The following is an English translation of a Dutch opinion piece I wrote in response to a recent essay in FD (Het Financieele Dagblad, the Dutch Financial Daily). It reflects on how China is discussed ...

The backlash to OPPO’s Mother’s Day ad came from multiple directions, from grassroots netizens to official organizations. Here’s a closer look at the controversy, along with 7 other cases that show ...

Everything seems to be about AI these days. Especially in China, where AI has permeated so many industries that it’s simply become part of the daily conversation. Over the “Golden Week” holiday, ...

This week in China: Grassroots football fever, a Nobel laureate writes for the TikTok era, France’s cultural relic bill, and a 19-year-old’s blind box obsession bankrupts her father’s company. The ...

China’s AI actors are on the rise, and not everyone is buying it. The country’s microdrama industry offers a glimpse of what’s to come for the broader film and TV sector. Is this the real life? Is ...

🔥 This is premium content and also appeared in the Weibo Watch newsletter. Subscribe to stay in the loop. How did Evil Unbound (731), one of the most anticipated Chinese war movies of 2025, go from ...

1. Xi in Lhasa for 60th Anniversary of Tibet Autonomous Region [#习近平抵达拉萨#] Leader Xi Jinping arrived in Lhasa on August 20 to attend the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Tibet Autonomous ...

These days have been filled with tension and anger in the city of Jiangyou (江油市), Sichuan, after a rare, large-scale protest broke out following public outrage over a severe bullying incident and how ...

On July 16, locals in Yuhang (余杭), a district of Hangzhou, noticed something fishy about their running water. It had turned brown and smelled unpleasant. From residential compounds in Liangzhu to ...

From ugly-cute rebellion to a new kind of ‘C-pop,’ the breakout success of Wakuku sheds light on Chinese consumer culture and the forces driving China’s trend toy industry. Wakuku is the most ...

Labubu is not ‘Chinese’ at all—and at the same time, it is very much a product of present-day China. Labubu – the hottest toy of 2025 – is making headlines everywhere these days. The little creature ...

China has a thriving gaming culture with far-reaching impact — not just on pop culture, but on language too. Even those who aren’t into gaming inevitably use expressions that come from it. RealTime ...