Straight out of a video game: China’s ubiquitous food-delivery app caught the Chinese internet’s attention this week after testing a powered exoskeleton for its couriers. The exoskeleton endows the wearer with the strength to carry up to 50 kg with ease.
A Stanford University graduate has ignited a social media storm by taking a job with an obscure township government in eastern China — highlighting the ferocious competition for state-sector positions.
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In a notice Friday, Douyin — the Chinese version of TikTok — said six kinds of content including “flaunting wealth,” promoting money-worship, and “making fun of the poor” are now banned on the short-video app.
In recent years, a growing number of Chinese women have been shunning real-life relationships, and instead finding romance in a series of viral video games. Now, many are trying to move these digital relationships into the physical world. 1/6
Chinese archeologists announced on Tuesday the discovery of what is believed to be a 5,000-year-old settlement near the Sanxingdui ruins in Sichuan province where a large number of relics were unearthed, including a pottery pig reminiscent of the smartphone game Angry Birds.
Qian Haifeng has been documenting China’s disappearing “green trains” for about 10 years.
“All you have to do is to board a green train … and you’ll understand how many people on low incomes exist in China,” Qian told Sixth Tone.
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“Skr,” one of the most popular memes this year, has taken over the Chinese internet since pop idol Kris Wu used it in a reality show. What does this three-letter word mean?
Read more on China’s top slang of 2018:
As a new wave of coronavirus infections threatens Suzhou, Jiangsu province, the local government has created cat-themed pandemic prevention posters to raise public awareness.
A father waiting outside a test site for China’s national college entrance exam in Zigong, Sichuan while holding a banner reading “No matter how well you did on the exam, Dad and Mom will always love you” has tugged at the heartstrings of Chinese netizens. (Photo: The Paper)
Students at Yangzheng Primary School in Hangzhou wear DIY “one-meter hats” on the first day of the new semester. The headmaster said the initiative aims to help students get accustomed to social distancing amid the
#coronavirus
pandemic. (Photos courtesy of Zhejiang Daily)
Wuhan will conduct full-scale nucleic acid testing of its 11 million residents over the next 10 days, after six new
#coronavirus
cases were reported over the weekend.
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While the US remains the global center of sneaker culture, demand is growing even faster in China. The market is fueled by trends in streetwear, hip-hop, and the digital platforms that allow collectors to trade shoes like stock market shares.
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Young Chinese are moving to Sweden in record numbers, seeking better labor conditions and a more tolerant society. Many are underwhelmed by what they find.
A Chinese schoolgirl bought a writing robot for 800 yuan ($120) to write her homework. "This is too deceptive. If you don't look closely, it's hard to distinguish what's real," her mother yelled at the robot after figuring it out.
In China, buzzwords on social media are more than just trendy phrases; they’re a snapshot of a society in flux, capturing everything from the daily grind to the joys and challenges of modern life.
In 2023, this lexicon ranged from new takes on parenting and the growing
A couple in rural Zhejiang province has caught the attention of Chinese social media with their slick dance moves, which they practice every day to relieve their stress and anxiety.
Beijing Wildlife Park issued a statement Sunday saying that two families got into a fight when visiting the park. “It was the first time that the animals saw a fight between humans, and they were deeply impressed. Some animal families followed suit that night,” said the notice.
China’s Su Bingtian set a new Asian record in the men’s 100-meter dash with a time of 9.83 seconds at the
#TokyoOlympics
semifinals on Sunday, becoming the first Asian man to qualify for the final of the event.
Young Chinese have coined another term to reflect their growing disillusionment with the country’s grueling work culture. Rather than trying to keep up with society’s expectations, many are resolving to simply “lie down.”
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Inspired by thousands of real cases, “No More Bets,” directed by Shen Ao, offers an unparalleled glimpse into the dark world of overseas cyber fraud that has grown rampant in China.
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Li Zhendong was the first patient diagnosed with
#coronavirus
in Jingzhou City, Hubei Province. After 16 days of fight against the disease, he was cured and discharged from the hospital. Li shared his experience online:
Maid cafés have been controversial in China ever since the industry first started to take off, with detractors arguing that they degrade women and in some cases become hotbeds of sexual harassment.
At the end of February 2023, a workshop on “male morality” was held in Beijing. The initiator said that the purpose of the class was to teach men how to be “good partners and fathers” and move away from traditional notions of masculinity.
The latest celebrity taking
#Weibo
by storm is
@gavinthomas
, the American boy whose facial expressions provide perfect meme fodder for every situation
In 2017, pop idol Kris Wu’s impromptu rap — “Look at the noodle, it’s long and thick — just like the bowl, which is big and round” — was mocked by netizens. This year, Wu opted to get in on the joke himself.
In early December, China dismantled its “zero-COVID” policy. Within a month, the virus was everywhere. Sixth Tone’s
@BeimengFu
traveled to remote villages in the southwestern province of Sichuan, where she witnessed firsthand how the virus surge has inundated local hospitals.
