Newsletter
Weibo Watch: The “Subway Judge”
From Subway Judge to Diving Grandpas, these were the main topics that mattered on Chinese social media recently.
Published
3 years agoon
PREMIUM NEWSLETTER | ISSUE #13
This week’s newsletter:
◼︎ 1. Editor’s Note – The Subway Judge
◼︎ 2. What’s Trending – A closer look at the featured stories
◼︎ 3. What More to Know – Highlighting 8 hot topics
◼︎ 4. What Lies Behind – Beyond Huawei’s latest release
◼︎ 5. What’s Noteworthy – Digging through the Great Wall
◼︎ 6. What’s Popular – Oppenheimer, censored
◼︎ 7. What’s Memorable – Kimono problems
◼︎ 8. Weibo Word of the Week – “Anti-Radiation”
Featured header contains a meme that has spread online, posted by account @肉肉杀手zz
Dear Reader,
A new character was added to China’s memeverse this week. He is called the ‘Subway Judge’ (Dìtiě Pànguān, 地铁判官), a young man who gained notoriety for an incident that occurred on a Qingdao subway this week.
In a video of the incident that went completely viral on Chinese social media, an elderly man and a woman got into an argument with another female passenger over seating arrangements. The woman was accused of taking up two seats, which infuriated the man, prompting him to shout, “So I can take ten seats if I want!”
In this moment, the young man, wearing a Vans t-shirt, approached the scene upon hearing the commotion and he seemingly intervened in the name of justice: he looked at the elderly man in disbelief upon hearing him yell about taking ten seats. Without hesitation, he slapped the elderly man on the cheek and then walked away, leaving everyone bewildered.

The Subway Judge meme: within that brief moment, he transitioned from confusion, assessing the situation, to decisively making up his mind, and taking action when seeing ‘injustice.’
It is this moment, just a mere few seconds, that made the young man instantly famous, and he was hailed as a hero for daring to step up when witnessing injustice, for confronting an elderly, for daring to handing out a slap when people are behaving uncivilized in public spaces -especially on public transport. The incident sparked a series of memes, and the T-shirt worn by the young man soon sold out on Taobao.
In some memes, the ‘Subway Judge’ was depicted with a crescent moon on his forehead, like Bao Zheng (包拯), a Chinese historical figure who is known as one of China’s most celebrated upright and just officials who even dared to contradict the emperor.
The praise for the “Subway Judge” mirrors the exasperation and powerlessness many feel in the face of uncivilized conduct in public places. It’s precisely because his actions are so unusual – who among the younger generation would dare to deliver a slap to an elderly individual’s face?! – that they resonate with younger people, who find it refreshing to witness such a bold and unconventional response.
One account pretending to be the “Subway Judge” wrote down the basics of his character: “First! Never act on impulse. Second! Never let any wrongdoing slip through. Third! Ensure the absolute fairness of judgment. The Subway Righteous Judge (地铁正义判官) is here to make a righteous appearance!” Some vloggers have even gone out in public pretending to be the ‘Subway Judge.’

Various Subway Judge memes.
As usually happens when small incidents go viral so fast, the real circumstances behind the meme are overlooked. The elderly man had not meant his words to be taken so literally; the younger man had misunderstood the situation; and physical violence should not be praised. The incident’s aftermath involved the elderly man filing a police report. Local authorities have stated that the man who slapped him has mental health issues, and that both parties have now reached an agreement, resolving the issue.
Meanwhile, the legacy of the Subway Judge lives on in China’s online meme culture.
Isn’t it ironic that in this time when people are desperately searching for common sense, boldness, and a fresh perspective, the individual hailed as a hero turns out to be struggling with ‘mental illness’? Perhaps it’s indicative of the times we live in, prompting us to question who the ‘sick’ ones actually are. Maybe we all need a slap of reality.
Miranda Barnes and Ruixin Zhang have contributed to this week’s newsletter.
Best,
Manya (@manyapan)
PS In case you missed it, some of the viral videos I tweeted about this week:
➡️ The viral moment in the Qingdao subway.
➡️ It seems that Jay Chou’s concerts in Tianjin were quite spectacular. The Tianjin Olympic Center, with a capacity of 54,696 seats, provided an impressive venue. According to a previous report by GT, a whopping 5.2 million people had expressed their interest in attending one of Jay’s four Tianjin concerts, with the final one happening today. Remarkably, around 130,000 tickets were sold within just 30 seconds after becoming available for purchase.
➡️ Amid discussions over draft law banning clothes harmful to the “spirit, feelings of the Chinese nation,” this incident sparked discussions: Chinese wearing Tang clothes were denied entry at Panlongcheng Park, Wuhan, after local guard mistook their clothes for Japanese attire. Watch video here.
➡️ Shinjuku restaurant puts up a sign saying all their food comes from Fukushima. This Chinese vlogger feels wronged and calls the police. Video with subtitles.
➡️ And some viral pictures showed that not everyone is appreciating the latest collaboration hype between Luckin coffee and Maotai liquor.
What’s Trending

1: From Baijiu Latte to DIY Liquor Coffee | Would you like a shot with that? China’s coffee culture is brewing up something new as it embraces the fusion of coffee and alcohol. This blossoming trend, such a hot topic online this week thanks to the hyped Luckin x Maotai collaboration, is sparking curiosity and discussions about its lasting impact on coffee culture in China.

2: A Different Eco-anxiety Discourse | This year, as China faced extreme heat and severe floods, various English-language media outlets noticed a lack of public discourse on climate change in China. Unlike the West, where discussions on extreme weather link to human-caused climate change, China doesn’t often connect global warming to its carbon emissions or manufacturing practices. Instead, concerns about ecological challenges and the future are directed toward different topics. In our recent article, we explore how climate change, global warming, and environmental activism may not be as prominent in daily life and online media in China as in the West, but certain ecological topics, often promoted by state media and amplified by the public, gain all the more attention.

3: Cultural Sensitivities vs. Personal Freedom: | China’s recent proposal to ban clothing that “hurts national feelings” has triggered social media debates about freedom of dress and cultural sensitivities. The controversial amendment has raised questions about who decides what’s offensive for which reason. While some argue for the significance of protecting national pride, others emphasize the value of personal expression. Amid these discussions, an incident sparked discussions: Chinese wearing Tang clothes were denied entry at Panlongcheng Park, Wuhan, after local guard mistook their clothes for Japanese attire (see video).
What More to Know

