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When you mention the name Zhang Xiaolong (张小龙) in China most people will think you‘re talking about the CEO of WeChat.

But there’s another CEO called Zhang Xiaolong.

He’s less well known than the other Zhang, but is still a successful CEO of the listed company, Fenbi Technology (粉笔科技). Fenbi is one of China’s biggest online education platforms which specialises in civil service exam (考公) preparation. Millions of students in China pay for Fenbi services to get them through that gruelling exam.

Recently this other Zhang Xiaolong become much more high profile. But unfortunately for him for the wrong reasons.

He was invited to give a lecture on the 3 June at the School of Philosophy at Renmin University (人大) which is the top uni in China for training hopeful civil servants.

In the room to listen to Zhang speak were a hundred or so students. They were exactly the kind of people who go on to sit that civil service exam, and potentially become Fenbi customers.

Zhang’s talk was meant to cover exam preparation tactics, how to excel in the civil service exam, and how to approach job-hunting afterwards. It was a topic specifically targeted to what these students wanted, while also being and opportunity for Zhang to pitch Fenbi services to them.

But at the last minute he changed the topic. Instead, Zhang decided to give a speech about “Career Planning in the AI Era” (AI时代的职业规划).

As the students sat quietly listening to Zhang, he strayed further and further from what they were there to hear.

Under his new topic, he claimed AI would replace huge swathes of the workforce, and that the students in the audience had little chance of passing the civil service exam or finding work in the future.

He went on to say the real money would come from investing in the capital markets — especially in tech stocks, and the American stock markets. Zhang then shared his personal experience of how he invested 80 million yuan ($11.8 million) in tech stocks using AI in May, and made whopping 53 million ($7.8 million) in profit.

• (Clearly Zhang is not a reader of RealTime Mandarin. Because if he were, he’d know that this is not a politically correct thing to talk about in China at the moment!)

And, Zhang didn’t stop there. He then said:

“Honestly, I’m just bragging about how rich I am.”

我讲这个，主要是为了炫富吧

“Flaunting wealth” (炫富) is another hot-button issue in China that RTM readers know all about, and so should Zhang.

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By this point in his speech, Zhang Xiaolong was perhaps expecting some kind of positive reaction from the audience, like enthusiastic applause, excited realisations, or inspired whoops.

But instead he got nothing. The room stayed quiet. And some students even left early.

Rather than take this in his stride, Zhang completely “flipped out” (破防了) and began to rant angrily and uncontrollably at the audience.

He told the students they wouldn’t find work because they didn’t deserve it. And all they were fit for was slacking off in cosy public-sector jobs:

“It’s only fair if you can’t find a job — society shouldn’t be giving you jobs in the first place.

Aside from scraping into the system somehow and coasting through life in a cosy government job, you’ve got no real skills.”

你们找不到工作其实是应该的，就是社会不应该给你们工作。你们除了混到体制里面去考个公务员混吃等死，也没有什么本事。

He refused to take questions at the end of his speech, and then stormed out, saying:

“Honestly, you’re pathetic. Just totally useless.”

我觉得你们很差，非常差。

The news of Zhang’s outburst spread fast on social media.

In response, many of Fenbi’s students started demanding refunds. The company’s share price fell. And Zhang eventually issued one apology, and then another.

But the damage was done:

“He built his name on civil service exam prep and makes his money from civil service exam candidates.

Yet he disparages those very candidates so openly.

Zhang Xiaolong shooting himself in the foot like this is both deeply baffling and purely farcical.”

靠考公起家，赚考公人的钱，却如此露骨地贬低考公人——张小龙这种搬起石头砸自己的脚的行为，十分令人费解，也十分黑色幽默。

The thing is, Zhang, of all people, should not have been surprised by the lack of response from the audience.

In 2024, Lifeweek Magazine ran a cover story on exactly this phenomenon, of “The Silent Generation” (寂静的一代). This, according to the article, is a generation of young people who are so worn down by years of relentless competition and pressure that they go through life with complete indifference, resignation, and silence.

They fall “silent” in all areas of life, including friendships, relationships, and yes, university lectures. It’s the same kind of withdrawal that has produced “buddy culture” (搭子文化), which we’ve written about before. And of course, the students in the lecture theatre listening to Zhang’s speech are absolutely part of this “silent generation”.

So there really is only one word to describe Zhang’s outburst and complete lack of understanding of his audience. And it’s a word you should know as a reader of Realtime Mandarin. He’s an:

• “Out of touch middle aged man” (老登)

So that’s what we’re exploring this week!

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Favourite Five

1. 破防 pò fáng

to break down emotionally, have one’s defenses shattered

出乎所有人意料的是，张小龙破防了，破了大防 - To everyone’s surprise, Zhang Xiaolong snapped and had a total breakdown. [3]

• Related:

  • 崩溃 bēng kuì – to collapse, break down

2. 自砸招牌 zì zá zhāo pai

to ruin one’s own reputation, damage one’s own brand

企业在互联网上翻车的姿势五花八门，但CEO自砸招牌，倒是不多见 - While companies find endless ways to screw up online, it is quite rare to see a CEO completely sabotage their own company’s reputation. [3]

• Related:

  • 吃饭砸锅 chī fàn zá guō – to bite the hand that feeds you

3. 口不择言 kǒu bù zé yán

to speak without thinking, blurt things out

于是破防了，破防的后果，就是开始口不择言 - So he became so triggered that he began lashing out and talking wild. [1]

4. 混吃等死 hùn chī děng sǐ

to drift through life, live aimlessly

你们除了混到体制里面去考个公务员混吃等死，也没有什么本事 - Aside from scraping into the system somehow and coasting through life in a cosy government job, you’ve got no real skills. [1]

5. 搬起石头砸自己的脚 bān qǐ shí tou zá zì jǐ de jiǎo

to shoot oneself in the foot, bring trouble upon oneself

张小龙这种搬起石头砸自己的脚的行为，十分令人费解，也十分黑色幽默 - Zhang Xiaolong’s act of shooting himself in the foot is both deeply baffling and purely farcical. [2]

Consuming the Conversation

Useful words

6. 冤 yuān

to be wronged, unfairly treated

话说回来，张小龙冤，大学生也冤 - Come to think of it, Zhang Xiaolong was treated unfairly, and so were the university students. [1]

7. 羞辱 xiū rǔ

to humiliate, insult

他觉得被羞辱了，于是破大防了 - He felt humiliated, so he totally lost it. [1]

8. 上岸 shàng àn

to succeed, reach one’s goal (especially after passing an exam)

要考公，要上岸，要进体制，然后躺平 - Their goal is to take the civil service exam, pass it, get into the system, and then lie flat. [1]

9. 失控 shī kòng

to lose control, go out of control

一场失控的演讲很快发酵，粉笔的学员大喊退钱 - The unhinged speech quickly escalated into a massive backlash, with Fenbi students loudly demanding refunds. [2]

• Related:

  • 言行失当 yán xíng shī dàng – inappropriate words and actions

10. 露骨 lù gǔ

blatantly

靠考公起家，赚考公人的钱，却如此露骨地贬低考公人 - He built his name on civil service exam prep and makes his money from civil service exam candidates, yet he disparages those very candidates so blatantly. [2]

Three-character phrases

11. 考公热 kǎo gōng rè

civil service exam craze, surge in civil service exam popularity

最直观的体现是“考公热”持续攀升，报名人数在今年已经超过了370万 - The most obvious sign is that the civil service exam craze continues to grow, with the number of applicants exceeding 3.7 million this year. [2]

12. 铁饭碗 tiě fàn wǎn

iron rice bowl, secure lifetime job

追求“铁饭碗”深深地塑造了几代人 - The pursuit of a secure, lifelong job has profoundly shaped several generations. [2]

Idioms

13. 破口大骂 pò kǒu dà mà

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On 22 May, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (中国证监会, CSRC) announced it was launching investigations into three of the country’s largest internet brokerages, and fining them a total of 2.3 billion yuan (around $320 million dollars).

The companies are Futu (富途), Tiger Trade (老虎), and Longbridge (长桥). When the fines were announced, Futu’s US-listed shares dropped 28% and Tiger’s fell 25%.

These online brokerages allow mainland Chinese retail investors to trade overseas stocks, including Hong Kong and US-listed shares, directly and easily via an app. This is something that is otherwise tightly restricted inside China, with the likes of Futu operating in what is often described as a “grey area” (灰色地带).

By the end of 2025, more than five million mainland retail investors (散户) had opened offshore accounts to trade Hong Kong and US stocks, with between 200 and 400 billion yuan (around 28 to 56 billion US dollars) sitting in those accounts.

As part of the crackdown, all three brokerages are now barred from taking on new mainland clients. Existing account holders have a two-year window to withdraw cash and sell their positions, and they are barred from adding funds or buying more stocks. After that, these services will be closed down for good.

On the same day as the CSRC announcement, Hong Kong introduced the toughest cross-border account-opening rules in its history, making it much harder for mainlanders to open bank accounts in the jurisdiction. Anyone opening a new account must now sign a declaration to confirm their money is legal overseas income.

As one commentator put it:

“This regulatory storm also dealt a crushing blow to mainland retail investors.”

这次监管风暴，对内地散户也是当头一棒。

The effects were felt on the ground in Hong Kong almost immediately. Haiphong Road (海防道) in Tsim Sha Tsui is a street usually bustling with brokers pitching trading accounts to passers-by, most of them mainland tourists.

From small promotional vans, they yell slogans like “zero interest, zero fees” (零利息，零手续费) and “get rich trading Hong Kong and US stocks” (炒港美股发大财) to draw in new clients and often signing them up on the spot.

But shortly after the announcement, the vans were gone, Haiphong Road had fallen silent, and only a few lonely-looking agents with shopfronts were left on the street.

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China’s “investment craze in overseas stocks” (出海炒股热) can be traced back to 2014.

That was when the Shanghai–Hong Kong Stock Connect (沪港通) and Shenzhen–Hong Kong Stock Connect (深港通) were launched, which made it easier for investors inside China to access the Hong Kong stock market, and vice versa.

China’s A-share market was also surging at that time, retail investor enthusiasm was at a high, and Chinese internet companies were shining on the Hong Kong and US stock markets.

So large numbers of mainland retail investors suddenly developed an appetite for investing in overseas stocks. But strict regulations meant doing so wasn’t easy. Sensing the demand, a wave of new online brokerages set up in Hong Kong.

One of the first was founded by Leaf Li (李华), who had previously worked at Tencent on its QQ instant messaging service, and was the tech company’s 18th employee. He launched an app called Futu Niuniu (富途牛牛) with an interface similar to the stock-trading apps used domestically. But inside the app, users could trade US and Hong Kong stocks seamlessly.

That app became Futu, which eventually listed on the Nasdaq Exchange in March 2019.

The model caught on fast, and Tiger, Longbridge, and other service providers soon followed. They all held overseas brokerage licences for account-opening and overseas trading services to mainland retail investors. But none of them held mainland financial licences, which is the grey area we mentioned earlier.

At its peak, Futu alone had nearly 30 million registered users, with more than 60% of its revenue coming from investors inside China.

In 2021, regulators designated these services as “illegal financial activity” (非法金融活动), summoning executives from three firms for talks. By the end of 2022, regulators halted new account openings, and the Futu and Tiger apps were pulled from app stores.

But demand for Futu, Tiger, and Longbridge services didn’t disappear. It simply moved underground. Independent agents and middlemen, like those on Haiphong Road in Hong Kong, started funnelling mainland clients to these offshore brokers covertly. They did this by touting account sign-ups on the streets, or via social media accounts, forming what regulators now describe as a “grey-market supply chain” (灰色产业链).

Which is what brings us to this latest move in the crackdown on these companies.

The earlier, softer measures didn’t work so this time the authorities have gone after the brokerages themselves, including their existing mainland customers.

As we’ve seen before in education, gaming, and livestream e-commerce, when Beijing decides to crush an entire business model…

It can do it, and does.

So that’s what we’re exploring this week!

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Favourite Five

1. 招揽 zhāo lǎn

solicit, recruit

境外证券期货基金经营机构未经批准，利用境内关联或合作主体在境内招揽客户 - Offshore securities, futures and fund management entities have been found soliciting domestic clients through local partners without regulatory approval. [1]

2. 倒查 dào chá

trace back, investigate retrospectively

关闭开户时曾使用可疑或伪造文件的投资账户，倒查至2023年1月 - Investment accounts opened using suspicious or forged documents will be closed under a look-back review from January 2023. [2]

3. 港股通 gǎng gǔ tōng

stock connect program for hong kong stocks

如果你想继续投资港股，只能走港股通，不过有50万的门槛 - If you want to continue investing in Hong Kong stocks, you have to go through the Stock Connect program with a minimum asset requirement of 500,000 yuan. [3]

4. 死灰复燃 sǐ huī fù rán

revive after being extinguished, make a comeback

有些平台通过伪造存量投资者证明等方式，暗中继续给境内客户开户，出现了“死灰复燃”的迹象 - Illegal trading is making a comeback, as some platforms quietly continue to open accounts for domestic clients by falsifying proof of trading records. [3]

5. 当头一棒 dāng tóu yí bàng

a crushing blow, a rude awakening

这次监管风暴，对内地散户也是当头一棒 - This regulatory crackdown also dealt a crushing blow to mainland retail investors. [2]

Consuming the Conversation

Useful words

6. 平仓 píng cāng

close a position, liquidate a position

融资仓位因为不能追加保证金也可能面临平仓 - Leveraged positions may also face forced liquidation if investors fail to meet margin calls. [3]

• Related:

  • 加仓 jiā cāng – increase a position, buy

  • 清仓 qīng cāng – clear out a position, sell

7. 限购 xiàn gòu

purchase restriction, buying limit

因为美股太热，QDII基金的外汇额度有限，部分热门基金目前处在限购状态 - Due to the demand for US stocks and the limited QDII foreign exchange quota, some popular funds are currently subject to subscription caps. [3]

8. 暴跌 bào diē

plunge, crash

老虎和富途在美国股市的股价应声暴跌 - The share prices of Tiger Trade and Futu plunged in the U.S. stock market in response. [1]

9. 牛市 niú shì

bull market

在这一轮高科技牛市下，英伟达、谷歌等公司股价持续大涨 - Driven by the current tech-led bull market, companies like Nvidia and Google have seen their stock prices continue to surge. [1]

10. 走势 zǒu shì

trend, movement

这些指数基金过去一年的涨幅大概为38%，基本复制了纳斯达克指数的走势 - These index funds have seen returns of roughly 38% over the past year, which pretty much tracks the performance of Nasdaq-100. [1]

11. 丝滑 sī huá

smooth, seamless

流程很简单，入境后找家银行排队即可丝滑开卡 - It’s very straightforward: just head to a bank once you arrive, wait in line, and you’ll have your card in no time. [2]

12. 展业 zhǎn yè

conduct business, carry out operations

这批券商没有境内金融牌照，属于无牌展业 - These brokerages do not hold the required onshore financial licenses. As such, they are engaging in unlicensed business activities. [2]

13. 奇招 qí zhāo

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A new sports craze is taking hold in China.

It’s called Hyrox. There’s no Chinese translation for it — it’s just known by its English name.

Hyrox is a “hybrid fitness race” (混合健身竞速赛) founded in Germany in 2017 by Christian Toetzke. It has exploded across China’s first-tier cities over the past year.

Participants alternate eight one-kilometre runs with eight gym-based challenges: ski erg (滑雪机), sled push (推雪橇), sled pull (拉雪橇), burpee broad jumps (波比跳远), rowing (划船机), farmers carry (农夫行走), sandbag lunges (负重箭步蹲), and wall balls (药球投掷).

The physical challenge is intense. And that’s part of the appeal, with some clever wordplay thrown in with the character “疼 téng” which can mean “to miss or think about someone” and “physical pain”:

“If no one aches for you, go do Hyrox. Afterwards, every part of you will ache.”

没人疼你就去练Hyrox，练完没有哪儿不疼 [1]

But others say the real reason for its sudden popularity is the format.

Marathons are too long and monotonous, while CrossFit — another earlier fitness craze — involves practising weightlifting and gymnastics, and has a cut-off time which contestants must finish within.

The concept of Hyrox is also a good cultural fit for China, as one commenter notes:

“Hyrox has exploded in China because its format speaks directly to the ‘exam-expert’ mentality.”

Hyrox在国内这样受欢迎，是因为赛制精准击中了「做题家」们的心。

Like a standardised test, the rules are fixed, the challenges are known in advance, and everyone gets a ranked and comparable result at the end. So beating your personal best has become one of the things drawing people in.

“PB” is another English term borrowed straight into Chinese. “To beat your personal best” is “刷新PB” in Chinese.

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Hyrox described as the “Olympics for the middle classes” (中产奥运) in China. When it first started there, the lowest priced tickets were around 600 yuan. So the majority of participants were in the 30-to-39 age bracket, mostly urban professionals, who are also among the most active people on social media.

For them, every Hyrox event has two arenas: the physical venue, and the social media feed.

Even some celebrities have joined the craze, adding to the social media buzz, including Wang Shi (王石). He is the 75-year-old entrepreneur and founder of Vanke (万科), one of China’s major real estate developers, and a recent winner:

“Wang and his partner topped their age group in just 1 hour and 38 minutes, securing a direct ticket to this season’s World Championships.”

经历1小时38分钟，王石和搭档登顶所在年龄组冠军，直接拿下这个赛季世锦赛的入场券。[1]

The growth of Hyrox in China has been remarkable. From 1,600 participants at the inaugural Beijing event in 2024 to nearly 7,000 in Shanghai in 2025. And most recently, nearly 10,000 people registered for a Shanghai Hyrox event in May.

All of this has made Hyrox a magnet for sponsors. German founded sportwear brand, PUMA — which is now owned by China’s Anta Group — has been a global partner since 2017, and has extended its sponsorship through to 2030. Chinese sponsors include smartwatch maker Amazfit (华米), and ride-hailing platform Didi.

Partner gyms have become another source of revenue. By May this year over 500 gyms in China had partnered with Hyrox, up from barely a dozen a year earlier, each paying an annual licensing fee of 10,850 yuan (about 1,500 US dollars).

For participants, the costs add up too: from preparation to recovery, competitors reckon it costs them between 3,000 to 4,000 yuan per month. And many are happy to pay, because the appeal goes beyond the sport itself.

