Chinese Memes: Zendaya's Engagement
Welcome to the Meme Translate Substack, where we share and explain the week’s hottest memes across Asia.
Memes in this issue:
赞姐（zàn jiě）
荷兰弟（hé lán dì）
女王（nǚ wáng）
迷弟（mí dì）
CP
双向奔赴（shuāng xiàng bēn fù）
势均力敌的爱情（shì jūn lì dí de ài qíng）
赞姐 (zàn jiě)
Sister Zan. / Sister Praise. / Sister Like. Chinese Internet users’ affectionate nickname for Zendaya.
Chinese people have a quirky habit of treating everyone like family, and celebrities around the world have unknowingly served as Chinese people’s relatives for years.
Born in 1996, American actress and singer Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman has earned the title of “(Older) Sister” in China.
Even better, since Zendaya is translated as 赞达亚 (zàn dá yà), and 赞 (zàn) means “praise; commend; support; favor; [social media] likes”…She has an incredibly positive nickname in the Chinese world: Sister Zan / Sister Praise.
Source: Weibo - @DC大叔
What do you expect from a star with such an endearing, lucky nickname? Plenty of good news!
Zendaya’s latest good news: She’s engaged! To an actor who is known as Little Brother Holland.
荷兰弟 (hé lán dì)
Little Brother Holland. / Dutch Little Brother. Chinese Internet users’ affectionate nickname for English actor Tom Holland.
While male celebrities tend to get Chinese nicknames like XX哥 (XX gē) meaning “(Older) Brother XX,” Tom Holland stands out as everyone’s “little brother,” probably because of his height and youthful appearance, even though he’s three months older than Zendaya.
Source: Weibo - @守望好莱坞
When Zendaya and Tom Holland’s engagement news broke a week ago, Weibo hashtags #赞达亚荷兰弟订婚 (#ZendayaDutchLittleBrotherEngagement) and #赞达亚荷兰弟真的订婚了 (#ZendayaDutchLittleBrotherReallyGotEngaged) both put Zendaya before Tom, which is rare among news about celebrity couples in the Chinese world. The first hashtag has been read 57.988 million times, and the second one has garnered 10.44 million views.
Source: Weibo
China, still a largely patriarchal society, has embraced feminist hashtags when it comes to news about Zendaya and Tom. Right, there’s no Tomdaya in China - on Chinese social media platforms, Zendaya takes the lead.
Chinese fans joke that it’s a love story between the queen and her fanboy.
女王 (nǚ wáng)
Queen.
迷弟 (mí dì)
Fanboy.
Tom is lauded as Queen Zendaya’s fanboy, not only because he confessed in an interview that Zendaya was his “first-ever celebrity crush,” but because he never refrains from praising Zendaya. And Queen Zendaya confirmed her preference for this type of love language -
“Some people don’t like it [compliments]. Me? I NEED you to vocalize that. I NEED to know, I NEED to hear it, and I NEED to hear it OFTEN.”
Source: Weibo - @守望好莱坞
In the eyes of the Chinese people, Zendaya and Tom’s relationship is sweet and wholesome. They break gender stereotypes and support each other. They are a power couple who inspire one another and empower those who adore them.
The last three memes are also widely seen in stories about Zendaya and Tom’s beautiful relationship:
CP
Short for “couple” or “coupling.” It’s seen in a lot of fandoms and describes real or imaginary couples who are famous people or fictional characters. Fans ship CPs.
双向奔赴 (shuāng xiàng bēn fù)
To run towards each other. It’s often used to describe a couple whose mutual love is sweet and touching, as in 双向奔赴的爱情 (shì jūn lì dí de ài qíng) “mutual love, a relationship where both parties adore each other.”
势均力敌的爱情 (shì jūn lì dí de ài qíng)
An evenly matched relationship. It’s often seen in descriptions about egalitarian couples who are both successful in their own rights.
Remember Zendaya and Tom’s 2017 Lip Sync Battle?
Tom won the episode, and Zendaya’s impersonation of 火星哥 (huǒ xīng gē) Brother Mars aka Bruno Mars wowed the audience.
Source: YouTube - @LipSyncBattle
Source: Weibo - TNABO北美票房榜吧
A Weibo user wrote on January 7, 2025, “Dutch Little Brother passionately performed Tin Hau Shandong’s famous song ‘Umbrella’ in 2017.
Based on Sister Praise’s expression, it’s reasonable to guess that the marriage was booked at that moment. [hugging emoji]”
Well, probably!
Note: “Tin Hau Shandong” means “Empress of Heaven from Shandong Province.” It’s one of the funny nicknames for Rihanna. More on that later!
Thanks for reading today’s Meme Translate! Each week, we’ll share the most viral and interesting memes from Asian countries like China, Japan and South Korea.
Please share with anyone who might enjoy this, and subscribe here: