From digital stress to “dangerous Japan,” here are the trends that stood out this week on Chinese social media.

Eye on Digital China is an independent publication by sinologist and China trend watcher Manya Koetse, offering analysis and reporting on China’s digital culture, media, and social trends. It builds ...

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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 ...

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 ...

🔥 This column also appeared in the Weibo Watch newsletter. Subscribe to stay in the loop. Earlier this month, a female Weibo user nicknamed “The Armpit-Haired Dude” (@腋毛大汉) posted an exposé on Weibo, ...

All events listed here are manually curated for readers of Eye on Digital China, with a focus on Chinese (digital) culture, language, society, history, and broader China insights. Many of these events ...

All events listed here are manually curated for readers of Eye on Digital China, with a focus on Chinese (digital) culture, language, society, history, and broader China insights. Many of these events ...

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 ...

Russian recruitment ads, China’s censorship, and how Western media sometimes guess Beijing’s stance by reading between the wrong lines. Recently, news broke that two Chinese nationals were captured by ...

Here’s the latest roundup of the three top trends and most noteworthy discussions on Chinese social media this week. The popular Chinese franchise Yang’s Braised Chicken Rice (杨铭宇黄焖鸡米饭) is at the ...