What's on Weibo

2 weeks ago | whatsonweibo.com | Manya Koetse

Labubu – the hottest toy of 2025 – is making headlines everywhere these days. The little creature is all over TikTok, and from New York to Bangkok and Dubai, people are lining up for hours to get their hands on the popular keyring doll. In the UK, the Labubu hype has gone so far that its maker temporarily pulled the toys from all of its stores for “safety reasons,” following reports of customers fighting over them.

3 weeks ago | whatsonweibo.com | Manya Koetse

šŸ”„ Quick Take: Trending in China This is a brief update from our curated roundup of whatā€™s trending in China this week. A version of this story also appears in the Weibo Watch newsletter. Subscribe to stay in the loop. “Taiwan Tour Group Sold to Myanmar” is the headline that’s currently making its rounds on social media after Chinese media reported on June 3rd that a group of eight tourists from Taiwan became victims of telecom fraud-related human trafficking in Myanmar.

1 month ago | whatsonweibo.com | Andrew Methven

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 Mandarin’s Andrew Methven explains. It might be an unexpected source, but online gaming has had a significant impact on the evolution of modern Chinese slang.

1 month ago | whatsonweibo.com | Ruixin Zhang |Manya Koetse

This week, the Chinese internet exploded over a pair of earrings worn by a child actress. In recent years, China’s netizens have been paying closer attention to so-called “nepo babies”—the children of the rich and powerful whose success often seems tied more to family connections than to talent. Some, like Huawei’s heiress Yao Anna (姚安娜), have been criticized for using family ties to enter the entertainment industry.

1 month ago | whatsonweibo.com | Manya Koetse

🔥 Quick Take: Trending in China This is a brief update from our curated roundup of what’s trending in China this week. A version of this story also appears in the Weibo Watch newsletter. Subscribe to stay in the loop. Over the past decade, China’s milk tea industry has become something of a cultural phenomenon.