宋佳进行曲 (sòng jiā jìn xíng qǔ)
The Song Jia March.
Meet Song Jia (b. 1980), a Chinese actress and singer.
Source: Instagram - @gendered4all
The Song Jia March is the widely circulated BGM that was originally used by entertainment vloggers in video clips for Song Jia’s fashion.
Song Jia is on fire this year—her feminist TV series She and Her Girls (aired in September, 2024) and feminist movie Herstory (released on November 22, 2024) have enjoyed wide critical acclaim.
Internet users adore her confidence, optimism and rizz. Celebrities and Internet users alike have used the BGM to showcase their photos and imitate Song Jia's fashion styles.
Interestingly, Song Jia also used the BGM in a Douyin clip on November 9, 2024 with the quip - “Here comes the march!” The clip has earned 2.113 million likes.
Source: Douyin - @songjiaxiaohua
Here comes the clip!
李子柒 (lǐ zǐ qī)
Li Ziqi.
Li Ziqi (b. 1990), a Chinese vlogger, entrepreneur and Internet celebrity, updated her YouTube channel and Sina Weibo with three new videos on November 12, 2024, after a three-year hiatus.
Li Ziqi's comeback increased her fan base by at least 16 million across all platforms in China within a week. News broke that over the past three years, she interviewed more than 100 Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) inheritors in more than 20 provinces and cities. One of her latest videos showcases carved lacquer, a distinctive Chinese form of decorated lacquerware.
In February 2021, she received the Guinness World Record for "The most subscribers for a Chinese language channel on YouTube. Over the past three years, the number of her YouTube subscribers grew by over 5 million. As of this writing, Weibo Hot Searches List has witnessed 111 hashtags containing "Li Ziqi" since her well-received comeback.
Source: NetEase
“(If more craftspeople and vloggers strive to preserve and promote endangered Chinese crafts, and the endangered crafts are really seen by more people, ) then does it still matter if my works are unique? (I don’t think it matters anymore…)” Li Ziqi told Xinhua News that she’d like to promote China’s intangible cultural heritage with like-minded people. She prioritizes the social impact of her videos over personal fame. Please click here to watch a shorter version of the interview with English subtitles.
润人 (rùn rén)
Runaway people.
Not "moist people" but "runaway people" because the Pinyin romanization for 润—rùn—resembles the English word "run."
It's a derogatory term for Chinese nationals who emigrate to the United States legally or illegally.
This meme saw a spike after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump announced his mass deportation plan for undocumented immigrants. Chinese Internet users target undocumented immigrants who are from the People's Republic of China, especially those who 走线 (zǒu xiàn) "walk the line" - crossing illegally from Mexico - with the meme, and they gloat about these immigrants’ impending predicament.
Source: Xiaohongshu - @榴莲大哥
A Xiaohongshu user posted a newsletter from the US Embassy in China:
And then he wrote, “The Runaway People Are Screwed…
They had a hard time running away only to be sent back…”
川普 (chuān pǔ)
(Donald) Trump.
Although the official translation of his last name is 特朗普 (tè lǎng pǔ), Trump is often translated as "Standard Mandarin with a Sichuanese accent," because the pronunciation of “Trump" sounds just like this word in Standard Mandarin Chinese. Who would have thought that Trump is related to a linguistic term in Mandarin Chinese? LOL.
When the meme is used, expect some hard takes on this controversial U.S. President-elect.
Source: Sina Weibo - @爱国青年刘神
Fun fact: Donald Trump's Wikipedia page in Traditional Chinese (Taiwan) uses 川普 as the translation of his last name, but the pages in other written Chinese forms don’t.
生育失权 (shēng yù shī quán)
Reproduction disempowerment.
This term became a trending hashtag on Sina Weibo on November 27, 2024 as dating & relationship vlogger @赵子谦 posted, "Learned a new term: Reproduction disempowerment. "
Source: Sina Weibo - @赵子谦
He went on to elaborate with two screenshots (possibly follower DMs): Society expects women to have children without giving them the option to say no. Some parents discourage their daughters from being childfree, claiming that women without children are selfish and incomplete and will have a miserable life in old age; some men date women with the expectation that they will have kids in the future.
"Reproductive rights seem to lie in the hands of women, but only when you nod and say you'll utilize your womb will everyone be satisfied with you."
As of this writing, this Weibo hashtag has garnered 43.123 million views, 5,495 discussions, 32,000 interactions and 1,381 original posts.
Source: Sina Weibo - @土味街拍大赏
On December 5, 2024, Chinese women demand reproduction rights | “Why can’t we let them know about these pains in advance?” @土味街拍大赏 shared a video about reproduction rights together with comment screenshots and received 15,000 likes. We added English subtitles to the video: