China Animals

Young Man Buys Small Dog, Turns Out Not to Be a Dog at All

Published

8 years ago

October 13, 2018

A strange story is currently making its rounds on Wechat, involving a small black dog that turned out not to be a dog at all.

Beijing News reports that a young Chinese man wanted a pet, and, on his limited budget, decided to purchase a small dog from a local dog seller.

At the beginning, the article says, the man found the small animal to be chubby and cute, but the longer he had it,…

Up Next

Trending in Beijing This Week: From Passenger Shaming to Fake Elephants

Don't Miss

K-Pop’s Recipe for Success: Why Korean Idol Groups Got So Big in China and are Conquering the World

Manya Koetse

Manya Koetse is a sinologist, writer, and public speaker specializing in China’s social trends, digital culture, and online media ecosystems. She founded What’s on Weibo in 2013 and now runs the Eye on Digital China newsletter. Learn more at manyakoetse.com or follow her on X, Instagram, or LinkedIn.

3 Comments

hARRI

October 13, 2018 at 3:05 pm

Why didn’t he just eat it?

Reply
Zhu Dan

October 21, 2018 at 5:40 am

It’s a guinea pug, not a bamboo rat.

Reply
- Zhu Dan
  
  October 21, 2018 at 5:42 am
  
  Sorry, guinea pig. Not pug.
  
  Reply

China Animals

China Faces Unprecedented Donkey Shortage Crisis

“We have plenty of cattle and horses in China now — just not enough donkeys” (“目前我国牛马都不缺，就缺驴”).

Published

12 months ago

October 5, 2025

Manya Koetse

China is facing a serious donkey shortage. China’s donkey population is far below market demand, and the prices of donkey-related products continue to rise.

Recently, this issue went trending on Weibo under hashtags such as “China Currently Faces a Donkey Crisis” (#我国正面临缺驴危机#).

The Donkey Branch of China’s Livestock Association (中国畜牧业协会驴业分会) addressed this issue in Chinese media earlier last week, telling China News Weekly(中国新闻周刊): “We have plenty of cattle and horses in…

Chapter Dive

Behind the Mysterious Death of Chinese Internet Celebrity Cat Wukong

“Dont believe the media,” Zhao Shuo said: “And also don’t believe me.”

Published

1 year ago

May 11, 2025

Manya Koetse

How did the death of a young stray cat lead to a online wave of grief and outrage over the past few days? It started with fans mourning a beloved Chinese internet celebrity cat, then turned into backlash against fake news, anger over animal cruelty groups, and suspicions that local officials were more concerned with controlling the narrative than finding the truth.

Although things turned dark quickly, it began beautifully light.

The journey of…