The real appeal is the status symbol joining a Hyrox race brings:

“Snapshots from training and race day have naturally become a new form of social currency.

China’s middle class has largely moved on from flexing luxury logos and fancy meals — now they show off the winding GPS run trackers on their fitness apps and their finishing moments at Hyrox.”

一张张备赛、参赛的照片，也能水到渠成地成为社交货币。如今，中产们早就放弃为奢侈品Logo和一顿漂亮饭拍照，转而开始展示运动App里蜿蜒的跑步轨迹和Hyrox的完赛瞬间。

And that’s what we’re discussing this week!

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Favourite Five

1. 卷王 juǎn wáng

overachiever, ultra-competitive person

王海莉在杭州做健身教练已经有七八年时间，她的学员里就有不少「卷王」 - Wang Haili has been working as a fitness coach in Hangzhou for over seven years, and quite a few of her students are overachievers. [1]

• Related:

  • 卷自己 juǎn zì jǐ – push oneself excessively

  • 卷PB juǎn PB – obsessed over beating one’s personal best

  • 卷胜利 juǎn shèng lì – compete intensely for victory

  • 卷训练 juǎn xùn liàn – overdo training

  • 卷成绩 juǎn chéng jì – compete excessively for results or grades

2. 自虐 zì nüè

self-torture, self-inflicted grind

HYROX之所以能吸引这么多人“自虐”，还因为它是一场“开卷考试” - The reason Hyrox can convince so many people to embrace the grind is that the race follows a predictable syllabus. [2]

• Related:

  • 受虐 shòu nüè – be abused, enjoy suffering

3. 龇牙咧嘴 zī yá liě zuǐ

grimacing, baring one’s teeth in pain or strain

龇牙咧嘴一顿忙活，抬头一看还有那么多项目要比 - While grimacing and grinding through the pain, you steal a glance at the scoreboard only to realise that there are still so many stations to go through. [2]

4. 没苦硬吃 méi kǔ yìng chī

make oneself suffer unnecessarily

真想给没苦硬吃的自己来一巴掌 - I really feel like slapping myself for making myself suffer for no reason. [2]

5. 社交货币 shè jiāo huò bì

social currency

一张张备赛、参赛的照片，也能水到渠成地成为社交货币 - Snapshots from training and competitions have naturally become a new form of social currency. [1]

• Related:

  • 社交名片 shè jiāo míng piàn – social calling card, social flex

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Consuming the Conversation

Useful words

6. 劲头 jìn tóu

enthusiasm, drive

王晓芸和朋友拿出追演唱会的劲头，每天定时去蹲回流票 - Wang Xiaoyun and her friends spent every day hunting for last-minute resale drops, treating the race registration like a sold-out stadium tour. [1]

• Related:

  • 狠劲 hěn jìn – fierce determination, intensity

7. 出片 chū piān

photogenic, produce good photos

观赛区立刻成了追星现场，最出片的位置永远挤满粉丝 - The spectator area instantly turned into a fan site, and the most photogenic spots were always packed. [1]

8. 冲刺 chōng cì

sprint, dash toward a goal

数以万计的参与者拿出最充沛的热情，将自己所有的力气投入其中，不断向着每一环节的目标冲刺 - Tens of thousands of participants poured every ounce of their passion and physical reserve into the race, as they charge through each station of the challenge. [1]

9. 劫难 jié nàn

ordeal, calamity

真正的「劫难」是推雪橇环节 - The real ordeal was the sled push. [1]

• Related:

  • 渡劫 dù jié – go through a trial or tribulation

10. 弃赛 qì sài

withdraw from a competition, quit the race

我弃赛了队友们怎么办 - If I quit the race, what will happen to my teammates? [1]

• Related:

  • 备赛 bèi sài – prepare for a competition

11. 斗志 dòu zhì

fighting spirit, determination

这直接激起了她的斗志，「我应该做得更好」 - Her competitive instincts kicked in immediately: “I can do better than this.” [1]

12. 较劲 jiào jìn

compete stubbornly, push oneself against something

Hyrox这项运动可以和输赢无关，只是一场「和自己较劲」的体验 - In Hyrox, winning or losing doesn’t really matter, since it’s a race against oneself. [1]

13. 硬撑 yìng chēng

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A new documentary about delivery riders in China has struck a nerve.

The Life of China’s Food Delivery Riders in 2026 (2026中国外卖员生存报告) was produced by LifeLab (三联生活实验室), which is a lifestyle magazine published by LifeWeek.

It was released in mid-April. The documentary has since been censored in China, but it’s available on YouTube — and is well worth a watch if you’re looking to brush up on your Beijing dialect (link at the end of the newsletter for paid subscribers, and don’t forget to tune into our YouTube channel where we’ll be discussing this story next week!).

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It follows riders across three Beijing neighbourhoods: the migrant village of Yuxinzhuang (于辛庄村) a northern suburb near the Sixth Ring Road, the central business district, and Wanliu (万柳), one of the capital’s wealthiest enclaves. The contrast between these worlds, where riders live and where they deliver to, runs through the film.

China now has more than 13 million delivery riders. Their pay per order has fallen from over 10 yuan a few years ago, to between 3 and 5 yuan today. Yet the number of riders has multiplied several times during the same period so now there’s more workers than ever chasing lower-paid orders.

One rider sums up the squeeze:

“Algorithms are getting smarter. But why are we working longer hours, and making less money?

Dozens, even hundreds of riders are all fighting for one order.

Whether you get it or not all comes down to if you’re favoured by the system.”

算法越来越聪明，为什么我们的工作时间反而越来越长，赚钱越来越难？几十号人、上百人在抢一单，就看系统爱不爱你。

More than half of delivery riders in Beijing are young people from rural areas around the capital, mostly from villages in neighbouring Hebei (河北) province. Many tend to move to places like Yuxinzhuang, which has become known as a “delivery village” (外卖村).

For the vast majority, working as a delivery rider is not a choice.

It’s the only option left:

“For us young people from the countryside, there aren’t many ways out.”

“I can’t even make a living, so why should I worry about my life?”

“我们农村年轻人，出路是很少的”。

“钱都挣不到，还担心命呢？”

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And it isn’t only young migrants from the countryside who are turning to delivery riding as a last resort to make money.

At the 4-minute mark in the video, a rental shop owner who rents electric bikes to delivery riders says there are increasing numbers of former office workers who have lost their jobs, young mothers returning to work, and people in their forties and fifties unable to find work in other industries:

“’Without relevant experience, my academic qualifications are useless, and I am already past 35.’

‘The thing about delivery work is, it doesn’t matter if you’re male or female, young or old — it’ll take you on.’”

“没有工作经验，学历用不上了，还过了35岁。外卖这个事，就是不论你男女老少，它都能接纳你。”

The reference to being “past 35” is loaded.

In China’s job market, 35 has become an unofficial cut-off age. Many roles won’t consider older applicants, making delivery work one of the few sectors with no age discrimination.

The riders in the film speak frankly about the demands of the job.

They “brave the elements” (风里来雨里去), running red lights and riding the “wrong way” (逆行) down streets. The algorithm rewards speed, and punishes lateness. So road accidents and injuries are common.

The struggles of delivery riders are not a new theme. And we’ve looked at several stories over the years in this newsletter.

A defining article about delivery riders was published in September 2020 by People Magazine (人物杂志): Trapped in the System: The Life of a Delivery Rider (外卖骑手，困在系统里). That article also struck a nerve, it went viral, and was also partially censored. It exposed how algorithms squeezed delivery times, forcing riders to speed, run red lights, and risk their lives to hit impossible deadlines.

The phrase “trapped in the system” (困在系统里) became shorthand for algorithmic exploitation of gig workers.

Six years on, one interviewee in this new documentary adds a new twist that 2020 framing:

“Delivery riders aren’t trapped in the system.

They’re trapped by their own desires.”

外卖员不是困在系统里，而是困在自己的欲望里。

But he’s not talking about the desire to get rich, or build a better life. He’s doing it to survive and make ends meet in an increasingly brutal job market.

So that’s what we’re exploring this week!

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Favourite Five

1. 接纳 jiē nà

accept, embrace

外卖这个事，就是不论你男女老少，它都能接纳你 - The thing about food delivery is that no matter who you are or where you are from, there is a place for you. [1]

2. 扎心 zhā xīn

heartbreaking, painful

看完这部纪录片以后，也让我不得不认清一个扎心的真相 - This documentary hit me hard with this sobering reality. [3]

3. 讨生活 tǎo shēng huó

make a living, scrape by

每个认真讨生活的人，都值得被看见 - Everyone who works hard to make a living deserves to be seen. [3]

4. 左右为难 zuǒ yòu wéi nán

caught in a dilemma, torn between two options

一边开店一边看孩子的那两年，真的是左右为难 - During those two years of running a shop while taking care of my children, I had a hard time balancing the two. [3]

5. 风里来雨里去 fēng lǐ lái yǔ lǐ qù

to toil through all weather, braving the elements

他们是风里来雨里去的，都很辛苦 - They’re out there braving the elements. It’s hard work for all of us. [3]

Consuming the Conversation

Useful words

6. 熬 áo

endure, tough it out

跟送外卖的一样，只不过我是在店里熬 - I am no different from the delivery riders. The only difference is that I’m grinding away inside the shop. [3]

7. 消遣 xiāo qiǎn

pass time, amusement

送外卖似乎成了高薪白领们的消遣 - Being a delivery rider seems to have become a pastime for well-paid office workers. [1]

8. 北漂 běi piāo

Beijing drifters, migrants pursuing opportunities in Beijing

于辛庄村被称作北漂来京后的第一落脚点 - Yuxinzhuang Village is known as the first place many Beijing drifters stay after arriving in the capital. [1]

9. 出路 chū lù

way out, future prospects

我们农村年轻人，出路是很少的 - For us young people from rural areas, there are very few opportunities. [1]

10. 门槛 mén kǎn

threshold, barrier to entry

这个门槛相对来说还要低一点 - There aren’t many requirements for this job. [1]

11. 兜底 dōu dǐ

provide a safety net, be a last resort

外卖平台给了一个兜底的选择 - Food delivery platforms provide a fallback option. [2]

12. 透支 tòu zhī

overdraw, exhaust in advance

开店是熬，送外卖也是熬，我们都需要提前透支自己的体力和健康 - Whether you’re running a shop or delivering food, it’s all a grind. In both cases, we’re trading our health and well-being just to get by. [3]

• Related:

  • 体力 tǐ lì – physical strength

Three character phrases

13. 边缘化 biān yuán huà

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An unlikely story has been trending on Chinese social media over the last two weeks.

It began when a tourist walked past a hotel in the northern city of Dalian (大连) during the Labour Day holiday.

It was a typical warm May day, the streets were alive with tourists. But as this tourist walked past that hotel they noticed something looked a bit off, but couldn’t quite put their finder on it.

After a second glance, they realised:

“The wind in Dalian is so strong that a stroke of the character for ‘season’ has fallen off…

And the Ji Hotel has become the Li Hotel.”

大连风太大了，“季”字都被吹掉了一撇

The hotel in question looked identical to the Ji Hotel (全季), which is a mid-range hotel chain with over 1,100 locations across China.

The branding, the colours, and the style of the building looked exactly like the Ji Hotel. Apart from from one tiny detail: the character for “season” (季 jì) on the hotel sign had been replaced by the character for the common surname, Li (李 lǐ).

To the untrained or non-native eye, these two characters look the same. The difference is a single stroke (一撇):

• “Season” (季 jì) = “grain” (禾 hé) + “child” (子 zǐ)

• “Li” (李 lǐ) = “tree” (木 mù) + “child” (子 zǐ)

The Dalian tourist went on to post their findings on Weibo. The image of the Li Hotel soon hit the top of hot search lists. With comments like:

“I had to rub my eyes and look twice at my phone. I thought I was seeing things.”

以为自己眼花了，对着手机揉了半天眼睛

And my personal favourite:

“Do you have to change your surname to Li to check in?”

住这个酒店需要改李姓吗

H World Group (华住酒店集团) is the owner of the Ji Hotel brand, and was quick to distance itself from this imposter. Of the 29 Ji Hotels in Dalian, the “Li Hotel” (全李酒店) was nothing to do with them, apparently.

Social media users across the country began spotting similar hotels with names almost identical to well-known brands.

A Youting Hotel (又庭酒店) was spotted in another city, which looked exactly like the the Hanting Hotel (汉庭酒店). It had the same blue lettering, same horse logo, but the 'water' radical (氵) on the character hàn (汉) was gone, leaving the character yòu (又) instead.

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A growing number of fakes emerged:

• The Xana Hotel (希岸 xī’àn) morphed into 希堓 (xī’àn) with an “earth” radical (土 tǔ) added to the second character (岸 àn) to make 堓 (àn), which sounds exactly the same.

• Hi Inn (海友 hǎiyǒu) became 嗨友 (hāiyǒu) with a “mouth” radical (口 kǒu) added to the second character, “sea” (海 hǎi), to make 嗨 (hāi) which means “hi.”

• And the Vienna Hotel (维也纳 Wéiyěnà) transformed into the Weitana Hotel (维他纳 wéitānà) with a “person” radical (亻 rén) added to the middle character (也 yě) to make “him” (他 tā).

So Chinese characters are fertile ground for fake brand names. With a single tweak to a radical in one character of a name, an entirely new almost identical brand is invented.

As you might expect, this is not a new phenomenon in China.

And there are an equally rich number of ways to describe it in Chinese, many of which we’ve discussed before in this newsletter:

“Piggybacking” (碰瓷), or “bumping porcelain,” refers to con artist military men in the dying days of the Qing Dynasty who ripped people off by deliberately bumping into passers-by. They carried fake expensive-looking pots, and when the pots broke due to the engineered collision, the crooks would extort compensation from their victims.

"Knock-offs" (山寨) or shanzhai literally means "mountain stronghold" which is a nod to the bandit camps where outlaws hid from the authorities in the original meaning of the word. The term entered modern usage via Cantonese as a label for small unlicensed workshops producing unauthorised copies, most notoriously in 1990s Shenzhen, where electronics imitation was rampant. Today it covers everything from shanzhai phones to shanzhai hotels like the Ji Hotel.

But our favourite is this phrase, which we translate as: "imposter hotels" (李鬼酒店).

This is a reference to a well-known scene in the classic novel, The Water Margin (水浒传), in which a scammer named Li Gui (李鬼) extorts passers-by for cash by pretending to be the infamous and feared bandit, Li Kui (李逵). "Li Gui" has become a common way to describe people or brands posing as well-known names.

Many of these “imposter hotels” have a legitimate predecessor.

The Youting (又庭) Hotel, for example, was once a franchised Hanting (汉庭 ) outlet. While other fakes, like the Li Hotel in Dalian, are simply knock-offs of established brands, like the Ji Hotel (全季) in that case.

So by making minor tweaks to the characters in well-known names, while keeping their appearance intact, these operators create the illusion of still being part of the original chain.

But they can then charge much lower prices than the branded equivalents because they no longer have to pay expensive franchising fees:

The amenities and service were not far off those of a genuine chain.

But at nearly half the price.

曾在改名后的酒店住过，配置和服务与连锁酒店相差不大，但价格便宜了接近一半。

And it’s this which we’re discussing this week!

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Favourite Five

1. 山寨 shān zhài

fake, knockoff

最近，多地曝出山寨酒店乱象，令人大跌眼镜 - Copycat hotels have been popping up across the country, which have caught many travellers completely off guard. [1]

2. 傍名 bàng míng

to associate with a famous name, to imitate a well-known brand

“笔画式傍名”的酒店，何以如此之多？ - Why are there so many hotels that imitate famous brand names by slightly altering the characters? [3]

3. 换马甲 huàn mǎ jiǎ

to disguise oneself, to rebrand under a different name

殊不知自己住的不是全季，而是“换了马甲”的全李 - Little did he know that he was not staying at Ji Hotel, but at a “rebranded” copycat called Li Hotel. [2]

4. 深藏功与名 shēn cáng gōng yǔ míng

to hide one’s achievements and reputation, to stay low-key

在夜晚，这个“鑫”字还不发光，远远看去就是“汉庭”，像个深藏功与名的替身演员 - At night, the extra character “Xin”, like a stand-in actor quietly hiding in plain sight, remains unlit and allows the hotel to masquerade as “Hanting”. [2]

5. 李鬼酒店 lǐ guǐ jiǔ diàn

copycat hotel, impostor hotel

一场乌龙，却牵扯出不少“李鬼酒店” - A single mix-up has inadvertently revealed a network of impostor hotels. [2]

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Consuming the Conversation

Useful words

6. 碰瓷 pèng cí

a piggybacking scam, to scam by exploiting resemblance

这些“李鬼”酒店专门“碰瓷”知名品牌，在店名和形象设计上和正牌极为类似 - These impostor hotels deliberately imitate famous brands in their names and designs. [1]

7. 高仿 gāo fǎng

high-quality imitation, knockoff

还有人在上海旅游时，住进了高仿桔子酒店的“木吉酒店” - Some travellers in Shanghai ended up in “Ju Hotel”, a blatant knockoff of the well-known “Juzi Hotel”. [2]

8. 推诿 tuī wěi

to shirk responsibility, to pass the blame

一般平台多以“商家自主经营”为由推诿责任 - Platforms often shirk responsibility by claiming that those businesses operate independently. [1]

9. 瞥见 piē jiàn

to catch sight of, to glimpse

瞥见熟悉的“全季”字形就决定下单，结果订完发现，酒店名字是“全李” - He booked the room after spotting the iconic typeface of “Ji Hotel”, only to realise afterwards that it was actually called “Li Hotel”. [2]

10. 隐蔽 yǐn bì

hidden, concealed

比文字颠倒更隐蔽的，是字母造假 - What’s even harder to spot than altered characters is the manipulated alphabets. [2]

11. 乱象 luàn xiàng

Wild West, disorder

今年火爆的“五一长假”出行，也放大了这种乱象 - The travel boom during this year’s May Day holiday also magnified the scale of such scams. [2]

12. 擦边 cā biān

to skirt the line, to exploit loopholes

目前对“改字擦边”行为的执法，仍主要依赖消费者投诉和品牌方主动维权 - At present, authorities still largely rely on consumer complaints and brand-led legal challenges to crack down on these wordplay scams. [2]

Three-character phrases

13. 看走眼 kàn zǒu yǎn

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Doubao (豆包) is China’s most-used AI assistant.

It’s made by tech giant ByteDance (字节跳动), the brand behind short video social media platforms Douyin (抖音) and TikTok. And also Seedance, the AI video generation model integrated into the Doubao app.

By March 2026, Doubao had 345 million monthly active users, and is by far China’s most used AI assistant.

We’ve discussed its main competitors before in this newsletter which are DeepSeek, Alibaba’s Qwen (千问), Tencent’s Yuanbao (腾讯元宝), and Baidu’s Wenxin Assistant (文心助手) also known as Ernie Bot.

So far these services have been mainly free. Ernie Bot is the only app which has experimented with paid offerings, introducing a subscription of 59.9 yuan per month in late 2023. But they eventually backtracked following a customer backlash, making it completely free from April 1, 2025.

Until now, Doubao has followed the same free model. But on May 4, a statement appeared on its App Store page announcing a paid subscription:

“To better serve our professional community, Doubao is introducing a Premium Tier.

This paid version offers enhanced value-added services alongside our standard free tier, providing a tailored experience for users with more demanding workflows.”

为更好地服务专业用户，豆包将在免费版的基础上，推出包含更多增值服务的付费版本，以满足不同用户的差异化需求。

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According to ByteDance there are now three pricing tiers in their premium offering: a standard plan at 68 yuan a month, an enhanced plan at 200 yuan, and a professional plan at 500 yuan per month.

Although its prices are much cheaper than international equivalents such as Chat GPt and Claude, the news of the announcement immediately shot to the top of Weibo’s trending list.

Some people said they intended to “uninstall the app if Doubao is no longer free” (只要收费就卸载). Others pointed out that overseas AI products have long offered tiered pricing, and China is simply falling into line. And others commented that for Chinese users, “the AI free lunch may be over” (AI免费午餐可能没了).

Some also asked the question:

“What makes an AI tool worth 68 yuan a month?”

AI凭什么值68块钱一个月？

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That’s a difficult one for many users in China to answer or quantify because, to date, they have enjoyed free use of all these apps.

And for the past two years, China’s AI giants have been fighting a “subsidy war” (补贴战) burning cash to attract users. Alibaba even spent 3 billion yuan handing out bubble tea vouchers to pull users into Qwen in the lead up to this year’s Spring Festival.

But developing AI tools is an expensive business needing heavy investment.

ByteDance saw its net profit fall more than 70% in 2025, dragged down by AI spending. The company invested over 150 billion yuan of capital expenditure that year in AI, with around 90 billion of that on AI computing power alone.

Memory chip prices are surging too, forecast to jump between 63% and 75% this year.

And apps like Doubao are expensive to run. By March 2026, Doubao’s daily usage had hit 120 trillion tokens (the “raw material” AI runs on). This is equivalent to a doubling in usage in just three months, with monthly computing costs approaching one billion yuan.

So as costs rise the makers of AI products face a choice. They can either remain free but degrade the experience over time until users start complaining that “the AI is getting stupider” (AI越来越笨).

Or find a way to monetise.

Chinese internet companies traditionally make their money through the “three horses of the carriage” (三驾马车): value-added services, advertising, and e-commerce.

Pivot toward monetisation to pass on the cost — either by embedding ads directly into AI outputs, where the advertiser foots the bill, or through subscription models, where the cost falls on the user directly.

探索AI商业化，让用户来承担Token成本，比如在AI结果中塞广告，羊毛出在猪身上，再比如AI收费，羊毛出在羊身上。

The view inside China is that all three will eventually find their way into AI.

But advertising risks compromising the quality and neutrality of the advice these apps provide, which is a line Chinese tech companies have so far been reluctant to cross.

So for a product that functions as an assistant, as a creative tool, and as a chat companion, subscriptions are the natural fit.

With soaring chip costs, exponential usage growth, and shareholders keen to see a return on years of AI investment, the pressure on ByteDance and others to monetise has become impossible to ignore:

“ByteDance’s shareholders are keen to see some return, after having invested so much into AI.”

字节的股东们估计也急了，投了这么多钱，总得看到回报吧。

So Doubao has finally made that first move.

And that’s what we’re exploring this week!

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Favourite Five

1. 造血 zào xiě

generate revenue, become financially self-sustaining

当算力成本的全链条上涨成为不可逆的趋势，大模型从“免费圈地”走向“收费造血”，便成了无法回避的生存必答题 - With the inevitable surge of chip costs, LLM providers realised that they have no choice but to pivot from capturing the market to generating margins. [1]

2. 财大气粗 cái dà qì cū

wealthy and powerful, financially strong

财大气粗的豆包也要探索收费模式了 - Even the well-funded Doubao has started exploring paid business models. [2]

3. 羊毛出在羊身上 yáng máo chū zài yáng shēn shang

the cost is ultimately borne by the user; you end up paying one way or another

比如在AI结果中塞广告，羊毛出在猪身上，再比如AI收费，羊毛出在羊身上 - Some are experimenting with embedding ads directly into AI outputs—the classic “indirect monetisation” play where the advertiser foots the bill. Others are moving toward straight-up subscription models, where they pass the cost directly onto the end user. [2]

• Related:

  • 羊毛出在猪身上 yáng máo chū zài zhū shēn shang – making someone else pay the cost

4. 天下没有免费的午餐 tiān xià méi yǒu miǎn fèi de wǔ cān

there’s no free lunch

在商言商，天下没有免费的午餐，AI 收费早晚的事儿 - From a business perspective, there’s no such thing as a free lunch; charging for AI usage is only a matter of time. [3]

5. 一棒子打死 yí bàng zi dǎ sǐ

to completely dismiss, to condemn outright

话说回来，吐槽归吐槽，但也别一棒子打死 - That said, complaints are one thing, but don’t dismiss it outright. [3]

Consuming the Conversation

Useful Words

6. 悄然 qiǎo rán

quietly, unnoticed

这一消息源于豆包在苹果App Store页面悄然更新的付费订阅服务声明 - This news came from Doubao’s recently updated paid subscription service notice on its Apple App Store page. [1]

7. 炸锅 zhà guō

to explode with reactions, cause an uproar

对于豆包收费，网友评论瞬间炸锅 - Doubao’s pivot to monetisation sparked an immediate uproar. [1]

8. 烧钱 shāo qián

to burn money, spend huge amounts of money

这本身就是一场极致的“烧钱”游戏 - At the end of the day, it’s just a game of who has the most cash to burn. [1]

9. 试水 shì shuǐ

to test the waters

豆包开始试水收费 - Doubao has started testing paid services. [1]

10. 抢客 qiǎng kè

to compete aggressively for customers

阿里旗下的千问甚至祭出“请喝奶茶”、发补贴等手段疯狂抢客 - Alibaba’s Qwen even used tactics like “free milk tea” to aggressively acquire users. [1]

Three-character phrases

11. 价值战 jià zhí zhàn

competition based on value, value-driven competition

或许标志着国内大模型行业正从“价格战”悄然转向“价值战” - This may signal that China’s AI industry is quietly shifting from a “price war” to a “value war”. [1]

• Related:

  • 产品力 chǎn pǐn lì – product strength, product competitiveness

  • 印钞机 yìn chāo jī – money-printing machine, cash cow

12. 狗屎运 gǒu shǐ yùn

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An internet slang phrase which became popular two years ago has resurfaced in media discussions over the last few weeks.

The phrase is “full-time children” (全职儿女):

“Full-time children — a new buzzword for young adults who, instead of seeking traditional employment, stay at home to provide emotional support and help with household chores, while their parents cover their living expenses.”

这两年有个名词很火，叫”全职儿女”，顾名思义就是孩子不找工作，全职在家，给父母提供情绪价值或者一些基本的劳动力保障，然后自己的日常经济开销由父母提供。

It’s a new twist on an older slang phrase which we’ve also covered before in this newsletter: “parasite generation” (啃老族).

“Parasite generation” is borrowed from Japanese (パラサイト・シングル), which is a transliteration of the English phrase.

It became a common expression in Japan during its economic crash in the 1990’s. That was time described as the “lost thirty years” (失去的30年), when many young people became trapped in low-paying jobs, unable to afford to buy a home. So many of them gave up working and moved back in with their parents to live off family savings.

So “parasite generation” (啃老族) has strong negative connotations. Whereas, according to Chinese media discussions, this new phrase taking off in China right now, “full-time children” (全职儿女), carries a different and slightly more positive meaning.

Because unlike in Japan during the ‘90’s, these young Chinese people are “employed” to provide genuine support to the household, such as cooking, cleaning, caring for ageing grandparents, and offering “emotional value” (情绪价值).

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But the causes behind the emergence of “full-time children” are similar to those in Japan which gave rise to its “parasite generation”.

First, as we’ve discussed in this newsletter, China’s graduates are struggling to find work. A record 11.58 million students graduated from Chinese universities last year. At a time when many entry-level jobs are being “replaced and eliminated” (汰换) by AI.

Second, by 2022, people aged 60 and above made up nearly 15% of China’s population. With elderly parents increasingly in need of support, and young people increasingly unable to find stable work or afford to buy a house, staying home and being “employed” by elderly parents is a win-win for both.

People now in their 50s and 60s have saved well during China’s boom years of the nineties and naughties, and now many of them also draw a pension. So for them, as the saying goes, “adding another pair of chopsticks to the table” (添双筷子) isn’t much of a hardship.

“In an era of labor shortages and abundant opportunity, staying home was dismissed as being lazy.

But now with a stagnant economy and a harsh job market, staying close to your parents has become the second best option.“

那时候劳动缺口大，出去遍地都能找到活儿干。你躲在家里不出门，靠父母养活，那大概率就是懒惰。但现在，当社会发展慢了下来，当外面的钱不好赚了，留在父母身边啃老成为次优解。

A third reason is China’s stressed housing market.

For most young people, property has become too expensive to buy without funding from their parents. So it’s become normalised for parents to pay to help get kids on the property ladder.

Now that’s extending further, with many parents agreeing to employ their kids at home rather than let them grind away in a low-paid “workhorse” (牛马) jobs in big cities far from home.

In economic terms, there’s even a Chinese phrase to describe what’s happening:

“This is called intergenerational transfers.”

用经济学的专业术语来说，这叫代际转移支付。

While “full-time children” are seen in a more positive light than the “parasite generation” before them, there are many people who see this trend as a bad thing. Because it can lead to laziness and lack of ambition among young people at a time in their lives when they should be working hard as their parents did before them.

One writer highlights the pitfalls of hiring your own kids, sharing a story of his friend who “hired” his daughter into the family business:

“She made some friends back home and started hanging out with them all the time.

She became really patchy about coming into the office, too — sometimes she wouldn’t show up for a whole week.”

她在国内也有了一些朋友，天天就跟她们混在一块了，去公司也是三天打鱼两天晒网，有时候一个星期都见不到人。

But in a labour market this depressed, and with property prices still so high, “full-time children” has become one way of naming and normalising a reality many families are already living.

Although as one netizen jokes, being a full-time child is not without its indignities:

“The most educated in the whole family is coincidentally also the lowest paid.”

全家学历最高，工资最低。

So, that’s what we’re exploring this week!

Favourite Five

1. 啃老族 kěn lǎo zú

relying on parents financially, parasite single

往前倒推10—20年，哪有全职儿女，那叫啃老族 - There was no such thing as “full-time children” 10-20 years ago.They were just called parasite singles. [1]

• Related:

  • 啃老 kěn lǎo – to rely on parents financially

2. 打感情牌 dǎ gǎn qíng pái

play the emotional card, appeal to emotions

打感情牌，说你父母也挺不容易的啥的 - He then started to sympathise with the parents, saying things like they haven’t had it easy. [2]

3. 自力更生 zì lì gēng shēng

self-reliance, support oneself

父母都只养到他们18岁，然后他们就必须脱离家庭，自力更生 - Parents only support the kids before they turn 18, and then the kids are expected to move out and support themselves. [1]

4. 全职儿女 quán zhí ér nǚ

unemployed adult living with parents, full-time children

这两年有个名词很火，叫“全职儿女”，顾名思义就是孩子不找工作，全职在家，给父母提供情绪价值或者一些基本的劳动力保障 - There is a new buzzword called full-time children, which describes young adults who, instead of seeking traditional employment, stay at home to provide emotional support and help with household chores. [1]

5. 添双筷子 tiān shuāng kuài zi

add another mouth to feed, take one more person in

把孩子留在身边也就是添双筷子的事情 - For many parents, the marginal cost of supporting their children who stay at home is negligible. It’s just a matter of “providing an extra pair of chopsticks at the table”. [1]

Consuming the Conversation

Useful words

6. 托底 tuō dǐ

provide a safety net, back someone up

年轻人考公考研，中年人结婚育儿，或多或少都需要父母的托底 - Whether it’s young people taking civil service or graduate exams, or middle-aged couples navigating marriage and parenthood, they all need some kind of financial support from their parents. [1]

• Related:

  • 托举 tuō jǔ – to lift up, support

  • 家底 jiā dǐ - financial background

7. 殷实 yīn shí

well-off, financially secure

家底殷实的家庭，宁愿孩子拿着钱吃吃喝喝，安稳度日 - The well-to-do would rather prefer that their children coast through life using the parents’ money. [1]

8. 数落 shǔ luo

to scold, to nag

父母也一样，能给到短期帮助的，就别常数落孩子了 - The same goes for the parents. If they can offer short-term help, they shouldn’t keep telling their children off. [3]

9. 庇护 bì hù

shelter, protection

在父母的庇护下，成了在家陪爸妈的全职儿女了 - Under the wings of their parents, they have become full-time children providing companionship at home. [3]

Three-character phrases

10. 次优解 cì yōu jiě

second-best solution, suboptimal choice

当外面的钱不好赚了，留在父母身边啃老成为次优解 - With a harsh job market, staying with the parents becomes the second best option. [1]

11. 瞎折腾 xiā zhē teng

to mess around, to make pointless trouble

只要她不瞎折腾就行，我还是能够养得起的 - As long as she doesn’t blow it all on something meaningless, I can still foot the bill for her. [2]

12. 家里蹲 jiā lǐ dūn

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The Beijing Human and Humanoid Robot Half Marathon took place on April 19 in Yizhuang (亦庄), a district in the southeastern suburbs of the capital.

The Chinese name for the race is even more of a mouthful than the English: 半程马拉松暨人形机器人半程马拉松

It’s now in its second year, we discussed the first half marathon back in April 2025.

In that race, robots of all shapes and sizes lurched down the course, many falling before the finish line. The winner in 2025 was Tiangong Ultra (天工Ultra) which crossed the line in 2 hours 40 minutes.

One year on and the event looks almost unrecognisable:

This year’s competitors have seen marked gains in both efficiency and stability.

Their on-track performance is far more consistent, reflecting a leap in several fundamental capabilities.

今年参赛的机器人，其运行效率与稳定性均有提升，赛道表现更趋稳定，背后对应的是多项底层能力的同步进步。

102 teams competed in the race, with over 300 robots from 26 brands running alongside human competitors on the same course. Teams from 13 provinces across China, as well as overseas labs from Germany, France, and Brazil took part.

The 21-kilometre course was more challenging than last year’s. It took the competitors through different terrains including slopes, narrow sections, and sharp bends of almost 90 degrees.

Fewer than half of the robots made it to the finish line.

The pre-race favourite was the H1 by Unitree Robotics (宇树科技), which had clocked speeds of up to 7.51 metres per second in qualifying. But on the day, it fell near the finish line and was unable to complete the race.

The winner was a surprise to many, and a new entrant this year.

It was called Lightning (闪电), built by smartphone manufacturer Honor (荣耀). Lightning had its wobbles along the way, falling around 200 metres from the finish. But it managed to complete the race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, smashing the human world record for that distance.

Second and third places were also taken by Honor-made robots.

In fact the mobile brand swept all six of the top places. That’s despite Honor’s robotics division only being established since mid-2025. With most of the core team drawn from its existing smartphone research and development unit.

While Honor’s dominance on the podium did come as a surprise to many, it was not such a shock to the Honor team. They went into the race with confidence as Lightning had completed the course in the pre-race dry run in around 50 minutes, without running at full speed:

After the robot from Honor shattered human records while “holding back” during pre-race testing, the team knew that the race was in the bag.

在开赛前一周的全要素路测中，荣耀机器人”收着跑”仅发挥七八成功力，就打破了人类最好半马纪录，团队内部当时就觉得，夺冠已是”探囊取物”。

Related

Although the team behind Lightning is new, this win has been much longer in the making.

Speaking in Beijing after the race, Honor’s Chief Strategy Officer for Embodied Intelligence, Wang Ai (王皑), explained:

“Why was Honor able to build ‘Lightning’ at lightning speed in just six months?

The answer lies in a decade of experience in the smartphone supply chain.”

The ecosystem we built for consumer electronics — from precision structural components and sensors to LiDAR and cooling systems— has all been repurposed for our robots.”

“为什么荣耀能够在6个月这样一个’闪电’的时间里做出’闪电’？这背后是我们在手机制造业供应链上十年经验的积累。”荣耀在消费电子领域沉淀的供应链体系，从精密结构件到传感器，从激光雷达到散热泵体等，都复用到了机器人身上。

In March last year, Honor CEO Li Jian (李健) launched the company’s “Alpha Plan”, setting out its transformation from a smartphone manufacturer into a “global leading AI device ecosystem company” (全球领先的 AI 终端生态公司).

He committed to an investment of $10 billion dollars over the next five years. And it’s already yielding results: in March this year, Honor launched its first “robot phone” (机器人手机) with a camera which apparently has the agility of a human neck!

The sudden dominance of Honor in this race is a sign of things to come in China’s embodied intelligence sector. “Embodied intelligence” (具身智能) is a phrase we’ll be hearing much in the coming months and years — which we first shared with you in November last year.

This is what's known as a “wind vent” (风口), which we translate as “the next big thing”. These are sectors which suddenly become hugely popular with investors who deploy massive amounts of cash into start-ups in the sector looking for quick returns.

And that’s certainly happening in China’s embodied intelligence industry. According to one research firm, over 50 funding rounds linked to these technologies were completed in the first quarter of 2026. That’s a cumulative financing of around 20 billion yuan (or nearly $3 billion USD) in just three months.

But, as we’ve seen in other wind vent sectors, funding can soon run dry, and “involuted” competition destroys many of the early movers. Which is why Honor and others are sprinting to gain a dominant position while they still can.