“Men are either horny or act like I’m out of their league. But female cosplayers can give me a fully immersive experience, and I won’t fear being judged or harassed.” — Rynee Ren, dream girl
Sichuan province is one of the country’s biggest electricity producers; the power from its massive hydro dams helps keep the lights on in faraway Shanghai and other Chinese megacities. Yet Sichuan is now facing its own crippling energy shortage.
Beijing residents noticed that metro station signs are being changed to replace the English word “station” with the pinyin “zhan.” Some say that it will confuse tourists. Beijing Metro said that the new translations are mandated by China’s latest regulations on place names.
It’s no accident that the cosplayers hired for cos commission are almost always female; clients tend to prefer an all-female environment for their dates, even if the cosplayers are playing male characters. 4/6
The Cyberspace Administration of China said it will strengthen oversight of “chaotic fan circles” in a three-month campaign to minimize hate and abuse on social media.
A man in Henan was detained five days for creating a public disturbance after he changed his negative nucleic acid test result to positive and shared it in a 20-member WeChat group to avoid attending a banquet where he had to drink alcohol, local authorities said Wednesday.
Pan Ruibin, a knitter from the southern province of Guangdong, has attracted 3 million followers across a number of livestreaming platforms by teaching skills in knitting.
Chinese archaeologists recently discovered five cat paw-like gold ornaments at the 2,700-year-old Beibaie cemetery in the northwestern Shanxi province. The trinkets were found on the waist of a buried nobleman.
Fan Bingbing, involved in an alleged tax evasion scandal, ranks the lowest on a social responsibility list, which evaluates Chinese celebrities based on their professional work, charitable work and integrity
The Qianlong Emperor, the longest-lived ruler of the Qing dynasty, wrote 43,000 poems in his lifetime — most of them bad. Besides poor writing and plagiarism, the emperor was also suspected of using ghostwriters.
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The American burger chain Five Guys opened its first location on the Chinese mainland on Monday. Customers in Shanghai were spotted lining up to visit the store on Huaihai Road. (Photos: Weibo)
Some local governments in China are urging residents to get vaccinated by hanging red banners bearing various motivational slogans. Some are straightforward, while others are amusing:
Zou Deqiang is one of many that remains missing after torrential downpour and floods devastated central China’s Henan province this week. Zou’s wife, Mrs. Bai, is desperately trying to find him.
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Sichuanese cuisine is everywhere, according to a new survey, but there are signs of spice fatigue. Two new surveys from the China Catering Industry Research Institute and delivery app Meituan have found that, while spice is still king, the milder flavors of Cantonese cooking are
Chinese netizens are using the phrase 乌心工作(wú xīn gōng zuò), or “too focused on Ukraine to work” to describe their distracted mindsets as they watch news filter in from the front.
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Chinese gaming giant Tencent Games has applied its facial verification system to keep tabs on children and teenagers playing between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m.
“Anyone who refuses or fails the face verification will be treated as a minor … and kicked offline.”
Young Chinese are burning out in the grueling private sector their elders built. With this new generation realizing capitalism isn’t all it was cracked up to be, can Marxism make a comeback?
The Chinese startup
#Shein
has won over Western shoppers by churning out trending styles at ultra-low prices. But at what cost?
A thread about the shady labor practices underpinning Shein’s fashion empire:
On Chinese online platforms, users serve as ‘cyber jurors,’ to settle minor conflicts, from mismanaged orders to late deliveries. So far, over 6 million have registered to participate in this unique system.
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Students in China are calling on the U.S. government to revoke Proclamation 10043, which prohibits Chinese nationals affiliated with their country’s “military-civil fusion strategy” from pursuing graduate degrees or research programs at American schools.
According to activists, the Tmall ad is a rare step forward for LGBT acceptance and equality in China, where same-sex relationships are still largely taboo.
Welcome to the brave new world of “cos commission” — a wildly popular new service that is helping women across China bring their virtual boyfriends to life.
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Shanghai, a city of 25 million people, has come to a standstill.
The government announced Sunday a two-phase lockdown measure to make its 25 million residents quarantine at home.
Here’s what that looks like.
Assisted by artificial intelligence tools, a vlogger has brought the old Beijing back to life by colorizing and restoring footage of the Chinese capital captured in the 1920s.
China’s National Development and Reform Commission is fed up with ugly, impractical buildings. In a notice published Tuesday, the agency said urban structures should be functional, environmentally friendly, and pleasant to look at.
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In 1981, a Japanese photographer traveled the length and breadth of China, capturing the everyday lives of local children. Nearly 40 years later, his “Hello, Little Friends” project is getting another edition.
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Vendors are selling statues of Donald Trump as Buddha on e-commerce platform Taobao, with the mantra "make your company great again." Global Times reported that a seller said the idea was inspired by Trump's campaign slogan and his claims that he knew things better than anyone.
A 70-year-old man in northeastern China's Heilongjiang province amazed netizens with his seven-meter-long high-speed rail model made of snow.
