China trends: week of 2026-10-19

39th Golden Rooster Awards announce nominations: Wu Lei and Tan Jianci among Best Actor contenders, while Song Jia and Zhang Zifeng compete for Best Actress

Background: The Golden Rooster Awards are major Chinese film awards.

Li Kui or Li Gui? Who exactly are Sun Ran and Harvest International Investment, suspected of manipulating a Hong Kong IPO?

Background: Li Kui and Li Gui are characters in Water Margin whose similar names evoke the contrast between genuine and counterfeit.

Chinese international student at Moscow University draped themselves in a Rising Sun flag in class, drawing widespread outrage

Background: The Rising Sun flag is a Japanese military-associated flag featuring rays emanating from a sun.

Is “The Battery Costs More Than the Car” a Scam? The Actual Cost of the First BYD Battery Replacements Stuns Owners

Background: BYD is a Chinese manufacturer of battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, as well as batteries.

BYD

A Chinese manufacturer of battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, batteries and other technologies. Reference ↗

CCTV5 Will Not Broadcast Liaoning Men’s Basketball vs. Qingdao Men’s Basketball: Cooper vs. Witherspoon, Can Jiang Yuxing ... Wang Ruizhe?

Background: CCTV-5 is China Central Television’s sports channel.

The High-Scoring Students Enrolled in the Secondary Vocational-to-Undergraduate Pathway

Background: The integrated secondary-to-undergraduate vocational track connects secondary vocational education with undergraduate study.

Media: Chinese Student Wearing the Rising Sun Flag Has Been Deported; School Says It Will Soon Announce an Expulsion Decision

Background: The Rising Sun flag is a Japanese military-associated flag featuring rays emanating from a sun.

Taizishen GAP Base Reaches 6,000 Mu

Background: GAP refers to Good Agricultural Practices, standards for safe and sustainable agricultural production.

Chen Yi Composed Three Poems of Meiling Amid the Meiling Fire

Background: Chen Yi was a Chinese Communist military leader, politician, and poet.

The Canyon Where the Red Army Held Out Now Has the World’s Highest Bridge

Background: The Red Army refers here to the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army, a predecessor of the People’s Liberation Army.

Chinese Student Wearing the Rising Sun Flag Has Been Deported

Background: The Rising Sun Flag is associated with Japan's imperial military and remains controversial in East Asia.

Carmen's Mother Reportedly Supported the Planner of Indonesia's Anti-Chinese Massacre; Sasaeng Claims Said Choi Soobin Hooked Up with Someone to Help Carmen Out [K-pop's Epic Gossip]

Background: A sasaeng is an obsessive fan who intrudes into a celebrity’s private life.

Finally got to see the official Naruto 2.0

Background: Naruto is a Japanese manga and anime franchise about a young ninja.

If Theresa could see this scene… The little rabbit has really grown up #Arknights #Amiya #AmiyaCosplay #AmiyaSoothesChildren #AmiyaWithKids

Background: Arknights is a mobile tower-defense role-playing game.

There is no such Malfoy!!!

Background: The Malfoys are a fictional family in the Harry Potter series.

[S16 Preview] IG Face GEN in Their Opening Match! Zeus’ 69 Battles! Can the LPL’s Four Great Heroes Resist the Korean Teams? Question Faker, but Don’t Make an Enemy of Faker! A 20,000-Word Team Preview

Background: The LPL is China's League of Legends professional league.

WeChat HarmonyOS App’s “Two-Year Sprint”: 41 Major and 344 Minor Versions Released, Catching Up with iOS’s 15-Year Development Progress

HarmonyOS

Huawei's operating-system family for connected devices. Features and app support vary by version and device. Reference ↗

Tencent WorkBuddy launches an education-focused public service edition: teachers nationwide can receive 2,000 points per month for one year

Tencent

A Chinese technology company behind Weixin/WeChat and businesses including games and cloud services. Reference ↗

Not a Theme or Emulator! An Online User Successfully Flashed iOS 16 onto a Xiaomi Redmi Note 12, and the Project Was Open-Sourced

Xiaomi

A Chinese company whose products include smartphones, connected home devices and electric vehicles. Reference ↗

Huawei Enjoy 100 Pro Max reportedly set to feature a Kirin 8020 processor and support BeiDou satellite messaging

Background: BeiDou is China's satellite navigation system.

Huawei

A Chinese technology company that makes telecommunications equipment, devices and computing products. Reference ↗