Many of the companies in that race will not survive. And it’s a reckoning which may not be far off, as one industry expert warns:

“In the next six to twelve months, the humanoid robots will have to step out of the show room and enter the examination hall.”

“未来6到12个月，人形机器人行业该从秀场进考场了。”

So that’s what we’re exploring this week!

Favourite Five

1. 包揽 bāo lǎn

to sweep, to win all

荣耀“包揽”胜利的现象，也引发了行业的冷静思考 - Honor’s clean sweep has also prompted sober reflection within the industry. [4]

2. 颤颤巍巍 chàn chàn wēi wēi

trembling, shaky

它自己又颤颤巍巍地爬起来完成了撞线 - It staggered back up and somehow managed to cross the finish line. [3]

3. 肉眼可见 ròu yǎn kě jiàn

visible to the naked eye, clearly noticeable

肉眼可见的是，今年参赛的机器人，其运行效率与稳定性均有提升 - There has been a tangible improvement in the efficiency and stability of this year’s robots. [1]

4. 探囊取物 tàn náng qǔ wù

as easy as taking something from a bag, effortless success

在开赛前一周的路测中，荣耀机器人“收着跑”仅发挥七八成功力，就打破了人类最好半马纪录，团队内部当时就觉得，夺冠已是“探囊取物” - After the robot from Honor shattered human records while “’holding back”’ during pre-race testing, the team knew that the race was in the bag. [2]

5. 华山论剑 huà shān lùn jiàn

The Great Sword Duel at Mount Hua; the ultimate showdown

有的队伍14公里就“下线”了，但大家依然很开心。这就是一场“华山论剑” - Some teams didn’t manage to cross the 14-kilometer mark, but everyone was still in high spirits. After all, this wasn’t just a race; it was a true clash of titans in this industry. [4]

• Note: From Louis Cha’s wuxia novels The Legend of the Condor Heroes (射雕英雄传) and The Return of the Condor Heroes (神雕侠侣)

Consuming the Conversation

Useful words

6. 入局 rù jú

to enter the game, to enter a field

手机厂商的入局，正在让竞争格局变得更有意思 - The arrival of the smartphone manufacturer is shaking up the competitive landscape.

7. 噱头 xué tóu

gimmick, publicity stunt

现阶段的赛事并非单纯的营销噱头，而是必要的技术压力测试 - At this stage, the competition is not merely a marketing gimmick, but a technical stress test that is absolutely necessary. [2]

8. 路演 lù yǎn

roadshow, promotional tour

机器人百亿“路演”，能带来什么？ - What can a billion-yuan robot roadshow bring? [4]

9. 竞技 jìng jì

competition, to compete

从隔离展示到同场竞技，人形机器人正在以肉眼可见的速度，走进现实生活 - From robot show at exhibitions to active contenders in the same race, humanoids are making the leap into reality faster than ever before. [1]

10. 打磨 dǎ mó

to polish, to refine

虽然从赛场表现来看，这些能力仍在持续打磨之中 - Although judging from their performance in the race, these capabilities are still being continuously refined. [1]

11. 攻克 gōng kè

to overcome, to tackle

这些也是各大机器人厂商需要重点攻克的课题 - These are also the key challenges that major robot manufacturers are tackling. [1]

12. 闭环 bì huán

closed loop

资本更看重的，是运动能力、操作能力与商业化落地之间能否形成闭环 - What investors really care about is whether locomotion, manipulation, and commercial viability can create a self-sustaining loop. [2]

13. 卫冕 wèi miǎn

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A trend has been quietly emerging in China’s employment landscape.

There’s no official English name for it yet. So we came up with one which we’ll discuss below.

This new trend is unlike anything we’ve covered before. It’s nothing to do with the grind of the “side-hustle” (副业), or the soul-crushing feeling of the “office odour” (班味). Nor is it about the resigned self-mockery of calling yourself a “workhorse” (牛马) — one of our top phrases of 2024.

This new trend is totally different. The phrase describing it puts two unlikely words together: “to pretend” (假装) and “go to work” (上班). And since there’s no ready-made English translation for it, we invented one:

The “Mockupation” (假装上班).

This Chinese phrase began surfacing in late 2024, as videos of people documenting their mock occupations spread across Chinese social media.

And, as we’ve discussed many times in this newsletter over the years, whenever a new trend emerges in China, a new business model is never far behind to capitalise on it.

So with the rise of the “mockupation” a new kind of company has begun to appear. These are companies that like any other: large open-plan offices, rows of clean desks, printers, the low hum of a busy working day:

“There are seven or eight coworkers at their desks, each deep in their own tasks, some crunching numbers in Excel, others on sales calls, and a few buried in code.

Everyone is busy with their own work, and people chat occasionally, unlike in a quiet library.”

工位上有七八个同事正在工作，每个人都很忙碌，有人在处理excel表格，有人在打电话沟通业务，还有人在敲代码，大家在忙自己的工作，有时候互相会说说话，不像自习室一样特别安静。

But there’s one big difference.

The people sitting at those desks are not employees. They are customers, paying to be there.

“The pinnacle of professionalism might just be the ability to stay on duty when you have lost your job.

And that commitment has given birth to a new type of company popping up all across the country: Mockupation companies.”

上班的最高境界是什么？或许是：现实已无班可上，内心却始终”在岗”。最近全国各地冒出来了一批新的公司：假装上班公司。

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“Mockupation companies” (假装上班公司) have been springing up in cities across China, from Beijing to Shenzhen.

These businesses are mostly repurposed idle office space turned into a new source of revenue by the owners, such as empty desks in showrooms, or spare floors in commercial buildings.

A small desk in a mockupation company is rented out for as little as 100 yuan a month, and a larger one costs around 150 yuan. If you want to work overtime, there’s an additional charge of 10 yuan per hour.

It’s not just office space they provide. Mockupation companies offer “boss patrol” (老板定期巡视) services, with “managers” wandering the floor, so mock employees can experience the feeling of looking busy while doing nothing. And others offer “simulated interview services” (假装面试), which is a performative interview before the “applicant” can “join” the company.

The people who use these spaces fall into several categories.

Many are recent graduates struggling to find work. Others are burned-out veterans from China’s big tech companies using the space as a soft landing after being “optimised” out of a job.

Then there are those who are there purely to keep up appearances with family and friends, trying to avoid the social stigma attached to long-term unemployment.

They’re also popular with entrepreneurs and small business owners who are managing online shops, or building software, who simply need a place to work and make new contacts.

For these people, mockupation companies offer structure, routine, and a psychological anchor of people “coming together to support each other” (抱团取暖).

Which, in the current job market in China, is a much needed relief from the otherwise grim outlook:

“These spaces serve as a layover on one’s journey.

Whether they are graduates looking for their first job or professionals navigating the void of a layoff…

These individuals take a short break here to catch their breath before heading towards the next destination.”

假装上班公司就像人生旅途中的一个中转站。每个来到这里的人都处在生活的某个过渡期——无论是从校园到职场，从失业到就业，还是从一种生活状态转向另一种。他们在这里稍作停留，调整状态，为的是更好地奔赴下一个目的地。

So, will this trend last?

That’s what we’re exploring this week!

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Favourite Five

1. 空窗期 kōng chuāng qī

gap period, career break

失业或职业空窗期，不会被视为正常的人生调整，只会被老一辈简单等同于个人的失败与挫折 - For the older generation, temporary unemployment or a career gap is not seen as a chance to recalibrate, but as personal failure and setbacks. [2]

• Related:

  • 过渡期 guò dù qī – transition period

  • 缓冲带 huǎn chōng dài – buffer zone

  • 低谷期 dī gǔ qī – rock bottom

2. 形形色色 xíng xíng sè sè

all kinds of, a wide variety of

来的人形形色色，上到五六十岁，下到刚成年 - The people who came were of all ages, ranging from those in their fifties or sixties to those who had just reached adulthood. [1]

3. 虚度光阴 xū dù guāng yīn

waste time, idle away time

只要你仔细观察这些“假装上班族”，就会发现他们都没有在虚度光阴 - If you take a closer look at those who engage in “mockupation”, you’ll find that none of them are wasting their time. [2]

4. 假装上班 jiǎ zhuāng shàng bān

pretend to go to work, mockupation

上班的最高境界是什么？或许是：现实已无班可上，内心却始终“在岗”。最近全国各地冒出来了一批新的公司：假装上班公司 - The pinnacle of professionalism might just be the ability to stay on duty when you have lost your job. Their commitment has given birth to a new type of company that is popping up all across the country: Mockupation startups. [2]

5. 抱团取暖 bào tuán qǔ nuǎn

huddle together for warmth, support each other

他们通过“抱团取暖”重建社会连接，用“自嘲”化解身份转变的阵痛，以微小的经济代价换取一个物理上的“喘息空间” - The unemployed find a collective refuge in “mockupation offices”, where they utilize self-deprecating wit to mask the trauma of their displaced status while paying a small premium for a temporary sanctuary from the pressures of reality. [3]

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Useful words

6. 副业 fù yè

side job, side hustle

搞副业是祝潇颖眼中体现个人直接能力的方法 - In Zhu Xiaoying’s view, having a side job is the way to demonstrate the direct impact one can create. [3]

• Related:

  • 待业 dài yè – unemployed, between jobs

7. 裸辞 luǒ cí

quit without a backup plan, resign before receiving another offer

时间长了，人际交往的压力也越来越大，于是干脆裸辞，靠自媒体带货谋生 - Eventually, the social toll of the corporate life just became too much. So she decided to simply quit her job and pivot to selling products on social media. [1]

8. 瞎忙 xiā máng

be busy for nothing, busy without direction

每天排得满满当当，但是瞎忙，没有主心骨 - Every day is fully packed, but I was just going through the motions and didn’t have a sense of where I was going. [1]

9. 沉淀 chén diàn

accumulate, settle and reflect

一开始大家都是觉得自己不赚钱，想着接下来多沉淀 - At the beginning, everyone felt they weren’t making money, so they believed that they should take time to upskill and hone their craft. [1]

• Related:

  • 沉下心 chén xià xīn – calm down, focus oneself

10. 惬意 qiè yì

comfortable, at ease

那这段“上班”时光就更多了几分温暖，自然也更惬意 - This period of “working” thus felt a bit warmer and naturally more comfortable. [2]

11. 摸鱼 mō yú

slack off, goof off at work

然后是“闲聊、摸鱼”，最后一项是“职业规划” - Then comes “chatting and slacking off”, and the last item is “career planning”. [3]

12. 倒贴 dào tiē

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One of China’s most famous livestream hosts, Dong Yuhui (董宇辉), is facing a consumer backlash.

It began in early April, when a CCTV reporter exposed a health supplement sold by Dong called “Youthit” (优思益) which claimed to be an Australian brand. Priced at 293–434 yuan per bottle, it was marketed as a premium eye supplement made by Australian company, Yarra Vibe.

But the reporter discovered a very different reality: the products were made in China, owned by a Chinese shell company registered at an Australian address, which turned out to be a car repair warehouse in the outskirts of Melbourne.

And its brand story, including international awards, and expert endorsements, were all concocted by a marketing company based in Hangzhou.

This kind of fake foreign brand is common in China. It’s know as a “Western vest” (洋马甲) in Chinese slang, where a domestic product is dressed up with a foreign identity to command a premium price.

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Soon after the story broke, Youthit delisted all products across every platform and suspended all sales activity, and multiple government departments launched investigations into its operations. The outcome is still pending.

Dong Yuhui’s channel, Time with Hui (与辉同行) was the single largest sales platform for Youthit, accounting for an estimated 40% of total sales, and between 10–25 million yuan ($1.4-3.4 million USD) in revenue.

When the story broke, other influencers who had promoted the product quickly issued apologies and offered full refunds — known as “triple damages” (退一赔三) under Chinese consumer law. Which means for every purchase of a fake, customers get three times the price paid as compensation from the seller.

But Dong Yuhui’s team was notably slow to respond, issuing three statements which didn’t address the problem:

“On day one, they said they were ‘looking into it’.

On day two, they said they were ‘closely monitoring it’.

And only on day three did they reluctantly issue a statement offering ‘out-of-pocket refund’ to consumers.”

第一天在”关注”，第二天在”重点关注”，直到第三天才不情愿地发声明说”垫付退款”。 [2]

These lukewarm responses caused even more consternation online.

Because “looking into it” (关注) and “closely monitoring it” (重点关注) are classic Chinese corporate non-responses. And the word “out-of-pocket” (垫付) frames the refund as a favour to the consumer rather than an admission of liability. The repayment offered also fell well short of the standard “triple damages” paid Dong’s competitors.

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Doing Yuhui is a familiar name to long-time readers of this newsletter.

He became the face of East Buy (东方甄选), a live-streaming channel born out of the ashes of embattled education business, New Oriental (新东方) in 2022, whose private tutoring business was decimated by China’s Double Reduction policy (双减政策) the year before.

In December 2023, Dong became the CEO of East Buy. Then in July, 2024, Dong quit the platform to build his own channel, Time with Hui (与辉同行). And since then he’s become one of the top earners in the industry. Last year alone Time with Hui recorded over 21 billion yuan in sales (USD 2.9 billion).

But in recent months, Dong has been been hit by a series of fake product controversies, Youthit being the third this year.

In January 2026, his channel sold “Dabie Mountain Butter Hen” (大别山黄油母鸡) for 84 yuan for a pack of three. An industry association challenged its authenticity because the numbers didn’t add up — that breed of chicken costs over 150 yuan per hen raise. The product was quietly delisted from Dong’s channel.

Then in March 2026, the annual CCTV 315 Consumer Rights Broadcast (央视3·15晚会) exposed a brand of bleached chicken feet (漂白鸡爪) for being produced in unsanitary conditions. The product was also sold through Dong’s channel, but his team deflected the issue saying that the products he had sold came from a different production line.

Each time, Dong Yuhui used carefully worded language to distance himself from the problem product, and any liability.

But his fans are getting fed up, as this comment on social media suggests:

“This isn’t a mistake. He is treating consumers like idiots.”

这不是失误，这是把消费者的智商摁在地上摩擦。 [2]

• The phrase, “rubbing into the dirt” (摁在地上摩擦) is vivid Chinese internet slang meaning to utterly humiliate or disrespect someone, which captures how many of Dong’s fans are starting to feel.

The “fake Western vest” (洋马甲) foreign brand playbook is nothing new in China.

But this is a new problem for Dong who has built his reputation as a “cultural figure” (文化人), and educator. He’s even known affectionately by fans as “Teacher Dong” (董老师) — a reference to his earlier career as an English teacher at New Oriental before he became a superstar seller. His viewers and fans trust him, and they are willing to pay a premium for the products he promotes because of it.

But that deep trust is being eroded with these recent controversies. And there’s a new idiomatic phrase to explain why:

Recently, the catchphrase “Dong Yuhui keeps getting away with it” has gone viral.

A play on the old adage “the law does not punish the masses”, the four-character phrase highlights the seemingly untouchable status of Dong Yuhui and his team amidst a string of recent live-streaming controversies.

最近，”法不责辉”成了网络流行语。这四个字借用了老话”法不责众”的壳，指向了主播董宇辉及其团队在多起带货争议中的处境。

Trust is Dong’s single most valuable commercial asset. Unlike other live-streamers who sell on price or entertainment, Dong’s entire operation runs on this credibility.

And now that credibility is beginning to crack, rebuilding it will be far harder that it was to create.

So that’s what we’re discussing this week!

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Favourite Five

1. 情怀 qíng huái

sentiment, emotional attachment

他的流量和口碑，大多建立在“情怀”和“信任”之上 - His massive following and reputation are largely built on emotional resonance and trust. [3]

2. 洋马甲 yáng mǎ jiǎ

fake foreign branding, domestic product labelled as imported

成本30块，国内代工，全靠洋马甲忽悠人 - The product is a thirty-yuan domestic white-label disguised with a foreign-sounding name. [2]

• Related:

  • 洋牌 yáng pái – foreign brand label

  • 假洋货 jiǎ yáng huò – fake foreign brand

3. 摇身一变 yáo shēn yí biàn

to transform instantly, to turn into overnight

于是国产货，就摇身一变成为了高大上的洋货了 - Domestic products are then instantly transformed into high-end foreign goods. [4]

4. 法不责辉 fǎ bù zé huī

Dong Yuhui keeps getting away with it; selective accountability

最近，“法不责辉”成了网络流行语。这四个字借用了老话“法不责众”的壳，指向了主播董宇辉及其团队在多起带货争议中的处境 - Recently, the catchphrase “Dong Yuhui keeps getting away with it” has gone viral. A play on the old adage “the law does not punish the masses,” the four-character phrase highlights the seemingly untouchable status of influencer Dong Yuhui and his team amidst a string of recent livestreaming controversies. [1]

• Note: wordplay on “The law does not punish the masses” (法不责众)

• Related:

  • 法外之地 fǎ wài zhī dì – the Wild West, legal vacuum

5. 人红是非多 rén hóng shì fēi duō

the more famous you are, the more trouble you attract

人红是非多，顶流主播也逃不过舆论审判 - As the saying goes, fame always invites trouble: even the top live-streamer cannot escape public scrutiny. [3]

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Useful words

6. 恶意 è yì

malicious intent, bad faith

违法事实清楚，责任主体明确，主观恶意明显 - There is a clear violation, a defined liable party, and unmistakable willful misconduct. [1]

7. 欺诈 qī zhà

fraud, deception

两位被官方定性为虚假宣传或消费欺诈 - The two were accused by the authorities to be engaging in false advertising or consumer fraud. [1]

8. 翻车 fān chē

to mess up, to fail badly

董宇辉又翻车了 - Dong Yuhui messed it up again. [2]

• Related:

  • 出事 chū shì – something went wrong, an incident occurred

9. 神坛 shén tán

altar, place of reverence

董宇辉，是时候被拉下神坛了 - It’s time for Dong Yuhui to be pulled down from the altar (meaning: to be held accountable). [2]

10. 贪婪 tān lán

greedy, greed

不能用情怀来掩盖贪婪和虚伪，欺骗你的粉丝和用户 - You can’t use emotional appeal to sanitise greed and hypocrisy as you deceive your fans and users. [2]

11. 乱象 luàn xiàng

chaotic situation, disorderly phenomenon

希望他能守住行业的底线，成为乱象中的一束光 - Hopefully he can hold the line and become a ray of light amid industry-wide misconducts. [3]

12. 镀金 dù jīn

to gild, to embellish credentials

注册个品牌，最好再找个共享办公位，就算完成身份镀金了 - All it takes is a registered brand name and a desk at a co-working space to give yourself a veneer of legitimacy. [4]

13. 疙瘩 gē da

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On March 24, education influencer Zhang Xuefeng (张雪峰) died suddenly in Suzhou from cardiac arrest. He was only 41 years old.