Tianjin’s diving grandpas had to stop their diving activities after rising to internet fame, causing too many people to dive into the river.
◼︎ 1. G20 without Xi. While the BRICS Summit was one of the hot topics mentioned in our previous Weibo Watch newsletter, the G20 (二十国集团) in India is the big international event that is receiving the most attention this week. The most noteworthy issue about it is that Xi Jinping is not attending the summit, held between 9–10 September, even though he has never missed a G20 summit before. Instead, Premier of the State Council Li Qiang (李强) is attending the meetings, and he called for solidarity and cooperation, and a strengthened coordination of macroeconomic policies on Saturday. (Hashtag “G20 summit” #g20峰会#, 310 million views).
◼︎ 2. Morocco Earthquake. The major earthquake in Morocco has been dominating headlines all over the world, and is also a big topic on Weibo. At least 2,012 people have been killed and 2,059 injured in Friday’s devastating earthquake. Xi Jinping extended China’s condolences to the King of Morocco. After the devastating earthquake that hit southern Turkey and northern Syria in February of this year, various rescue groups from all over China came to assist in the quake-hit areas. (Weibo hashtag: “Morocco 6.9-Magnitude Earthquake” #摩洛哥6.9级地震#, 120 million views.)
◼︎ 3. Extreme Rain & Floods. Over the past week, Hong Kong and Shenzhen experienced the most severe rainfall on record, causing traffic problems, school and office closures, and ongoing flood concerns. This heavy rain was a result of the lingering impact of Typhoon Haikui, which had struck Taiwan, Fujian, and Guangdong earlier in the week. With a red alert (the highest warning level) in place on Friday, local authorities urged residents to stay home and reach out to official channels for assistance if needed. (Weibo hashtags “Shenzhen Rainstorms” #深圳暴雨#, 2 billion views; “Hong Kong Torrential Rains” #香港暴雨#, 280 million views).
◼︎ 4. Girl Hospitalized with Skull Fracture Following Teacher’s Attack. A disturbing incident has captured the attention of Chinese social media this week as a 9-year-old girl in Changsha city was admitted to the hospital after being assaulted by her teacher. The incident transpired during an after-school activity when the 40-year-old teacher reportedly used a glass ruler to strike the student in an attempt to ‘maintain order.’ The girl, who sustained a fractured skull, has regained consciousness following surgery. The teacher has been detained pending an investigation into the incident. (Hashtag “Teacher under Public Security Investigation for Fracturing Student’s Skull #公安介入调查老师打碎学生头骨#, 130 million views; Female Student Whose Skull was Fractured by Teacher has Awaken #被老师打破头骨女生已清醒#, 180 million views).
◼︎ 5. Tianjin’s Diving Grandpas Tell People To Stop Diving. Recently, Tianjin’s “diving grandpas” have gained significant attention for their daring dives into the river from the Stone Lion Forest Bridge (狮子林桥), becoming an internet sensation. The elderly men, who have ample experience, have now called on the public to stop coming to Tianjin to imitate their actions, as it is leading to social media influencers flocking to the bridge to dive, causing dangerous situations. While the city authorities are now investigating the safety of the site, the grandpas also have stopped their diving activities after thirty years. It’s the downside of internet fame! (Hashtag: “Tianjin ‘Uncles’ Announce Withdrawal from Lion Forest Bridge Diving” #天津大爷们宣布退出狮子林桥跳水#, 180 million views)
◼︎ 6. CNKI Fined. China’s Cyberspace Administration has taken legal action against the private-owned publishing company CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure) for unlawfully collecting personal data. CNKI allegedly collected personal information without obtaining consent, failed to provide clear disclosure of its data collection policies, and neglected to delete user personal data upon account cancellation. As a result, CNKI has been instructed to halt its illegal handling of personal information and has been fined 50 million RMB (approximately $6 million USD). (Weibo hasthag #知网被罚款5000万元#, 160 million views)
◼︎ 7. Weibo Bans Crypto Influencers. This week, China’s tightening grip on cryptocurrency activities became more evident as Weibo removed the accounts of 80 cryptocurrency influencers, each with over 8 million followers, as reported by the South China Morning Post (SCMP). This move follows a broader crackdown initiated in August 2022 when the Cyberspace Administration of China removed thousands of crypto-related accounts and posts promoting virtual assets. Weibo had previously banned prominent figures like Binance co-founder Yi He and cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun as part of the government’s efforts to regulate the virtual asset industry, which began in 2019. In September 2021, ten Chinese government agencies collectively declared numerous cryptocurrency-related activities as illegal financial practices. (Read the SCMP report here).
◼︎ 8. Controversial “Drink Milk” Plan for Students. A school in Suiping County, Henan, sparked controversy recently when a teacher required parents to provide medical documentation proving their child’s inability to consume milk if they chose not to subscribe to the school’s milk program. China introduced the National School Milk Programme (学生饮用奶计划) in 2000 to encourage dairy consumption for students’ healthy growth, but participation is meant to be voluntary. This incident brought attention to the issue of “hidden costs” within China’s education system and the pressure placed on parents to cover various expenses, some of which may involve commissions for the school. The school later clarified that the requirement regarding the milk was an individual initiative by one of their teachers, and that appropriate action had been taken, including reprimanding the teacher for their actions. (Weibo hashtag “Students Who Don’t Subscribe to Milk Need Proof of Hospital Diagnosis” #学生不订奶要开县级医院以上诊断证明#, 160 million views).
What’s Behind the Headlines

