding it—has become symbolic of a broader reassessment of Europe. For some Chinese netizens, it challenges the long-held idea that life in Europe is necessarily better or more idyllic than life in China.
One netizen even advised fellow Chinese against emigrating to Europe:
💬 “Over the next five to ten years, I think people in China will become much more clear-eyed, and many existing illusions about Europe will gradually disappear.”
📱ON THE FEEDS
No More Werewolves in the Love and Deepspace House
The Chinese mobile game Love and Deepspace (恋与深空) has been all over the feeds, with some Weibo discussions garnering nearly half a billion views after the game was hit by controversy.
The game, developed by Papergames, is a so-called otome game — a story-based romance video game aimed primarily at women. Recently, a new male character lead was introduced: Ao Yin (敖尹, English name: Valk0), introduced as a werewolf, who breaks into the home of a woman living alone as part of a romantic scenario, after which he says: “What’s wrong with inviting the wolf into the house?” (引狼入室有什么不好) — a line critics say romanticizes non-consensual home intrusion.
What also sparked outrage was a reference to an “A-0731” file number tied to an in-game human drug-trial dossier. Players connected “0731” to Unit 731, the biological and chemical weapons program operated by the Japanese Army in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War/WWII.
The developers apologized, and for now, Ao Yin is canceled entirely — no more werewolves coming in the house.
🀄 ONLINE PHRASE OF THE WEEK
“Move forward firmly amid the noise”
在众声喧哗中坚定前行 (zài zhòngshēng xuānhuá zhōng jiāndìng qiánxíng)
An unusual speech by a Peking University professor made waves over the past week. Cheng Lesong (程乐松), chair of Peking University’s Department of Philosophy, delivered a graduation speech on June 26 that sparked widespread discussion for breaking away from the usual clichés and generic commencement themes.
In the speech, Cheng captured the cultural mood and social pressures facing China’s younger generations today: a society where everything—from career choices to a cup of milk tea—needs to be meaningful, yet increasingly feels meaningless; and where everyone is expected to succeed while increasingly feeling like they’re falling short.
“The anticipatory anxiety about the ruthlessness of social competition leads us to plunge into an overwhelming fear of failure,” Cheng said. “Because we expect constant affirmation, we come to interpret every ordinary day as proof that our lives have failed. We become absorbed in the hope that one day we will ‘begin our real lives,’ forgetting that we are already living them.”
Life was never meant to be meticulously ordered, Cheng argues, and needs room for a certain amount of chaos and twists and turns that no one saw coming. A completely disordered life is unimaginable, but so too is a life of perfect precision. How we go through life depends on how we deal with it, how we understand ourselves, and how we learn to allow life to unfold.
The true mission in our lives, the lifelong task that philosophy presents to us according to Cheng, is therefore to carve out a unique spiritual path for ourselves, and “to move forward steadily amid the cacophony of many voices.”
That message has struck a chord among netizens, with some saying they replayed the speech over and over again because they felt Cheng was really talking about the predicament facing young people today.
That’s a wrap. Have a good week, and keep your head cool.
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Best,
Manya
Eye on Digital China, by Manya Koetse, is co-published on Substack and What’s on Weibo. Both feature the same new content — so you can read and subscribe wherever you prefer. Substack offers community features, while What’s on Weibo provides full archive access. If you’re already subscribed and want to switch platforms, just get in touch for help. If you no longer wish to receive these newsletters, or are receiving duplicate editions, you can unsubscribe at any time.
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