On the morning of the day he died, he’d already broadcast a livestream and completed a run. His March running total had already passed 70km, according to his WeChat Moments.

For readers of this newsletter, Zhang Xuefeng is a familiar name. He is one of China’s most recognisable internet celebrities, and has made a name for himself as a “gaokao college application planning advisor” (高考志愿规划师).

On Weibo, one post captured what many were feeling about his sudden death:

“A life of such theatrical flair ended by a sudden and brutal blow.

Whatever you thought of him, you cannot help but shudder at this grim fate.”

“富有戏剧色彩的人生，最终以决然而突兀的一击结束。无论对这个人观感如何，都不能不为命运之严酷森冷而战栗。”

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Zhang came from modest beginnings.

He grew up in a small town in Heilongjiang Province, called Fuyu County (富裕县). Fuyu in Chinese means rich, but ironically this town was very poor. At his family’s most strapped, their combined monthly income was just 600 yuan when Zhang was growing up.

After finding fame and wealth, Zhang often joked of just how poor his childhood was:

“Some struggle to put food on the table…

But back then my family didn’t even have a table to put food on!”

有人穷得叮当响，那时我是穷到响都没有！

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Zhang attended Zhengzhou University, which is not one of China’s most prestigious but an achievement for Zhang to get into given where he came from. He studied water supply and drainage engineering (给排水工程). Which was completely irrelevant to the rest of his career. After graduating, he began his career in postgraduate entrance exam tutoring.

He got his first taste of online fame in 2016, when he produced the video “Understanding China’s 34 Top Universities in Seven Minutes” (七分钟解读34所985高校).

It went viral, garnering millions of views. Speaking in his distinctive northeastern accent, Zhang took the boring and confusing topic of university profiles and broke it down into a string of jokes and one-liners with the timing and delivery of a stand-up comic.

That formula of straight-talking, simple, entertaining, and helpful transformed him from an ordinary exam tutor into an internet celebrity.

In the years that followed, Zhang capitalised on that fame and built a successful education business. Many criticised him for “making money off people’s anxieties” (靠焦虑来赚钱). But for millions of parents he offered a lifeline to navigate the pressures of academic results, university choices, and graduate employment.

He encouraged students to opt for employability, high pay, and job security over personal interest, passion, or ideals. Niche subjects, according to Zhang, had narrow career prospects, low wages, and were “dead-end” fields to be avoided.

So Zhang was no stranger to controversy.

In 2024, he caused an uproar when he discouraged students from majoring in humanities, saying:

“If my child insists on studying journalism, I’ll knock them out cold.”

“孩子非要报新闻学，我一定把他打晕”

…

“Every humanities degree will lead to a job in the service industry. At the end of the day, what you do is just sucking up to people. “

“所有文科都是服务业，总结为一个舔字”

He famously dismissed biology, chemistry, environmental science, and materials science as “pitfall majors” (天坑专业). And he even discouraged youngsters from becoming diplomats.

But behind the provocative online persona was a man who couldn’t stop. Back in June 2023, Zhang was admitted to hospital with symptoms of extreme exhaustion, chest tightness, and heart palpitations.

He led an intense life of overwork, poor diet, and lack of sleep, while also being a keen runner, putting his body under immense and sustained stress.

He often shared on social media how tired he felt, like this post in April 2021:

“Am I tired? Of course. Can I take a break? Of course not. Am I afraid of overworking to death?

No. Why do I push myself like this? Because go big or go home. I owe it to everyone who put their faith in me.”

“累么？累！不能休息么？不能！你就不怕猝死么？不怕！为什么要这样？做事情，要么就不做，要做，就做好！对得起每一个信任你的人！”

Despite the controversies of Zhang and what’s he’s said over the years, the outpouring on social media following his death was overwhelming, and mostly positive.

According to the excellent and timely Bumingbai (不明白播客), Zhang’s death generated over 1 billion posts on Weibo, over 5 billion on Douyin, and over 80,000 articles on WeChat. And on the day of his funeral in Suzhou, tens of thousands of people reportedly turned up to pay their respects in person — images of which were quickly censored online.

So for all the people Zhang upset, there were many more who were grateful for his honesty, directness, and help in navigating China’s competitive and unforgiving education system.

And that’s what we’re discussing this week.

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Favourite Five

1. 透支 tòu zhī

overdraw, overextend

他无限透支自己的身体，却偏偏不敢停 - He was burning the candle at both ends, yet he didn’t dare to take a break. [1]

• Related:
  疲惫 pí bèi – tired, exhausted

2. 玩命 wán mìng

risk one’s life, go all out recklessly

长期这么干，等于玩命 - Doing this long-term is basically committing slow suicide.

• Related:
  拼命 pīn mìng – to give it your all, desperately

3. 戛然而止 jiá rán ér zhǐ

an abrupt end, stop suddenly

也有人被这种“戛然而止”击中——”原来人不是到老了才会死，人是随时都会死的” - Others were struck by how his life was brought to an abrupt end — “So it turns out people don’t only die when they’re old. People can die at any moment.” [1]

• Related:

  • 戛然收场 jiá rán shōu chǎng – come to an abrupt end

4. 救命稻草 jiù mìng dào cǎo

lifesaving straw, last resort

从被学生看不起的愣头青老师，变成数百万家长的救命稻草 - He went from an inexperienced teacher looked down on by his own students to the last hope for millions of parents. [3]

5. 语不惊人死不休 yǔ bù jīng rén sǐ bù xiū

won’t stop until something shocking is said, always says something striking

张雪峰有时语不惊人死不休，例如，“孩子非要报新闻学，我一定把他打晕” - Zhang Xuefeng would sometimes pick the most outrageous thing to say. Take his stance on journalism: “If my child insists on majoring in journalism, I would knock him out.” [2]

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Useful words

6. 猝然 cù rán

suddenly, abruptly

谁也不曾想到，这个始终以精力充沛的形象出现在镜头前、直播间里的人，会以这样猝然的方式告别 - No one could have imagined that a man who always appeared so full of life on camera and in his livestreams would bid the world such a sudden and final farewell. [2]

• Related:

  • 猝死 cù sǐ – sudden death

7. 消耗 xiāo hào

to consume, to drain

高强度的工作与运动叠加，对他的身体造成了巨大的消耗 - The compounded stress of a demanding job and intense workouts took a massive toll on his body. [1]

• Related:
  耗尽 hào jìn – to exhaust, to use up completely

8. 拧巴 nǐng ba

conflicted, internally torn

他那种想停下却不敢停下的拧巴，却让人感到具体而熟悉 - His inner struggle of being stuck between burnout and the fear of letting go feels strikingly real and all too common. [1]

9. 功利 gōng lì

utilitarian, driven by self-interest

有人说他功利短视，把教育讲成了“找工作指南” - Some criticised him for being short-sighted and overly utilitarian, as he reduced education to a tool for job-hunting. [1]

• Related:
  功利化 gōng lì huà – to approach sth in a utilitarian way

10. 苛刻 kē kè

harsh, strict

相较之下，张雪峰对自己却很苛刻 - In comparison, Zhang Xuefeng is very strict with himself. [1]

11. 讣告 fù gào

obituary, death notice

直到晚上，头像灰了，讣告来了 - When the evening arrived, his profile picture turned grey with the posting of the obituary. [3]

12. 厄运 è yùn

misfortune, bad luck

所以这一次，厄运还是出手了 - So this time, the stroke of fate hit him. [3]

13. 胡诌 hú zhōu

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On March 17, rumours began circulating in Chinese tech industry group chats that iFlytek (科大讯飞), a leading AI and speech recognition company, was planning large-scale layoffs of software engineers.

As speculation spread, iFlytek’s Vice President, Han Yucheng (韩煜尘) denied it as “fake news.”

The following day, similar rumours swirled about NetEase (网易), one of China’s largest internet and gaming companies, which was also allegedly planning a large-scale “clear-out of all contract staff” (全面清退外包).

NetEase Games has a total workforce of around 20,000. The majority of those are game developers, of which 10-15% are outsourced. According to these latest rumours, the “clear out” would be done by removing 30% of outsourced contractors by April, and the rest of them would be removed by May.

Following the playbook of iFlytek, NetEase released a statement saying the rumours were false, and that any recent personnel changes were normal “replacements” (汰换) through routine staff rotation in the business.

But rather than use the neutral word for “replace” (which is 替换 in Chinese), NetEase used a more loaded term, which suggests the rumours might well be true.

The expression used in the statement was “remove and replace” (汰换), which combines the word for “eliminate” (淘汰) and “replace” (替换). In corporate speak this means getting rid of underperforming staff and replacing them — either with higher quality talent, or AI.

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The rumours emanating from NetEase and iFlytek have hit a nerve with many employees precisely because of the impact that AI is now having on China’s tech sector.

One employee tech sector employee quoted in the media captures this sentiment:

“Two years ago, it was ‘AI is here — how exciting’.

This year, it’s ‘AI is here — how terrifying’.

It’s not some distant, abstract terror, but the kind of immediate terror where people around you are actually getting laid off.”

前两年是”AI来了，好激动”，今年变成了”AI来了，好焦虑”。不是那种遥远的、跟我不相干的焦虑，是那种——身边真有人被裁了的焦虑。

The writer also drew a parallel between tech employees today and the Luddites — textile workers in early 19th century Britain who faced being replaced by machines that were faster, cheaper, and never needed to sleep.

Their resistance against change at that time was futile, just like those anxious tech employees in China today — which in Chinese can be expressed with a beautifully visual idiom:

“Like a mantis trying to stop a chariot”

螳臂当车

The concern among tech and gaming workers is real. And the consensus is that this round of personnel “optimisations” (优化) is linked to the accelerated adoption of AI.

“It’s an industry-wide consensus that the use of AI has become pretty much ubiquitous across game publishing.”

几乎所有公司在发行这块对AI的使用都比较泛滥，这早就是行业内的共识。

Employees believe major tech companies are actively "replacing humans with AI" (AI替代人类), not just encouraging its use as a support tool. These ongoing fears are why rumours of large-scale layoffs have caused such a strong reaction.

Because for many workers, the question is no longer whether AI will change their industry, but whether there will be a place for them in it at all. Just like the mantis raising its arms against the chariot, they feel powerless in the face of an unstoppable force.

So that’s what we’re exploring this week!

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Favourite Five

1. 清退 qīng tuì

dismiss, lay off

网易旗下多个部门都或多或少地开始了外包清退工作 - Many departments in NetEase have started to lay off contractors. [1]

2. 汰换 tài huàn

replace, upgrade

近期发生的人员变动仅为部分项目的正常业务调整与人员汰换 - The recent personnel changes reflect normal operational realignments and routine talent optimization within specific projects. [1]

3. 螳臂当车 táng bì dāng chē

a mantis trying to stop a chariot, overestimate one’s ability

历史书把他们写成笑话：一群害怕进步的落后分子，螳臂当车 - History books wrote them off as a joke: a bunch of Luddites clinging to the past, like a mantis trying to stop a chariot. [2]

4. 不寒而栗 bù hán ér lì

shudder with fear, tremble involuntarily

如果我们不采取行动，未来的场景可能令人不寒而栗 - If we don’t take action, what might happen in the future could make us shudder with fear. [2]

5. 两极分化 liǎng jí fēn huà

polarisation, extreme divide

这就导致了一个两极分化的局面 - This has created two vastly different results. [3]

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Useful words

6. 忐忑 tǎn tè

uneasy, anxious

他们因此“很忐忑，怕拿不到赔偿” - There was great uncertainty and they were afraid that they wouldn’t receive their severance package. [1]

7. 征兆 zhēng zhào

sign, indication

阿乐告诉触乐，清退外包并非毫无征兆 - Ale told Chuapp that the layoff of contractors didn’t come exactly as a surprise. [1]

8. 风声 fēng shēng

rumour, news

清退外包并非毫无征兆，早在去年就有了些风声 - The layoff of contractors didn’t come out of the blue, as there were already signs of it a year ago. [1]

9. 端倪 duān ní

clue, trace

公布了（对AI介入工作流的具体要求后）才察觉之前就有端倪 - Only after they announced the AI requirements did we start connecting the dots about those earlier signs. [1]

10. 焦虑 jiāo lǜ

anxious, worried

今年变成了“AI来了，好焦虑” - This year, it’s “AI is here — how terrifying”. [2]

• Related:

  • 绝望 jué wàng – despair

11. 阵痛 zhèn tòng

growing pains, temporary pain

它巧妙地映射了当下整个科技行业正在发生的真实阵痛 - It encapsulates the growing pains that are clearly felt by the entire tech industry. [3]

12. 优化 yōu huà

optimize, streamline

很多人还没反应过来，就发现自己的工作已经被“优化”了 - Before most people realised what had happen, they found that their roles had been “optimised away”. [2]

Three-character phrases

13. 斩杀线 zhǎn shā xiàn

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The Communication University of China (中国传媒大学), which is one of the country’s top universities in creative industries and arts, is discontinuing 16 of its undergraduate degrees.

The news broke on March 6 when the party secretary of the Beijing-based university, Liao Xiangzhong (廖祥忠), said he was axing traditional subjects like translation, photography, visual communication design, arts management, and even the nationally ranked comics programme.

Liao, who was attending the Two Sessions (两会), told media the era of “human-machine collaboration” (人机分工) has arrived, and that higher education must be “completely restructured” (全面优化) to adapt and remain relevant.

The sweeping cuts sparked widespread debate on social media, with comments like:

“Has AI made these degrees obsolete?”

“这些专业要被AI淘汰了吗？”

Liao also took to social media to calm nerves, posting:

"There's no need to panic"

不必惊慌

To which many students responded:

“But what are we going to do?”

“我们怎么办？”

On the evening of March 9, an open letter signed by some students of the university began circulating on social media.

One passage was shared widely:

“When we saw the news, we were completely stunned. We applied to the Communication University because of these programmes.

Now they’re being cut just like that. Will our diplomas still be recognised? What will happen to our remaining classes?

And when we apply for jobs after graduation, will potential employers think we have also been eliminated in this game since our majors have been scrapped?”

看到新闻的那一刻，整个人都是懵的。我们当初考上中传，是冲着这些专业来的。现在说砍就砍，我们的学位还有效吗？接下来的课怎么上？毕业找工作，用人单位看到我们专业没了，会不会觉得我们是“被淘汰的人”？

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The recent axing of subjects at Communication University is not an isolated case.

In January this year, Jilin University updated its undergraduate programmes, with 19 of its 141 degrees no longer accepting new students. Including subjects in the arts like broadcast television directing, music performance, product design, environmental design, and visual communication design.

And last year, two of China’s top universities in Shanghai saw similar cuts to arts degrees. East China Normal University stopped enrolling students in painting, sculpture, and arts education, while Tongji University cut a number of design programs.

Many young people in China believe AI is already well on the way to replacing humans in these creative fields.

While other voices in the debate say that the knowledge and skills in disciplines like foreign languages, photography, and translation, are still needed and cannot be replaced by AI, as one article suggests:

“What translation conveys is not just the literal meaning of language, but also the cultural depth.

What photography captures is not just images, but the dialogue between people and nature, the meeting of souls.

What AI replaces is low-value, formulaic production. Not the entire industry.”

“翻译传递的不仅是语言的本意，更是文化底蕴的传递；摄影拍的不仅是图片，更是人与自然的对话、人与人的心灵交融。AI替代的是低效的、照本宣科式的创作，而不是这一整个行业。”

As the story continued to gain widespread attention online, Communication University weighed in, saying it’s not just cancelling these 16 subjects; it’s adapting what it teaches to fit changes in technology and the world of work, and the axed subjects will be merged into other degrees.

Photography is being merged into film photography and production. Visual communication design is being folded into advertising. And new degrees in intelligent image arts, intelligent audio-visual engineering, and intelligent engineering and creative design are replacing the scrapped comics programme.

But that’s little consolation for the students currently in those degrees, or those who are considering pursuing these professions as careers.

A widely shared article captured the mood, invoking a well-known slang term for degrees with no future:

It’s foreseeable that in the next round of university curriculum reforms, majors that are overly technical or too narrow in scope risk becoming the new “pitfall majors”.

可以想见，在新一轮的高校专业改革中，那些过于工具化，过于单一的专业，恐怕就会成为新的“天坑专业。”

So that’s what we’re exploring this week!

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Favourite Five

1. 绝学 jué xué

rare or lost skill, rare expertise

很不幸，我的专业成了绝学 - Unfortunately, my major has essentially become a lost art following the recent cuts. [1]

• Note: used sarcastically here.

2. 一口气 yì kǒu qì

in one go, all at once

中国传媒大学一口气撤销翻译、摄影、漫画等16个本科专业和方向 - The Communication University of China abolished 16 undergraduate majors and disciplines, including translation, photography, and comics, all in one go. [1]

3. 天坑专业 tiān kēng zhuān yè

pitfall major; a major with poor career prospects

那些过于工具化，过于单一的专业，恐怕就会成为新的“天坑专业” - Majors that are overly technical or too narrow in scope risk becoming the new “pitfall majors”. [3]

4. 大刀阔斧 dà dāo kuò fǔ

bold and decisive, sweeping

如此大刀阔斧的专业调整，瞬间引发舆论热议 - Such sweeping curriculum reform instantly sparked public debate. [3]

5. 一去不复返 yí qù bú fù fǎn

gone forever, never to return

学习某个专业就能轻松找到工作、高枕无忧的时代已经一去不复返 - The era where a certain major guaranteed easy job search and peace of mind is gone forever. [3]

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Useful words

6. 优化 yōu huà

optimise, improvement

这并非简单取消专业，而是实施系统性专业优化 - We’re not simply removing certain majors. Rather, this is a strategic redesign of our academic offerings. [1]

7. 焦虑 jiāo lǜ

anxiety, worried

同样的焦虑，正在更多考生和家长中蔓延 - The same anxiety is spreading among more and more students and parents. [1]

8. 动摇 dòng yáo

waver, shake

当AI开始批量生产作品，这条路的“确定性”开始动摇了 - Now that AI can churn out work in bulk, this career path doesn’t feel like a safe bet anymore. [1]

9. 风向 fēng xiàng

trend, direction

“风向”是怎么变的 - How has the trend changed? [1]

10. 撤销 chè xiāo

abolish, revoke

专业被撤销，会不会被理解为“这个专业不行了”？ - If a major is scrapped, will people simply assume that this field has become obsolete? [2]

11. 过时 guò shí

outdated, obsolete

这不是16个专业的事，是上千个年轻人突然发现自己学的东西，被时代宣布“过时”的事 - It’s not just about those 16 majors; it’s about thousands of young people suddenly realizing that what they’ve been studying has been declared obsolete. [2]

12. 淘汰 táo tài

eliminate, be phased out

用人单位看到我们专业没了，会不会觉得我们是‘被淘汰的人’？ - When employers see that our majors are scrapped, will they think we have also been eliminated in this game? [2]

13. 惊慌 jīng huāng

panic, alarmed

廖祥忠通过媒体回应了四个字：不必惊慌 - In an interview with the media, Liao Xiangzhong responded with four words: no need to panic. [2]

14. 清场 qīng chǎng

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If you’re scrolling Chinese social media right now, you’ll come across this phrase:

“Raise the lobster” (养龙虾)

But it has nothing to do with actual lobsters.