Beyond Huawei’s Mate60 Release
The early release of the latest Huawei smartphone Mate60 Pro on August 28th sparked a wide range of online discussions this week. As the phone is believed to be armed with homegrown cutting-edge technology, Chinese tech bloggers rushed to get their hands on the Mate60 Pro to present their followers with their detailed analysis of the piece. Some videos on this topic garnered over 100 million views within a single day.
While many Chinese consumers are excited about the technological aspects, Huawei’s actions are also scrutinized in the context of China-US geopolitical tensions. The surprising release without a traditional press conference coincided with the visit of US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo to China. The Mate60 Pro, equipped with the Kirin 9000s chip, a domestic 7 nanometer (nm) innovation, is seen by some as a response to US tech sanctions. People analyzed details to ascertain if the timing was intentional. Some noted that Chinese Premier Li Qiang had visited several tech firms in Shenzhen, including Huawei, just a week before Raimondo’s scheduled visit. Others observed that a Weibo post from an account widely believed to represent China’s state media (央视新闻) featured a watermark of the Huawei Mate60 Pro on the same day as Raimondo’s press conference in Shanghai, which was the day after the new phone’s launch. Many view this as a display of China’s confidence in its tech capabilities despite US sanctions, and they humorously portrayed Raimondo as the best ambassador for the Huawei Mate60 Pro through memes.
Simultaneously, some expressed frustration that the West appeared relatively quiet as China is making strides in chip development. They were eager to see how the West would react. However, after the initial week, some Western reactions did come to the forefront. During the same week, news emerged that China was prohibiting certain civil service and government officials from using iPhones. The hashtag “Will you switch from iPhone to Huawei this year?” (“今年你会从iPhone转华为吗”) ranked second on the hot search lists and received nearly 180 million views. People appear to be rooting for more than just the latest Huawei smartphone; it’s become a symbol of technological independence.
What’s Noteworthy

Digging through Historical Heritage | Two construction workers from Inner Mongolia were working at a construction site near the Great Wall when they decided to use their excavator to dig through the Ming Wall in order to create a 5-meter wide shortcut and save some time on their construction work. In doing so, they caused irreversible damage to the cultural heritage site. Commenters on Weibo suggest the two construction workers deserve an “ancient punishment” for ruining such ancient heritage.
What’s Popular

My Censorship is Better than Yours | Christopher Nolan’s summer blockbuster has finally hit the screens in China, five weeks after it was first released in the United States and several other countries. While the movie was a hot topic online, Chinese cinemagoers noticed that a nude Florence Pugh, who plays Jean Tatlock, is wearing a computer-generated black dress in China’s version of Oppenheimer. Instead of criticizing the censorship, many people praised the little black dress, suggesting China’s editing is better than India’s.
What’s Memorable

Fashion Police This week, there has been significant discussion surrounding a proposed amendment to China’s Public Security Law, which includes provisions for banning clothing deemed “harmful” to “the spirit and sentiments of the Chinese nation.” This controversial topic (read) has ignited debates about the implications of having actual ‘fashion police’ in China, raising questions about what attire would be permissible and what would not.
This situation harks back to a noteworthy incident from last summer when a young Chinese female cosplayer, dressed in a Japanese summer kimono while taking photos in Suzhou’s ‘Little Tokyo’ area, was detained by local police for allegedly ‘provoking trouble.’ While some argued that wearing Japanese clothing near a sensitive date like August 15 (Victory over Japan) might not be appropriate, many voices defended the woman’s right to wear whatever she chose, including a Japanese summer yukata.
Weibo Word of the Week

“Anti Radiation” | Our Weibo Word of the Week is “防辐射” (fáng fúshè), which translates to “protect against radiation” or “anti-radiation.”
Since Japan began releasing treated radioactive water from the damaged Fukushima power plant into the ocean, various related discussions have surged across Chinese social media platforms. Concerned netizens are actively seeking ways to safeguard themselves against potential radiation risks. Some are sharing advice on foods believed to offer protection against radiation exposure.

The term “anti-radiation” has gained significant popularity on the Baidu search engine, experiencing a 3083% surge in searches compared to the previous month.
Simultaneously, certain businesses have attempted to profit from these radiation concerns. One Japanese-style restaurant in Shanghai’s Hongqiao area recently stirred controversy by offering an “anti-radiation” set meal (“防辐射”套餐). This meal, initially introduced on the online platform Dianping, featured ingredients like tomatoes, edamame, tofu, and spinach. Read more about this in our article here.
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.
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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.
Chapter Dive
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
5 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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Eye on Digital China, by Manya Koetse, is co-published on Substack and What’s on Weibo.
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© 2025 Manya Koetse. All rights reserved.
China Media
IShowSpeed in China: Streaming China’s Stories Well
Published
1 year 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.
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