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A fire broke out in an office building in the central city of Changsha Friday afternoon. The fire has since been put out, according to domestic media reports. The number of casualties and injures are still unknown.
Japanese skater Yuzuru Hanyu didn’t land the first quadruple Axel during a Winter Olympics event Thursday. But millions of Chinese fans have rallied behind Hanyu, with veteran sports commentator Chen Ying often using poetic comments to describe his performances.
The new lifestyle buzzword, “tang ping,” or “lie down,” reflects a resolution among China’s young people to just scrape by, exerting the bare minimum at an unfulfilling job, as opposed to the futility of raging against the capitalist machine.
Over more than 10 years, a Chinese woman wrote several million words of fake Russian history, creating 206 articles and contributing to hundreds more on Chinese Wikipedia. Some netizens are calling her China’s Borges.
Authorities in Jiangsu province managed to locate a wanted fugitive by tracking the distinctive scent of hot pot after learning he had recently purchased ingredients for the dish.
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"Lion dancing is like life: You face a lot of difficulties, and you need to have a clear mind. Finally, you can reach life's peak. "
Meet these young lion dancers in Shenzhen.
Extremely online Chinese patriots are accusing the nuts brand Three Squirrels of “smearing Chinese people” by hiring a model with “slanted eyes” in 2019. The model questioned on Monday, “Am I not worthy of being Chinese because I have small eyes?”
Fifty-three-year-old street calligrapher Mr. Ren is keeping a craft from the past alive, painting Chinese slogans in streets across the eastern province of Anhui as accurately as in print form.
“To live with him is stress, stress, stress.”
Tired of her abusive husband, 56-year-old Su Min took the car and left. Her journey made her an icon for China’s unhappy housewives.
Large, rare animals are showing up unexpectedly in towns and villages across China — often for the first time in decades, or even centuries. Why have so many animals begun wandering into populated areas, apparently unafraid of the people living there?
Dubbed the "potato city" of China, Ulanqab in the northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is voting on a new potato statue aiming to “showcase the city’s taste and spirit of the times.” As of Friday, more than 20 percent of voters were not pleased with either design.
The distinguished Chinese translator Xu Yuanchong passed away on Thursday at the age of 100. Xu was known for his translations of ancient Chinese poems into English and French. 1/2
In China, animation, comics, and gaming are followed almost exclusively by the generation born after 1990. And the love this generation has for animation is gradually leading to what some optimists believe to be a Chinese animation renaissance.
Zhengzhou, Henan province, suspended subway services on Tuesday after five days of torrential rain. Footage showed water pouring into a subway station in the capital city. More than 144,660 residents in the province have been affected by the heavy rains, according to Xinhua.
A property developer in the eastern Shandong province was accused of luring potential home buyers by putting up a sign for a subway station that didn’t exist.
After becoming obsessed with a classic martial arts novel, a 25-year-old “wuxia” enthusiast dedicated two years to practicing his favorite character’s trademark technique — “flying needles.”
Update: Peng Yinhua, a 29-year-old Wuhan doctor who had postponed his wedding to treat
#COVID19
patients, died Thursday night after becoming infected with the virus, according to local health authorities.
An elementary school in Hangzhou, eastern China’s Zhejiang province provided adjustable-height desks and reclining chairs for first grade students to lie flat while napping. Netizens are calling for more schools to follow suit. (Photos: Qianjiang Evening News)
As time marches on, many classic Beijing sounds have disappeared — vendors, bells, more — but this man has collected hundreds of the sounds of old Beijing.
AI Game Mimicking Nosy Relatives Takes China by Storm
In the game, users must field questions from eight aunties and uncles one by one at a virtual family reunion. Users can progress to the next relative by fielding their personal questions without provoking an angry response.
A video of renowned epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan being kissed on the cheek by a female graduate student has gone viral. The incident happened on Monday at the graduation ceremony of Guangzhou Medical University and has sparked debate online about whether the kiss was
Goth netizens are posting selfies online in support of a woman who was barred from boarding the subway in Guangzhou because of her “horrifying” makeup. (Images: Weibo)
Shanghai residents have adopted the phrase “the final circle” to describe life during the recent COVID-19 outbreak, as the city implements what it calls a “grid screening” strategy.
Related read:
The Palace Museum in Beijing has released a digital archive of objects to showcase more than 50,000 images of cultural relics. Many of them are interactive 3D models that allow people to explore every detail of the relics.
Photos of young women on cos commission dates have gone viral on social media. Each recruitment ad specifies what character the cosplayer will have to play, the fee, and whether the cosplayer needs to be willing to kiss. Then, the cosplayers can reach out and arrange a date. 2/6
“The appetite for COVID-related rumors in China reflects a broader failure by health officials to deliver clear and convincing information to the public. After three years of ‘zero-COVID,’ ordinary Chinese have little firsthand knowledge of the virus.”
China's rich youngsters are increasingly heading abroad to study less conventional college majors that buck the historical trend of Chinese college students abroad