“Raise the lobster” is a newly coined expression which means training your OpenClaw AI assistant.

OpenClaw is an open source AI agent which helps users build teams of AI assistants to handle real-world tasks like sending emails, managing calendars, and running social media accounts.

It’s described as “The AI that actually does things”.

The phrase “raising the lobster” is a nod to the cartoon red lobster in the OpenClaw logo. The idea of “raising” implies how users need to feed their AI agents with tokens, train it with new skills, and monitor and improve performance. The AI requires ongoing attention like a pet which needs “feeding” (喂饲料) and “training” (调教), which are both essential phrases in the process of “raising the lobster”.

Developed by Austrian programmer, Peter Steinberger, OpenClaw launched in late 2025. On its first day alone it gained 9,000 stars on the coding platform GitHub, which is a measure of popularity on the platform where developers bookmark projects they rate.

Within a week it had surpassed 100,000 stars, setting a new record. It has since passed 248,000 becoming the most-starred open-source project on the platform.

By January 2026, it had caught on in China.

Tencent Cloud and Alibaba Cloud launched “one-click setup” (一键部署) services, to help non-tech-savvy users install the AI. And ByteDance and Alibaba’s Qwen followed.

Tencent even offered the service for free.

On March 6th, nearly 1,000 developers and AI enthusiasts gathered outside Tencent’s headquarters in Shenzhen for a free installation event. The crowd was a mixed bunch: from retirees and parents with toddlers to elementary school students.

Some had flown in the night before. While others were squeezing it into a lunch break, racing to get their “lobster” installed.

One Tencent employee described the scene:

“Hundreds of developers queued up early with their laptops in a long, three-column line that wound its way through the plaza occupying almost the entire corner.”

数百名开发者早早就带着笔记本电脑在广场上排起了长龙，队伍蜿蜒排成了三列，几乎占据了整个广场的一角。

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Short videos of people “raising the lobster” have since flooded Douyin and other social media feeds as the craze jumped from the tech world into the mainstream:

“From coders to regular users, the whole country is obsessed with ‘raising the lobster’.

The OpenClaw craze is absolutely everywhere on Douyin right now.”

抖音上，”全民养龙虾”的短视频刷屏，从程序员到普通用户，几乎全社会都参与其中。

Among the trending topics, there are people making quick money using OpenClaw sharing their experiences under the tag “Smart people are already cashing in on OpenClaw” (聪明的人已经用OpenClaw开始赚钱了). They are using their lobster to design products, to write marketing emails, and even to trade stocks and shares.

Other early adopters are making money by helping others to raise their lobster.

OpenClaw installation services are now available on e-commerce and social media platforms for between 200 and 800 yuan. “Comprehensive, step-by-step guides” (保姆级教程) are going viral on Bilibili with hundreds of thousands of views. Meanwhile, RedNote is flooded with “OpenClaw local setup tutorials for dummies in ten minutes” (零基础十分钟搞定OpenClaw本地部署). And on Goofish (咸鱼), China’s eBay equivalent, coaches are offering home installation services for 499 yuan a time.

But as the craze has gained momentum, there are also major concerns that come with it.

China's cybersecurity authorities have already issued multiple warnings about OpenClaw, with government agencies and state-owned enterprises banned from running it on corporate devices. And there are stories swirling in the media about how lobsters are completing tasks without permission — like a Meta employee who reported that OpenClaw deleted hundreds of her personal emails despite being instructed to wait for approval.

With these concerns have come yet more money making opportunities: now as well as installation services, there are also “OpenClaw uninstallation services” (龙虾卸载服务) available for up to 299 yuan.

As a result, online users have coined another phrase:

“One lobster, three ways” (龙虾三吃)

It’s a pun on a popular dish name, and in this context describes how people are making money in three ways with OpenClaw: to install the AI, to train people how to use it, and then to uninstall it when things go wrong.

These fast-moving money makers are also described as “shovel sellers” (卖铲人) in Chinese, a phrase drawn from the English idiom “selling shovels in a gold rush” — the idea that the real money is made supplying the tools, not panning for gold.

So will this craze take off, and could “raising the lobster” become one of our favourite phrases of 2026?

Or, will be yet another fleeting viral moment on the Chinese internet?

That’s what we’re exploring this week!

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Favourite Five

1. 极客 jí kè

geek, tech enthusiast

大模型还是少数科技极客和科研机构的专属领地 - LLMs are still something that only a small number of geeks and researchers are interested in. [1]

2. 养龙虾 yǎng lóng xiā

to raise the lobster, set up, run and train OpenClaw

抖音上，”全民养龙虾”的短视频刷屏，从程序员到普通用户，几乎全社会都参与其中 - From coders to regular users, the whole country is obsessed with “raising the lobster”. The OpenClaw craze is absolutely everywhere on Douyin right now.

• Related:

  • 饲料 sì liào – feed; metaphor for tokens in this context

  • 养虾人 yǎng xiā rén – lobster farmer

  • 龙虾热 lóng xiā rè – lobster craze

3. 智能体 zhì néng tǐ

intelligent agent, AI agent

OpenClaw是一款开源AI智能体 - OpenClaw is an open-source AI agent. [1]

4. 盲目跟风 máng mù gēn fēng

to blindly follow trends, follow the crowd blindly

一些不懂技术的人盲目跟风，很多落地应用场景还是很稚嫩 - A lot of non-techies are just blindly jumping on the bandwagon, and many of the actual use cases are still pretty half-baked. [1]

5. 深不可测 shēn bù kě cè

unfathomable, impossible to gauge

盲目卷入技术的狂奔，背后的风险可能深不可测 - Getting caught up in this tech craze carries profound risks that we are only beginning to understand. [3]

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Useful words

6. 热潮 rè cháo

surge, craze

狂欢热潮还在继续 - The wave of frenzy has no signs of subsiding. [1]

• Related:
  洪流 hóng liú – torrent, overwhelming surge

7. 迭代 dié dài

iteration, iterative update

在技术迭代的同时，我们也质疑这到底是不是一场带有巨大泡沫的实验 - While technology continues to iterate, we are also questioning whether this is an overhyped experiment. [1]

8. 部署 bù shǔ

to deploy, set up or install (in this context)

腾讯云团队也搭建了将近10张长桌作为临时部署区 - The Tencent Cloud team also set up about ten long tables as the makeshift installment zone. [1]

• Related:

  • 一键部署 yí jiàn bù shǔ – one-click setup

9. 场景 chǎng jǐng

scenario, use case

有人希望在现场专家的帮助下，立刻将OpenClaw接入飞书、企业微信等办公场景 - Some are looking for on-site expert guidance to immediately connect OpenClaw to their professional workflows, such as Lark and WeChat for Business. [1]

10. 黑客 hēi kè

hacker

一旦被黑客入侵，瞬间就会被洗劫一空 - Once it’s hacked, everything will be gone in an instant. [2]

11. 吩咐 fēn fù

to instruct, to tell someone what to do

即使你什么都没吩咐，OpenClaw也不会真的闲着 - Even if you don’t give any instructions, OpenClaw will not really stay idle. [3]

• Related:

  • 指令 zhǐ lìng – instruction, command

  • 命令 mìng lìng – command, order

  • 提示 tí shì – prompt, hint

  • 命令行 mìng lìng háng – command line

12. 小白 xiǎo bái

beginner, novice

在敲代码方面还是零基础的“小白”，却养出了这么一只聪明“虾” - Though she is a complete beginner in coding, she still managed to turn her OpenClaw into such an intelligent agent. [4]

Three-character phrases

13. 手把手 shǒu bǎ shǒu

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China’s smartphone prices are rising, with increases set to be the biggest the industry has seen in five years.

The story hit the top trending search lists on social media just after the Spring Festival holidays. Major brands like OPPO, vivo, Xiaomi (小米), and Honor (荣耀) have said prices will increase from this month, by anywhere from 1,000 to 3,000 RMB for mid-to-high-end models. But proportionally, budget devices will be hit hardest — what Chinese consumers call "sub-1,000 RMB devices" (千元机).

This sudden surge in prices is being driven by the massive investment in data centres to increase AI computing power across China. The industry-grade chips needed for these facilities are more profitable than smartphone chips. So as demand from the AI sector has exploded, the supply of chips for consumer electronics, such as for smartphones, has tightened and pushed prices up.

According to some reports, the cost of smartphone memory chips has risen by more than 80% compared to the same period last year. While the cost of 1TB of phone storage has nearly tripled in the space of a year — from around 200 RMB to close to 600 RMB.

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China’s smartphone market is broadly divided into three tiers: manufacturers with supply chain advantages, Huawei, Apple, Samsung, which dominate the market. The four major domestic brands — Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo, and Honor — with mature product offerings and bargaining power, holding the middle ground. And small manufacturers like Meizu (魅族) with under 1% market market which are facing being squeezed out entirely this year.

Huawei is better insulated than most with its self-developed SoC chips and in-house R&D capabilities. Domestic memory chip suppliers have also historically tilted supply towards Huawei because of its sheer buying power — something we’ve seen in the auto industry with BYD.

“Right now, many phonemakers are struggling not just with rising costs, but with total supply shortages where money alone can’t guarantee inventory.

In contrast, Huawei continues to secure its supply with relative ease.”

“现在很多厂商面临的不只涨价，还有‘有钱拿不到货’的情况，但对华为来说，拿货还是比较轻松的。”

From an industry perspective, chip prices are becoming increasingly volatile which is changing behaviour across the supply chain. Distributors who once stocked inventory to drive sales are now hoarding handsets, betting on price rises to profit from the appreciation.

For consumers, this means higher prices and a touch of irony.

The latest smartphones need more memory than ever to support new AI features, such as AI assistants like Alibaba’s Qwen (千问). Yet it's the AI industry itself that's driving up chip costs and pushing new phone prices out of reach. The result is consumers are turning to slightly older flagship models instead, which is also pushing up second-hand prices.

This is having a direct impact on people’s livelihoods, as one delivery rider explains in an interview in one of the articles we read this week:

If I upgrade to a flagship model that costs around 4,000 yuan, it could help me take 3-5 more orders daily, which can give my monthly income a 800-900-yuan bump.

But I don’t have 4,000 yuan.

So I’m trapped in a vicious cycle of low efficiency and low income. I can’t afford a good phone which means I’m even more inefficient in my job. [3]

假如换一部4000元左右的“高端机”，每天可以多接3—5单，月收入增加约800—900元，但是我拿不出这4000元，只能继续用旧手机，陷入低效率—低收入—买不起好手机—更低效率的恶性循环里。[3]

So how is this going to play out for Chinese consumers?

That’s what we’re exploring this week!

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Favourite Five

1. 内存 nèi cún

memory, ram

内存涨价趋势将持续至2026年下半年 - Memory prices are set to trend upwards well into the second half of 2026. [1]

2. 话语权 huà yǔ quán

have a say, bargaining power

内存厂商现在话语权极高，已经采取“虚拟定价”方式 - Memory chip manufacturers now wield extremely strong bargaining power and have already shifted to the “post-settlement pricing” model. [1]

• Related:

  • 定价权 dìng jià quán - pricing power

3. 涨价潮 zhǎng jià cháo

wave of price hikes

手机涨价的根源，是由内存的“超级周期”凶猛涨价潮导致 - The root cause of the current spike in smartphone prices is the aggressive memory supercycle and its accompanying wave of price hikes. [1]

4. 岔路口 chà lù kǒu

fork in the road, crossroads

这里出现了第一个关键的技术岔路口 - The first critical technological crossroads has emerged. [4]

5. 罪魁祸首 zuì kuí huò shǒu

chief culprit, main offender

罪魁祸首：存储芯片疯狂上涨 - The real culprit behind rising phone prices: skyrocketing memory chip costs.

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This week on the RTM Advanced podcast, we explain the many confusing and simialr ways to say “price hikes” in Chinese.

Tune in at 6 minutes where we break down what they mean and the stories behind them…

How native speakers use them…

And how you can use them in real conversations right now and show off your amazing Chinese!

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Useful Words

6. 涨幅 zhǎng fú

increase range, rate of increase

最低涨幅不会低于1000元，中高端旗舰机型涨幅可能达到2000~3000元 - The minimum increase will not be less than 1,000 yuan, and the price increase for mid- to high-end flagship models may reach 2,000 to 3,000 yuan. [1]

• Related:

  • 提价 tí jià – raise prices

  • 调价 tíao jià - adjust prices

  • 涨价 zhǎng jià – price increase

  • 普涨 pú zhǎng - broad price rises

7. 回落 huí luò

fall back, decline

内存涨价趋势将持续至2026年下半年，到2027年才有望逐步回落 - Memory prices are set to trend upwards well into the second half of 2026, and will gradually fall only from 2027 onwards. [1]

8. 国补 guó bǔ

national subsidy, government subsidy

2025年下半年发布的新款则基本只享受国补，没有其他优惠 - New models released in the second half of 2025 will only have the government subsidy, with no other discounts. [1]

9. 旗舰 qí jiàn

flagship (model)

厂商们仍可以用高端旗舰的利润来覆盖一部分中低端机型造成的毛利下滑 - Manufacturers can still use the profits from high-end flagship models to offset part of the gross profit decline caused by mid- and low-end models. [1]

10. 阵地 zhèn dì

position, stronghold

中国厂商的主要阵地是200美元以下的低端市场 - The main stronghold of Chinese manufacturers is the low-end market below 200 dollars. [1]

• Related:

  • 阵营 zhèn yíng – camp, faction

11. 倒挂 dào guà

inversion, reversed relationship

存储成本甚至出现“倒挂”现象，如今12GB+256GB的物料成本，已超过2025年一季度16GB+1TB旗舰配置 - We’re seeing a “cost inversion” in memory right now, as the current material cost for a standard 12GB+256GB configuration is actually tracking higher than what we were paying for a top-tier 16GB+1TB flagship back in Q1 2025. [2]

12. 减配 jiǎn pèi

reduce configuration, cut features

厂商只能在提价与减配之间做选择 - Manufacturers can only choose between raising prices and downgrading configurations. [2]

• Related:
  降规 jiàng guī – lower specifications

  • 降配 jiàng pèi – downgrade configuration

13. 困境 kùn jìng

dilemma, predicament

给手机厂商带来了前所未有的经营困境 - It has brought an unprecedented business predicament to smartphone manufacturers. [4]

Three-character phrases

14. 重灾区 zhòng zāi qū

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On February 9, technology company ByteDance released Seedance 2.0, the latest version of its AI video generator.

It was quickly hailed across the Chinese internet as:

“The world’s most powerful model, surpassing OpenAI’s Sora 2.”

超越 Sora2 的地表最强模型。

But just two days later, the Seedance portal for uploading photos was locked and beta access on the mobile app was revoked.

ByteDance gave no announcement or explanation about the restrictions.

But a clue could be a review of Seedance posted by Mediastorm (影视飓风) which went viral on the same day.

Mediastorm is one of China’s most popular video production and tech review channels on Bilibili, with tens of millions of followers.

The review was by their CEO, Tim Pan (潘天鸿). In the video, he uploaded a single static photo of himself into Seedance with a simple prompt. He didn’t provide his name, or any audio recording of this voice.

Within seconds, an AI version of Tim appeared on screen and began to speak. The digital version was identical in every way. The same voice, same speaking style, and same facial expressions.

But Tim’s shock didn’t stop there:

“What makes it even more deeply unsettling is the perspective.

The photo provided only showed the front of Mediastorm’s office building. Yet the AI-generated content automatically panned to the back of the building, rendering the car park in perfect detail — exactly as it appears in reality.

This means the AI isn’t just processing the image provided. It has a fundamental understanding of the entire physical space.”

更细思极恐的是视角。上传的照片只是公司大楼的正面，但 AI 自动生成的运镜，居然准确地绕到了大楼的背面，画出了停车场的细节，与现实丝毫不差。这意味着 AI 不是在处理图像，它是在理解物理空间。

Tim concluded that ByteDance must have extensively trained Seedance 2.0 on Mediastorm’s copyrighted video content to produce such detailed and accurate results.

Whether or not this review was the direct trigger for the restrictions on Seedance remains unclear. But it certainly achieved what one commentator described as a “public execution” (公开处刑) of the platform.

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It also proved something even more chilling:

“With current technology, the cost of creating fakes has become infinitely close to zero.”

现在的技术，造假成本已经无限趋近于零。

Within hours of the Seedance 2.0 release, Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok, also owned by ByteDance) was flooded with AI remakes of well-known movies. Among the most shared were Stephen Chow (周星驰) classics, such as A Chinese Odyssey (大话西游), Kung Fu Hustle (功夫), and King of Comedy (喜剧之王). Life-like AI-generated clips of Chow’s characters, with fluid movements and even his signature comic timing, were put together and shared using nothing but simple prompts.

This quickly sparked anxieties about copyright and the ease of creating deepfakes. With the arrival of Seedance of 2.0, the tools to create them are now available to anyone with a smartphone and a single photo, at virtually no cost.

ByteDance is already facing lawsuits from Disney and others over the legality of training its models on their content without permission, and the infringement of the generated content on their IP.

