Conversation
03.04.16

Xi Jinping: A Cult of Personality?

Jonathan Landreth, Taisu Zhang & more

By some accounts, Chinese Presdient Xi Jinping is the most powerful leader the country has  had since Mao Zedong. One arrow in his quiver that echoes Mao’s armory is Xi’s embrace of popular song, listened to these days not on the radio or over a...

Sinica Podcast
03.09.15

Under the Dome

Kaiser Kuo, David Moser & more
from Sinica Podcast

Under the Dome, Chai Jing's breakout documentary on China's catastrophic air pollution problem, finally hit insurmountable political opposition last Friday after seven days in which the video racked up over 200 million views. The eventual...

Conversation
03.03.15

Why Has This Environmental Documentary Gone Viral on China’s Internet?

Angel Hsu, Michael Zhao & more

[Updated: March 6,  2015] Our friends at Foreign Policy hit the nail on the head by headlining writer Yiqin Fu's Monday story "...

Media
03.03.15

The Word That Broke the Chinese Internet

Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian

It might be gibberish, but it’s also a sign of the times. The word duang, pronounced “dwong,” is spreading like wildfire throughout China’s active Internet—even though 1.3 billion Chinese people still haven’t figured out what it means....

Media
07.22.14

All Hail ‘Fatty Kim the Third’

David Wertime
It’s North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un as the world has never seen him. In a three-minute clip that has accumulated over 200,000 views after its early July posting on Chinese video site Tudou, a crudely photoshopped Kim dances on the street,...
Media
04.26.13

Making a Show of the News?

Ouyang Bin & Zhang Xiaoran

In what seemed like a flash on April 20, Chinese netizens dubbed TV reporter Chen Ying “the most beautiful bride” on China’s Internet. It was the day of her wedding but a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Ya’an in Sichuan province and Chen didn’t...

Media
03.15.13

CNBC Quarrel About China’s Housing Market Bubbles Over on Chinese Internet

Ouyang Bin & Luo Xiaoyuan

China’s real estate prices continue to skyrocket despite government efforts to rein them in to prevent a dangerous housing bubble. On March 5, American television network CNBC invited two analysts to debate the state of the sector. But when Peter...

Media
03.05.13

What Do You Know About China’s Politics?

Ouyang Bin & Zhang Xiaoran

The Liang Hui or “Two Sessions”—the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)—are the most crowded, most covered, and probably most hilarious annual political events in China....

Media
02.26.13

Flowers of the Motherland

Sun Yunfan

School uniforms have been a hot topic in the Chinese media since last Thursday. On February 20, 2013, on a new satirical TV news talk show akin to the Colbert Report but with a pre-recorded laugh track instead of a live audience, host...

Media
02.22.13

Complaints, Nationalism, and Spoofs

Ouyang Bin & Zhang Xiaoran

This week, United States government and American media charges of Chinese cyberattacks have led to a variety of responses from netizens across China. On February 19, a CNN camera crew tried to shoot video of the twelve-story military-owned...

Media
09.06.12

Michelle Obama’s DNC Speech

Peony Lui & Sun Yunfan

Something big is about to happen in China. After ruling the country for a decade, China’s current leadership, helmed by President Hu Jintao, will transfer power to a new group of leaders. The process will be opaque, the date of the transition is...

Media
06.18.12

Happiness with Chinese Characteristics

Yiyang Cao, Sun Yunfan & more

On April 2, 2012, the United Nations released the first World Happiness Report on the occasion of its first General Assembly on “...

Media
06.08.12

Students Tear Up Books Before Big Exam

He Jianan & Sara Segal-Williams

The gaokao, China’s annual National Higher Education Entrance Examination, is known for being extremely difficult and a stressful rite of passage for Chinese students. Due to the society’s traditional emphasis on education, many...

Media
06.04.12

Food Paradise or Hell: A New Documentary Sparks Debate

Sun Yunfan & Qiaoyi Zhuang

A seven-part documentary on China’s food culture, “A Bite of China” (which translated literally means “China on the Tip of the Tongue”) premiered on the main channel of China Central...

Media
05.31.12

Zuckerberg’s CCTV Cameo

Bo Wang & Kennett Werner

Chinese social media outlets lit up after sharp-eyed viewers caught Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg making a cameo appearance on Chinese Police, a documentary series produced by China Central Television (CCTV). Just a few second long, the...

Media
05.24.12

TV Show Catches Flak for its Criticism of Contestants Who Have Lived Abroad

Bo Wang

The gameshow Fei Ni Mo Shu (Only You) has a pretty straightforward premise: a contestant steps onto a stage next to the host and introduces him/herself to a panel of twelve bosses of major companies who sit in highly extravagant throne-...

Media
05.18.12

Hong Kong Movie Star Now a Motivational Speaker

Bo Wang

Nicholas Tse—the famous young Hong Kong singer, actor, and musician—is known for portraying irresponsible young rebels. People think that's what he's like in real life. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology invited Tse to be a...

Media
05.18.12

Drunken Brit Assaults Chinese Woman in Beijing

Bo Wang

A drunken foreigner was caught sexually assaulting a Chinese woman in Beijing near the Xuanwumen subway station. Pedestrians stopped him and it ended in a fight. This video shows the initial confrontation with the foreigner and then jumps to the...

Media
05.17.12

Villagers Loot Spilled Watermelons From Truck After Car Crash

Qiaoyi Zhuang

Two trucks collided on the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway in Yueyang, Hunan Province. While local firemen worked to rescue the drivers stuck in their vehicles, people from a nearby village arrived on the scene to loot watermelons that had...

Media
05.16.12

IV Drips Sustain Students Studying for College Entrance Examination

He Jianan

The Xiaogan No.1 High School in China's Hubei Province allegedly hooked students up to intravenous drips filled with amino acids to sustain them while studying for the country's notoriously difficult national college entrance exams:

...

Media
05.16.12

Du Fu Is Very Busy

Qiaoyi Zhuang

The 1300th birthday anniversary of the great Chinese poet Du Fu will be celebrated this year. An illustration of Du Fu in Chinese literature textbooks has recently been the inspiration for a spat of creative graffiti and videos. In them, he has...

Media
05.11.12

Children Travel on Zip-line Across Abyss To and From School

All 3,369 inhabitants of Hongde Village in Guizhou province, including dozens of school children, must either somehow cross the gorge, or take a detour by walking for several hours, in order to get out of their village. In 2002, a zip-...

Media
05.11.12

Ferrari Stunt Scars 600-Year-Old Monument

Netizens are outraged after a 60-second stunt by car manufacturer Ferrari leaves a 600 year-old historical site marred with skid marks.

From Youku

Media
05.11.12

Hospital Staff Forced to Kowtow for Forgiveness at Patient’s Funeral

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