The impact on China’s job market was another theme in the online discussion.

In the short term, Seedance 2.0 could lead to significant job losses across the film industry, because it has something which no earlier model has been able to achieve: “director’s thinking” (导演思维).

One commentator captured the unease:

“We’ve created a knife that’s too sharp. So sharp we don’t dare hand it to ordinary people.”

我们造出了一把太锋利的刀，锋利到我们不敢把它递给普通人。

In the longer term, the threat of mass job losses isn’t just limited to the film industry.

For middle-income professionals across many sectors, whose experience and expertise is built up over many years, could soon be rendered obsolete by a simple AI prompt:

“Since AI can now mimic or even outperform the skillsets of mid-level professionals at very low cost, the value of this ‘experience’ is rapidly shrinking.”

由于AI能够以极低成本模拟甚至超越中等收入者的逻辑应用能力，这使得”经验”这一无形资产迅速贬值。

So ByteDance now faces a dilemma: Should it stop innovating with Seedance and risk ceding ground to competitors, as we saw with Alibaba’s recent AI push? Or should it carry on and face lawsuits on multiple fronts.

It’s a big moment for AI in China.

And that’s the story we’re exploring this week!

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Favourite Five

1. 侵权 qīn quán

infringe on rights, infringement

一段包含动作、表情、声音的视频，其侵权性质要明确得多 - A video containing movements, facial expressions, and sound makes it much easier to determine if there is copyright infringement. [3]

2. 倒计时 dào jì shí

countdown

距离传统影视被AI海啸冲走已经彻底进入倒计时了 - The countdown has officially begun for traditional filmmaking to be washed away by the AI tsunami. [2]

3. 细思极恐 xì sī jí kǒng

deeply unsettling

更细思极恐的是视角 - What makes it even more deeply unsettling is the perspective. [1]

• Related:

  • 瑟瑟发抖 sè sè fā dǒu - trembling with fear

4. 风声鹤唳 fēng shēng hè lì

be frightened by the slightest sound, be overly alarmed

影视从业者对此风声鹤唳 - Filmmakers are on edge about this. [2]

5. 背脊发凉 bèi jǐ fā liáng

a chill runs down one’s spine

对于所有关注 AI 伦理的人来说，这个实验让人背脊发凉 - For everyone who cares about AI ethics, this experiment sends a chill down the spine. [1]

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Useful words

6. 趋近 qū jìn

draw close to, approach

现在的技术，造假成本已经无限趋近于零 - With current technology, the cost of creating fakes has become infinitely close to zero. [1]

7. 伪造 wěi zào

forge, fabricate

未来一切缺乏官方权威渠道背书的视频，都可能是伪造的 - In the future, any video not officially endorsed may be fake. [1]

• Related:

  • 造假 zào jiǎ – falsify, fake

8. 媲美 pì měi

be comparable to, rival

效果足以媲美前端工程师、后端工程师等多人协作的成果 - The AI-generated products can rival what a team of engineers can achieve. [2]

9. 饭碗 fàn wǎn

rice bowl, livelihood

各国政府即使明知道AI会对部分人的饭碗产生影响，也无法停下发展的脚步 - Even though governments know that some will lose their jobs because of AI, they cannot put a stop to its development. [2]

10. 震怒 zhèn nù

be furious, enraged

流量狂欢的背后，是版权方的震怒 - Behind the hype lies the fury of the owners of the original content. [3]

11. 雷区 léi qū

minefield, danger zone

这种“技术民主化”看似降低了创作门槛，实则是在版权的雷区上跳舞 - This “democratization of technology” appears to lower the barrier to entry for creators, but in reality it is dancing through the copyright minefield. [3]

12. 博弈 bó yì

game, strategic contest

AI时代的版权博弈，可能不会像今日头条时代那样容易收场 - The copyright battle in the AI era may not end as easily as it did in the era of Toutiao. [3]

Three-character phrases

13. 导火索 dǎo huǒ suǒ

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Chinese brands are cashing in on horse-related wordplay for Spring Festival celebrity endorsements.

They’re hiring celebrities with the family name, Ma (马 “horse”), which is a common surname in China:

“The whole internet is “drama-ing” or ‘chasing the horse’.

The hottest products right now are horse-themed, and zodiac collectibles are solid investments as usual.

Anything vaguely related to the horse is guaranteed to go viral.”

马年来了，全网都在”抓马”。最近火爆的商品也大多跟”马”有关，传统类的”马年生肖产品”依旧能有”理财”的效果。总之，现在沾”马”就要火。

• Note: 抓马 is borrowed from the English, “drama” which sounds similar. It usually has nothing to do with “horse”, but here it’s a play on words. We explain in the RTM podcast.

The best example of a horse celebrity endorsement is table tennis player, Ma Long (马龙 — “Horse Dragon”):

Two years ago in the Year of the Dragon, he picked up plenty of brand deals thanks to his nickname “Team Dragon” captain.

Now in the Horse Year, brands are still coming for him. But the smartest move belongs to Nanfu Battery, who has kept him on since the Dragon Year.

前两年是龙年，他凭借”龙队”的外号，收到了不少代言。马年依然有大量品牌找他，还是南孚电池聪明，从龙年一直合作到现在。

Elsewhere, dairy giant, Yili Group (伊利集团), hired three Horse brand ambassadors, Ma Yili (马伊琍), Ma Sichun (马思纯), and Ma Dong (马东) for its Horse Year “homophone meme” (谐音梗) adverts.

Actress Ma Yili (马伊琍) ads had the tagline: “I’m Ma Yili — I choose Yili in the Year of the Horse (Ma)” (我是马伊琍，马年喝伊利).

While Ma Sichun (马思纯), also an actress, plugged the milk brand with: “I want to have pure milk in the Year of the Horse” (马年思念纯牛奶) — a clever play on all three characters in her name.

Yili rival, Mengniu (蒙牛), countered with a surprising hire, who:

Fast-tracked a deal with football’s ultimate dark horse: Spanish footballer, Lamine Yamal.

蒙牛火速官宣了”足球黑马”，西班牙足球明星——亚马尔，做代言。

Yamal’s Chinese name is Ya Ma’er (亚马尔) — with Ma (horse) as the middle character. His tagline wrote itself:

“Ya! The horse is here!” (呀！马儿来了).

International celebrities were also unexpectedly dragged into the Horse Year meme machine included Harry Potter villain, Draco Malfoy, whose Chinese name is Ma Erfu (马尔福), which contains the characters for “horse” (马) and “fortune” (福). Add in the villain factor and you’ve got Chinese New Year meme gold!

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But the definitive Horse Year meme was a sad-faced toy.

“Crying Horse” (哭哭马) is a red toy horse with a downturned sad-looking mouth. It’s the result of a defect caused by a worker in an Yiwu factory which made the festive toys. What should have been a “Happy Horse” (笑笑马) had its smile sowed on the wrong way up so looks like it’s about to burst into tears.

Unaware of the mistake, the factory distributed a small number of the faulty toys, which made it into the shops. A buyer in Hangzhou posted an image of one online with the caption:

“This totally looks like me on a Monday morning”

这表情像极了周一上班的我。

The post went viral, and Crying Horse sold out instantly.

The Yiwu factory saw sales surge 300% in just three days, and now has orders backed up until March. On January 23rd, the factory owner announced she would reward the worker responsible with a bonus of 8,888 yuan every year for 12 years.

In the meantime, netizens got to work on the wordplay, with a fresh take on a traditional Horse Year idiom:

‘Turning the smile upside down brings success to the Year of the Horse’”

马倒成功

Crying Horse was given more relatable and grumpy work-related nicknames like:

• “Monday Horse” (周一马)

• “Overtime Horse” (加班马)

• “Client-from-Hell Horse” (甲方马)

Because, according to one commenter:

“This horse is looks exactly like me when I don’t want to go to work!”

像极了不想上班的我！

The arrival of Crying Horse gave permission for less seasonal and more cynical horse-related new Year greetings, repurposing common phrases like:

“Give yourself a break” (放自己一马).

“Workhorse spirit” (牛马精神).

The popularity of Crying Horse is part of a bigger shift towards “emotional buying” (情绪消费). China “emotional consumption” market hit 2.72 trillion yuan (nearly $4 billion) in 2025, and is estimated to exceed 4.5 trillion yuan ($6.5 billion) by 2029.

That’s because according to one piece of research, over half of China’s Gen Z consumers (56%) now say they are willing to pay more for “emotional value” (情绪价值), while 78% say they’ll pay 20% more for products they feel an emotional connection to.

So a defective sad-looking toy horse, it turns out, is galloping with a very large consumer trend.

Which is what we’re exploring this week!

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Favourite Five

1. 抓马 zhuā mǎ

over-the-top drama; chasing the pony in the Year of the Horse

马年来了，整个互联网都成了巨大的“抓马”现场 - The Year of the Horse is here, and the whole internet is “chasing the pony”. [3]

• Note: One of my favourite Chinese words ever… The transliteration of the English word, “drama”.

2. 丑萌 chǒu méng

ugly but cute, adorably ugly

既保留了画中马匹生动的姿态，看起来也更显“丑萌” - It retains the lively posture of the horse in the painting while making it look even more adorably ugly. [3]

• Related:

  • 反差萌 fǎn chā méng – gap moe, cuteness arising from a contradictory discrepancy between two of a person’s attributes

3. 马倒成功 mǎ dào chéng gōng

turning the smile upside down brings success to the Year of the Horse

“手工限量版”的哭哭马恰恰寓意着“马倒成功” - This Crying Horse with its unintended frown is the limited handmade edition that carries the symbolic meaning of “turning the smile upside down brings success to the Year of the Horse”. [3]

• Note: Newly coined version of the original idiom “when horses arrive, success follows” (马到成功)

4. 画风清奇 huà fēng qīng qí

quirky, bizarre, eccentric

这两个开局爆火的马年单品一个不高兴、一个独自潦草，实在是画风清奇 - These two breakout hits of the Year of the Horse certainly aren’t your typical mascots: one is visibly depressed, while the other embraces an unpolished charm. [3]

• Note: internet slang

5. 一战成名 yí zhàn chéng míng

become famous in one move, rise to fame overnight

可能连包师傅本人也没想到，自己干了一辈子的活，竟因为一次失误一战成名 - Even Master Bao himself probably didn’t expect that despite years of craftsmanship, he would become an overnight sensation because of one human error. [4]

• Related:

  • 一夜爆红 yí yè bào hóng – become wildly popular overnight

  • 红极一时 hóng jí yì shí – extremely popular for a time

  • 网红爆品 wǎng hóng bào pǐn – viral internet product

🎧RTM Podcast Preview

This week on the RTM Advanced podcast, we explain three “horse” phrases. And two of them aren’t even Chinese!

Tune in at 7 minutes where we break down what they mean and the stories behind them…

How native speakers use them…

And how you can use them in real conversations right now and show off your amazing Chinese!

Consuming the Conversation

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Useful words

6. 走俏 zǒu qiào

sell well, be in great demand

最近几个月，“姓马”的明星特别走俏 - In recent months, celebrities with the surname Ma have been highly sought after. [1]

• Related:

  • 走红 zǒu hóng – become popular

  • 爆火 bào huǒ – suddenly go viral

  • 爆单 bào dān – receive a surge of orders

  • 顶流 dǐng liú – top-tier celebrity, top influencer

7. 治愈 zhì yù

heal

它回应的是人们被理解、被陪伴、被治愈的心理渴望 - It responds to people’s psychological desire to be understood, accompanied, and emotionally healed. [2]

8. 委屈 wěi qu

feel wronged, aggrieved

“哭哭马”的走红，正源于它作为“委屈”“疲惫”等情感的具象载体 - The popularity of the Crying Horse comes from it becoming a vehicle for emotions like feeling wronged and exhausted. [2]

9. 出马 chū mǎ

make an appearance, step in publicly

去年，马龙的“出马”广告就疯狂刷屏 - Last year, Ma Long’s appearance in an advertisement where he rode a horse went viral on the internet. [3]

10. 黑马 hēi mǎ

dark horse, unexpected winner

25元/只的玩偶哭哭马成了2026开年最红的“商业黑马” - The 25-yuan Crying Horse became the biggest commercial dark horse at the start of 2026. [3]

11. 嘴替 zuǐ tì

spokesperson (informal), someone who says what others feel

把“哭哭马”奉为“打工人专属嘴替” - The Crying Horse has been hailed as the spiritual animal for the weary corporate workers. [5]

12. 玩梗 wán gěng

joke using internet memes

通过造梗、玩梗，难以承受的“重”，变成了可以传递、消费、调侃的“轻” - Through the creation and sharing of memes, the unbearable weight of reality is transformed into a digestible, shareable, and playful “lightness”. [5]

• Related:

  • 爆梗 bào gěng – viral meme

  • 造梗 zào gěng – create a meme

Three-character phrases

13. 心头好 xīn tóu hǎo

favourite, cherished favourite

凭借下拉的嘴角、潦草的发型成了网友们的心头好，走红后直接卖爆了 - With its drooping mouth and messy hairstyle, it became netizens’ favourite and an overnight bestseller after going viral. [3]

14. 整活儿 zhěng huó’r

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Alibaba’s AI agent, Qwen (千问), has been making headlines with the launch of its “Spring Festival 3 Billion Giveaway” (春节30亿大免单) campaign.

On February 6th, Qwen began offering unlimited free bubble tea vouchers. Users could order a drink through a simple prompt to Qwen, which would then process it through its Alipay integration without having to jump between multiple apps.

But the bubble tea campaign is just the visible tip of Alibaba’s AI strategy.

Two weeks earlier, on January 15th, the tech giant announced that Qwen had integrated with major platforms across its ecosystem including Taobao Flash Buy (淘宝闪购), Fliggy (飞猪), Damai (大麦), Freshippo (盒马), Tmall Supermarket (天猫超市), and Alipay (支付宝).

This means users can now purchase anything from bubble tea to concert tickets to flights with a single prompt to Alibaba’s AI agent. It’s the beginning of a fundamental shift in how AI is used in daily life, captured in this popular internet slang phrase:

From chatting to getting things done: Qwen breaks down AI’s “dimensional wall.”

从聊天到办事：千问拆掉AI的”次元壁”。

• In other words… going from the virtual into real world use.

Qwen’s milk tea campaign covered over 300,000 tea stores nationwide, including major brands like Heytea (喜茶), Nayuki (奈雪的茶), Luckin Coffee (瑞幸咖啡), and Mixue Bingcheng (蜜雪冰城).

The giveaway immediately triggered a consumer frenzy. Within hours of the launch, Qwen crashed due to overwhelming traffic, and “Get free bubble tea from Qwen” (千问免费奶茶) began trending on social media as users showed off their “first AI bubble tea” (第一杯AI奶茶).

A staggering 10 million orders were completed through Qwen in just 9 hours. The sudden surge put huge pressure on tea shops and delivery riders around the country, with many outlets forced to close due to lack of personnel and inability to fulfil orders, as one shop owner explained:

“We’re overwhelmed, so I haven’t had time to check. But the order volume is several times more than usual.”

“太忙了，还没来得及看，比平时多出好几倍。” [1]

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The lead up to Spring Festival has always been an important battleground for China’s tech companies to attract eyeballs and new users through discounts and freebies. It’s also a time to cultivate new consumption habits.

This follows the playbook of WeChat’s legendary 2015 Spring Festival Gala red envelope campaign — a move Alibaba founder Jack Ma famously called a “Pearl Harbour attack” (偷袭珍珠港) on his payments business, which cemented WeChat’s dominant position in mobile payments overnight.

Competition between China’s tech giants and their AI agents (AI助手 in Chinese) is similarly intense. Qwen is competing with DeepSeek, Tencent’s Yuanbao (腾讯元宝), ByteDance’s Doubao (豆包), and Baidu’s Wenxin Assistant (文心助手).

By the end of 2025, Doubao dominated China’s AI app market with 172 million monthly active users, while DeepSeek held second place with 145 million. Tencent’s Yuanbao trailed in third with around 73 million monthly active users. And Qwen, despite being backed by Alibaba’s massive ecosystem, sat at around 30 million monthly active users.

Qwen’s Spring Festival offensive is designed to close that gap by “integrating AI into daily life and solving real needs” (接入生活、解决刚需). Through the gimmick of free bubble tea, Qwen is hoping to cultivate a simple idea of:

“If you need something, just ask Qwen” (有事找千问).

While Qwen launched its 3 billion yuan Spring Festival voucher campaign, Baidu’s Wenxin splashed 500 million yuan in red envelopes, and Tencent’s Yuanbao countered with a 1 billion yuan giveaway on WeChat.

But Doubao has the highest-profile play yet to come. It will offer "hardcore" (硬核) giveaways of tech products integrated with AI capabilities as the official AI partner of the 2026 CCTV Spring Festival Gala. ByteDance's cloud computing division, Volcano Engine, secured the exclusive AI cloud partnership for the show. As part of the deal, Doubao will provide interactive AI features during the broadcast on New Year's Eve, reaching the gala's massive audience — which attracted a record-breaking 1 billion viewers in 2025.

So which AI agent will come out of this year’s Spring Festival on top?

That’s what we’re discussing this week!

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Favourite Five

1. 拉拢 lā lǒng

win over, draw over (to one’s side)

奶茶早已成为拉拢年轻人的通行证 - Bubble tea has long become the key to winning over young people. [1]

• Related:

  • 聚拢 jù lǒng – gather together

  • 拉新 lā xīn – attract new customers

2. 裂变 liè biàn

fission, viral growth

腾讯元宝以 10 亿红包切入微信社交场景，采用 “分享抽奖、邀友加码” 的裂变玩法 - Tencent launched a 1-billion-yuan viral referral campaign on WeChat to rapidly grow its AI assistant Yuanbao, incentivizing users to share the app with friends in exchange for cash rewards. [3]

3. 次元壁 cì yuán bì

dimensional wall, barrier between worlds

从聊天到办事：千问拆掉AI的“次元壁” - Beyond the chatbot: Qwen breaks the AI “dimensional wall”. [2]

4. 投石问路 tóu shí wèn lù

test the waters, make a trial move

奶茶只是前站，是投石问路的先锋 - Qwen is just testing the waters with their bubble tea campaign and it’s not going to stop there. [2]

5. 必争之地 bì zhēng zhī dì

a place that must be fought over, strategic battleground

红包大战补贴外，春晚赞助也成为了兵家必争之地 - Apart from the subsidy war of red envelopes, Spring Festival Gala sponsorship has also become a strategic battleground for the tech giants. [3]

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🎧RTM Podcast Preview

This week on the RTM Advanced podcast, we explain three advanced phrases for discussing business and tech trends.

But none of them actually started out as Chinese expressions!

Tune in at 7 minutes where we break down what they mean and the stories behind them…

How native speakers use them…

And how you can use them in real conversations right now and show off your amazing Chinese!

Consuming the Conversation

💡 Ready to get inspired to bridge the gap to real-world fluency? 💡

In every RTM Advanced post you unlock content and tools to inspire you, and help you get fluent.So, ready to finally get started and wave goodbye to that nagging rusty feeling?

Let’s jump in👇

Consuming the Conversation

Useful words

6. 爆单 bào dān

a surge of orders, orders flooding in

所有的奶茶店都爆单了，我这全部都超时了，在向平台申诉 - All the boba places are swamped. All my orders are running late and I’m disputing the late penalties with the platform. [1]

7. 席卷 xí juǎn

sweep across, sweep through

在今天的这一场奶茶大战前，餐饮行业早已被“外卖大战”席卷近半年 - Long before today’s bubble tea showndown, the food and beverage industry had already been ravaged by the delivery war for nearly half a year. [1]

8. 崩溃 bēng kuì

collapse, break down

停不下来！停不下来！我们要崩溃了！！ - The orders keep coming in! There’s no sign of stop and we’re about to break down!! [1]

• Related:

  • 崩了 bēng le – crashed

  • 炸了 zhà le – blew up (slang: exploded/overloaded)

  • 瘫痪 tān huàn – paralyzed, shut down

9. 攻势 gōng shì

offensive, aggressive push

千问“春节 30 亿大免单” 以购物免单为核心，率先打响奶茶攻势 - Qwen fires the first shot in the bubble tea offensive with 3-billion-yuan promo. [2]

10. 刚需 gāng xū

rigid demand, essential need

红包大战可以换来一时流量，却换不来长期刚需 - Cash giveaway can drive traffic in the short run, but it can’t build sustainable demand. [3]

11. 出招 chū zhāo

make a move, make a strategic move

外界将继续关注豆包和抖音的战略进展，尤其是在赞助央视春晚前和期间的出招 - Market attention remains focused on Doubao and Douyin’s strategic roadmap, with all eyes on its sponsorship moves before and during the Spring Gala. [4]

• Related:

  • 接招 jiē zhāo - respond to a move, counter a move

Three-character phrases

12. 史诗级 shǐ shī jí

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I’ve spent the last week in Beijing and Shanghai, and during that time I had the opportunity to talk to lots of entrepreneurs to get a feel for what business is like in China right now.

All the entrepreneurs I spoke to are obsessing over one thing: “Going global” (出海).

With fierce competition and weakening consumer spending at home, companies are looking for new growth opportunities abroad. For them, it’s about survival, as the popular saying goes:

If you don’t go global, you’re going down!

不出海，就出局！

Many “go global” attempts don’t work out. I’ve seen this for myself in the UAE and Saudi in recent months, which are currently two of the popular destinations for Chinese investment, captured in the phrase, “the Middle East is hot” (中东热). The cultural gap, lack of trust and understanding on both sides, and working with the wrong partners are just some of the causes of failure.

But plenty of Chinese companies have also gone global successfully. And some have done it without having to build businesses in foreign markets from scratch.

Through acquiring well established but struggling Western “heritage” brands, Chinese investors turn companies around through increased efficiencies, reduced costs, and opening up China’s huge consumer market for these international brands.

We’re discussing one of these companies this week, which is the sportswear conglomerate, Anta Group (安踏集团). Founded in 1991 and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange since 2007, Anta has become China’s dominant domestic sportswear player with a market capitalisation of around $28 billion.

Last week, Anta announced it is acquiring a 29.06% stake in Puma SE for €1.5 billion ($1.8 billion), becoming the German sportswear brand’s largest shareholder. Anta is purchasing approximately 43 million Puma shares from owner, Groupe Artémis, at €35 per share which represents a 62% premium over Puma’s closing share price on the day before the announcement.

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The deal comes as Puma is struggling on multiple fronts.

Its shares have plummeted nearly 50% in value over the last year. Sales in the first nine months of 2025 declined by 4.3%. And in the Greater China market, its business made cumulative losses of €309 million in the first three quarters of 2025.

Puma has also lost ground to established brands like Nike and Adidas, and upstart challengers like On Running and Hoka. Puma’s products are consistently behind trends set by its competitors, like when Adidas launched its retro trainer, Samba, roughly six months before Puma could respond to the resurgence of that trend.

Arthur Hoeld, who took Puma’s helm in July 2024, quickly announced a comprehensive turnaround plan soon after joining. It was a “strategic reset”, including cutting 900 corporate jobs, which is roughly 5% of Puma’s 20,000-person workforce globally.

So it’s into this turnaround scenario that Anta arrives, with cash, experience, and ambition.

Anta’s “go global” strategy has centred on acquiring and revitalising Western sports and lifestyle brands through what it calls “single-focus, multi-brand, globalisation” (单聚焦、多品牌、全球化).

The company’s portfolio now includes many well-known international brands, like FILA, Descente, Kolon Sport, Jack Wolfskin, and Maia Active. And in 2019 Anta led a consortium that acquired Amer Sports for $5.2 billion—a deal that brought Arc’teryx, Salomon, Wilson, Peak Performance, and Atomic under Anta control. For high-end outdoor apparel brand, Arc’teryx (始祖鸟), that deal delivered exceptional growth through expansion in China, despite its recent reputation challenges.

Ding Shizhong (丁世忠), Anta’s chairman, framed the Puma investment as the next chapter in this playbook:

“This acquisition marks a major step forward in our ‘single-focus, multi-brand, globalisation’ strategy.

Working with Puma, we look forward to learning from each other and joining hands to fully unlock the brand’s full potential.”

这是安踏“单聚焦、多品牌、全球化”战略的重要里程碑。未来双方在高度共识的领域开展协作、优势互补，为该品牌的复兴之路提供有益的支持 [4]

In China, industry analysts have mixed views on the investment.

Some see it as “strategically complementary” (战略互补). Because geographically Puma is strong in Europe and Latin America but weak in China and North America, where Anta has deep operational experience and distribution networks. Puma is also strong in some product categories where Anta has gaps, like football (soccer), motorsports, running, and basketball.

But others reckon that as Anta’s portfolio grows, maintaining distinct brand identities will become increasingly difficult, leading to excessive “homogenisation” (同质化) and even “cannibalisation” (品牌互噬) of its brands. Some investors are also concerned that Anta has bitten off more than it can chew by financing the deal from its own cash reserves, using a colourful Chinese phrase to make the point:

With an acquisition price tag exceeding 10 billion RMB, the market is closely scrutinising Anta’s financial health.

After all, the 2019 deal where an Anta-led consortium acquired Amer Sports for approximately €4.66 billion was widely characterized as “a snake swallowing an elephant”.

斥资超百亿进行收购，市场非常关切安踏的财务健康状况。毕竟，2019年安踏牵头财团对亚玛芬体育约46.6亿欧元的收购，就曾被外界形容为一笔“蛇吞象”交易。

However, most observers agree that the deal offers Puma an opportunity for immediate China market expansion which will be good for its short-term growth.

Anta’s deep understanding of Chinese consumers, its sophisticated “Brand + Retail” (品牌加营销) business model, and its extensive distribution network could dramatically accelerate Puma’s China market presence.

So that’s what we’re exploring this week!

Favourite Five

1. 赋能 fù néng

empower, enable

外界同样关注的是安踏在经营层面对彪马的赋能 - The outside world is also paying close attention to how Anta is empowering Puma at the operational level. [2]

2. 蛇吞象 shé tūn xiàng

a snake wallowing an elephant, biting off more than you can chew

2019年安踏牵头财团对亚玛芬体育约46.6亿欧元的收购，就曾被外界形容为一笔“蛇吞象”交易 - The 2019 deal where an Anta-led consortium acquired Amer Sports for approximately €4.66 billion was widely characterized as “a snake swallowing an elephant”. [3]

3. 如愿以偿 rú yuàn yǐ cháng

to have one’s wish fulfilled, to get what one wanted

如今安踏集团董事局主席丁世忠算是如愿以偿 - Today, Anta Group’s chairman Ding Shizhong can be said to have finally achieved what he wanted. [2]

4. 一拍即合 yì pāi jí hé

to hit it off immediately, to agree instantly

彪马期待安踏带来“品牌重塑”，安踏看上了彪马的全球品牌资产基本盘，因此一拍即合 - The deal represents a perfect synergy: Puma is banking on Anta’s expertise in brand repositioning, while Anta seeks to capitalize on Puma’s global brand equity. [3]

5. 可遇不可求 kě yù bù kě qiú

rare and hard to come by, cannot be forced

好的品牌基因与价值沉淀可遇不可求 - Strong brand DNA and legacy cannot be bought and are hard to come by. [1]

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Useful words

6. 筹谋 chóu móu

to plan, to scheme

这是一场筹谋已久的交易 - This deal has been years in the making. [1]

7. 接盘 jiē pán

to take over, to assume control (often of a troubled asset)

安踏则是传闻中最有可能的接盘者 - Anta was rumoured to be the most likely party to take over. [1]

• Related:

  • 接手 jiē shǒu – to take over, to assume responsibility

8. 战绩 zhàn jì

track record

过往的成功战绩已经让安踏成为一个国际化的并购品牌 - Its proven track record has already made Anta a global serial acquirer. [1]

9. 铁腕 tiě wàn

iron-fisted, tough-handed

安踏是否会掀起一轮更铁腕的渠道改革 - Will Anta force an even more aggressive channel reset? [2]

10. 撬动 qiào dòng

to leverage, to pry open

通过一个相对较小的财务投资，撬动对一个庞大潮流生态在中国市场运营的深度参与权 - Anta uses a relatively small amount of capital to secure an outsized strategic influence over this global brand’s operation in China. [3]

11. 拼图 pīn tú

puzzle piece, missing piece

彪马则可以填补安踏在国际流行运动及专业体育细分领域的拼图 - Puma serves to complete Anta’s strategic puzzle, as it fills the critical gaps in both global athleisure and high-performance athletic niches. [4]

12. 契合 qì hé

to align with, to fit well

因为这家德国公司很好地契合了该运动服装公司的全球化战略 - Because the German company aligns well with the sportswear company’s globalization strategy. [4]

13. 解药 jiě yào

antidote, solution

安踏与彪马，能否成为相互的解药 - Anta and Puma: Can they become each other’s strategic remedy? [4]

Three character phrases

14. 回马枪 huí mǎ qiāng

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On November 29, 2025, a 32-year-old software programmer, Gao Guanghui (高广辉), collapsed at his home in Guangzhou.

The night before, he had worked overtime until 10pm. The following morning, which was a Saturday, he woke up early telling his sleeping wife he needed to finish some urgent work.

His wife got up shortly after to find him collapsed in his chair. She called an ambulance and tried to help him downstairs. On his way down, Gao collapsed again in the lift. Before losing consciousness, he asked his wife to bring his laptop so he could carry on working.

He arrived at the hospital around 9am and was transferred into intensive care.

While all this was unfolding, his work tasks continued to flow in. He was added to a new work group chat at 10:48am. And at 11:15am, someone in the group asked him:

“Gao, can you take care of this ticket?”

高工帮忙处理一下这个订单

At 1pm, he was pronounced dead.

That evening at 9pm, a new message popped up on Gao’s WeChat:

“There’s an urgent task on Monday. It didn’t pass today’s check, so we need you to fix this.”

周一有急任务，今天验货不过，要把这个改下。

But Gao’s response never came.

Gao Guanghui grew up in Henan Province and moved to Guangzhou to study at university. After graduating, he stayed in the city to start a career as a software developer. In 2019, he joined CVTE (视源股份) a major tech company listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. It’s one of the world’s largest suppliers of interactive displays and collaboration tools.

For someone who’d grown up in the countryside, this was a dream job.

According to his wife, however, Gao had been working increasingly long hours as he moved into more senior roles. In the months before his death, Gao told his wife his workload had tripled. He had requested additional staff support from management, but that was ignored.

When he was promoted in 2021 to department manager, his responsibilities and pressures multiplied further, but his salary only increased from 12,000 yuan to 16,000 yuan ($2,300).

Overtime on evenings and weekends became the norm. His working hours were “995.5” — 9am to 9pm Monday to Friday, plus half a day on Saturday, when he would usually return home at around 4pm.

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His employer operates an “elimination system” (末位淘汰制), where the lowest performers are regularly sacked. At the same time, CVTE proudly touts its “corporate family culture” (家文化). But that’s just cover for the normalisation of overtime which is framed as a contribution to the “family”. In which the boundary between work and life disappears, and humans become an expendable resource:

Because in the system, a person isn’t classified as “human being”—they’re a task to be performed, part of a process to be carried out, and a form to be filled out.

因为在系统视角里，人不是”人”，而是一项责任、一段流程、一份表格。

The story has only really blown up on social media in the last week.

Gao’s wife believes her husband died due to chronic overwork. She has applied for an official assessment to have his death recognised as “work-related” (工伤). But because he died on a Saturday — not during official working hours — that will be difficult to secure.

On the surface at least, the company has tried to appear supportive. CVTE has provided the family with 390,000 yuan ($56,000) in compensation, in what it describes as a “humanitarian relief payment” (人道主义抚恤金). They also paid out a 60,000 yuan in year-end bonus, and 20,000 yuan in salary for November. But CVTE has not admitted any responsibility for his death, and has denied access to internal records on the grounds of them being “commercial sensitive”, making a ruling of work-related death even more unlikely.

Gao’s death has sparked widespread criticism about China’s brutal work culture in the media.

And it’s triggered an uncomfortable comparison online: a recently coined slang phrase describing the ills of American society is now being turned on Chinese companies like CVTE:

Recently, everyone was discussing the “American execution range” — you lose your job, can’t afford medical care, go bankrupt, and get “physically eliminated” by the system.

Many people reposted those original posts about the US with hidden relief of: “Thank goodness it’s not us.”

But now if you look at this 32-year-old programmer, you’ll discover an even more brutal truth:

You don’t need to end up on the streets to be eliminated.

前阵子，大家都在讨论”美国斩杀线“。说美国人一旦失业、看不起病、破产，就会被系统”物理清除”。很多人转发的时候，带着一种隐秘的庆幸:”还好不是我们。”可现在你再回头看这个32岁的程序员。你会发现一个更残酷的事实：你不需要流落街头。

• "Execution range" (斩杀线), also translated as "kill line," is a gaming term that's been repurposed to describe work culture in Chinese companies — where people like Gao are trapped in a deadly cycle of overwork and impossible employer expectations. For which he paid the ultimate price.

So that’s what we’re exploring this week!

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Favourite Five

1. 猝死 cù sǐ

sudden death

“广州32岁程序员周末晕倒后猝死”登上热搜，引发关注 - “The sudden death of a 32-year-old programmer in Guangzhou” surged to the top of social media trends , drawing millions of views. [1]

2. 残忍 cán rěn

cruel, brutal

新闻说得很克制，但信息本身已经足够残忍 - The language used in the news report was very restrained, but the content itself was already brutal enough. [3]

• Related:

  • 残酷 cán kù – cruel, harsh

  • 冷酷 lěng kù – cold, ruthless

3. 斩杀线 zhǎn shā xiàn

kill line, execution range

这才是真正的“打工人斩杀线” - This is what makes the working people fall within the “execution range”. [3]

4. 扛不住 káng bú zhù

unable to hold on, can’t take it anymore

扛不住，是你不够拼 - If you can’t take it, it means you’re not pushing yourself hard enough. [3]

• Related:

  • 绷不住 bēng bú zhù - unable to hold it together, about to break down

5. 多劳多得 duō láo duō dé

more work, more pay; performance-based salary

公司薪酬结构就是这么划分的，必须多劳多得 - The company’s compensation structure means more work equals more pay. [2]

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🎧RTM Podcast Preview

This week on the RTM Advanced podcast, we explain phrases which mean “over-worked”.

Tune in at 7 minutes where we break down what they mean and the stories behind them…

How native speakers use them…

And how you can use them in real conversations right now and show off your amazing Chinese!

Subscribe now

Consuming the Conversation

💡 Ready to get inspired to bridge the gap to real-world fluency? 💡

In every RTM Advanced post you unlock content and tools to inspire you, and help you get fluent.

So, ready to finally get started and wave goodbye to that nagging rusty feeling?

Let’s jump in👇

Consuming the Conversation

Useful words

6. 工伤 gōng shāng

work-related injury, workplace injury

她认为，丈夫是在高强度工作中突发疾病去世，并申请了工伤认定 - She has filed for occupational injury assessment because her husband collapsed while working overtime. [1]

7. 诟病 gòu bìng

to criticize, to be widely criticized

“996”工作制、项目冲刺期无休加班等现象屡遭诟病 - The “996” work culture and non-stop overtime during project crunch have repeatedly been criticized. [2]

8. 帮衬 bāng chèn

to help out, to provide support

两边都是普通家庭，很难帮衬什么 - Both of them come from an ordinary family, so there is very little their parents can help with. [1]

9. 拼命 pīn mìng

to risk one’s life, to go all out

我们一边拼命工作，一边省钱装修 - We worked non-stop while saving money on renovation. [1]

• Related:

  • 献命 xiàn mìng – to sacrifice one’s life

10. 疲惫 pí bèi

tired, exhausted

出事前三周，他就很疲惫了，经常加班到很晚 - He was already exhausted three weeks before his sudden death, as he often worked overtime until very late. [1]

• Related:
  心累 xīn lèi – mentally exhausted, emotionally drained

11. 熬夜 áo yè

to stay up late

长期缺觉、熬夜真的会损害健康 - Chronic sleep deprivation and staying up late really do harm your health. [1]

• Related:

  • 通宵 tōng xiāo – to stay up all night

12. 透支 tòu zhī

overdrawn, to overextend

你不需要流落街头。你只需要：持续加班、长期透支、永远在线、永远负责 - You don’t need to end up on the streets to be eliminated. All you need is to keep working overtime, overextend yourself long-term, always be online, and always take responsibility. [3]

13. 过劳 guò láo

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