Welcome to RealTime Mandarin—a resource to help you bridge the gap to real-world fluency, stay informed about China, and communicate with confidence—all through weekly immersion in real news.
Subscribe now to get the next issue straight to your inbox!
Following the news coming out of China every week, I occasionally spot things which, despite the vast differences between “there” and “here”, sometimes feel strikingly familiar.
Like the struggle to keep kids safe online.
In the UK (where I live), the recent Netflix drama Adolescence has sparked widespread concern and discussion among parents—including me, as the dad of three teenagers—about the potential harms of kids growing up immersed in social media.
Parents in China are grappling with the same fears—though the pressures, platforms, and consequences often play out differently.
It’s a reminder that while China can feel like a world apart, some concerns—like how to raise teenagers in the age of algorithms—can cut across borders in unexpectedly similar ways.
Which brings us to this week’s story: a series of cyberbullying attacks incited by a 13-year-old girl.
The attacks began when a number of people had their personal information leaked online in a celebrity fan group.
This is called "doxxing".
In China, there are two types of doxxing: the first is "open boxing" (开盒), where personal data is bought from hacker databases and leaked online, which has emerged in recent years from “toxic fan culture” (饭圈文化); and the second is called "human flesh searching" (人肉搜索), where netizens collectively dig up and spread someone’s personal details online, often as a form of vigilante justice.
The social media user accused of the recent doxxing attacks is alleged to have harassed and bullied members of a fan group of K-pop singer, Jang Won-young (张元英), earlier in March.
The attacker is a girl just thirteen years old, and a member of the Jang Won-young fan group.
She’s also the daughter of a high-powered executive at search engine giant, Baidu—senior vice president, Xiè Guǎngjūn (谢广军).
One victim of the doxxing attack was a pregnant woman whose personal details—including her workplace and phone number—were shared in the fan group, leading to a flood of threats and abuse targeting her and her husband.
In just three days, members of the fan group posted tens of thousands of insults, including curses directed at her unborn child. The most “popular” post garnered 330,000 likes.
This is all in response to a sarcastic message the woman posted on March 12 in the fan group in response to the star sharing her "gruelling" flight schedule:
"She’s taking a 12-hour flight - not that she’s the pilot who needs to work the whole time.
And she’s flying first class. I bet she can get a good night’s sleep. How is that 'gruelling'?"
“12小时的飞行又不是她自己开飞机，头等舱睡觉不要太舒服啊，还魔鬼行程，真是什么话都说出来了。” [2]
Not a very nice thing to share, but also not deserving of the level of aggression and abuse she was subjected to after being doxxed.
Another victim was a university student from Shanghai. She became involved after voicing support for the pregnant woman in the same fan group. The student, known as Yuan Ge 元歌, was bombarded with insulting and threatening messages after the same social media user exposed her personal information in the group.
The story gained traction on Weibo with many questioning whether the doxxer’s access to sensitive data was linked to her father’s role at Baidu.
Her father, Xie Guangjun, issued a public apology, saying he regretted not teaching his daughter to respect privacy.
My 13-year-old daughter got into an argument online and, in the heat of the moment, posted someone else's private information from an overseas social media site on her own account. As a result, her own personal information was also leaked, leading to widespread negative reactions.
As a father, I deeply regret not being able to notice in time, provide proper guidance for her, and teach her in time to respect and protect the privacy of others and herself. I sincerely apologize to all the people affected.
我13岁的女儿在网上与人争执，情绪失控下，把海外社群网站上的他人隐私信息发布在自己的账号上，进而导致自己的个人信息也被曝光，引发大量负面言论扩散。作为父亲，未能及时察觉并引导她正确处理问题，未能及时教会她尊重、保护他人及自己隐私，深感愧疚，向所有受影响的朋友郑重道歉。
Xie Guangjun also denied any company involvement.
Baidu also issued a statement confirming no company involvement, and suggested the doxxed information was accessed via overseas "darknet databases" (社工库).
"Darknet databases" (Chinese is “social engineering database” 社会工程学数据库) are illegally compiled databases containing leaked personal information such as names, phone numbers, addresses, passwords, and other sensitive data, created by hackers. Data can be easily accessed and bought, and then used in online doxxing attacks, or even blackmail.
The media discussions moved on from the doxxing attacks to the trust problem Baidu has had with users for many years.
In 2016, a teenager, We Zexi 魏则西 tragically died after being misled by Baidu's paid search ads promoting ineffective cancer treatments. This event sparked widespread criticism of Baidu's advertising policies and ethics.
In March, 2018, Robin Li 李彦宏, the CEO of Baidu, discussing the relationship between data and privacy for Chinese internet users during the China Development Forum, said:
"Chinese people have a more open attitude towards privacy and are relatively less sensitive about it. If they can exchange privacy for convenience, security, or efficiency, they are willing to do so in many cases."
中国人对隐私问题的态度更开放，也相对来说没那么敏感。如果他们可以用隐私换取便利、安全或者效率，在很多情况下，他们就愿意这么做。
Li and Baidu faced heavy criticism at the time—and the fallout still lingers.
So even though most agree Xie Guangjun or Baidu weren’t directly involved in the doxxing attacks, the incident has revived public doubt around the company.
What is for sure, though, is that Xie dropped the ball as a parent.
But in reality, the bar for doxxing someone is so low, with some people being "open-boxed" simply for voicing a different opinion about celebrity than other fans.
And when it’s young teenagers who are inciting the attacks, how can any parent keep up?
The platforms and context may be different—but the essence of the challenge feels familiar: raising kids in a digital age where the risks are invisible, instant, and often out of anyone’s control.
So that’s what we’re exploring this week!
🎧RTM Podcast Preview
This week on the RTM Advanced podcast, we’re diving into the language of doxxing, and how to discuss in authentic Chinese:
The different ways to say “doxxing” and what they mean (that’s at 7:44)
What a “social engineering database” (社工库) is and why it’s name is misleading (that’s at 12:29)
The differences between common terms in “fan groups” all involving the different meanings of the character “black” (黑) (that’s at 13:38)
We’ll break down their meanings, real-world usage, and teach how to use them and sound like a native.
Favourite Five
1. 开盒 kāi hé
doxxing
一直以来，围绕开盒事件被广泛关注的，是“眼眸”的父亲百度副总裁的身份 - The focus of the widespread discussion regarding the doxxing incident has always been the identity of the girl's father, a vice president of Baidu. [2]
More: Read more about this phrase in tomorrow’s Phrase of the Week!
Related:
挂人 guà rén – publicly exposing someone
开盒挂人 kāi hé guà rén – dox and expose someone (online)
2. 乱象 luàn xiàng
chaotic practices
开除相关涉事者并将其行为记录在案，推动法律整治开盒乱象 - We must take legal measures to address the doxxing chaos by dismissing anyone involved and documenting their misdeeds. [2]
3. 素人 sù rén
ordinary person, non-celebrity
一名微博网友自2024年以来，多次在饭圈“开盒”素人 - A Weibo user has repeatedly "doxxed" ordinary people in fan communities since 2024. [1]
Note: This is a relatively new word in Chinese, imported from Japanese. It’s used in the context of fan culture or "fan groups" (饭圈 or 娱乐圈).
4. 一眼假 yì yǎn jiǎ
obviously fake, fake at first glance
谢总把数据库给自家闺女的网谣剧情也是“一眼假” - The online rumour about Mr. Xie giving his own daughter access to the database is obviously fake. [1]
5. 人肉搜索 rén ròu sōu suǒ
human flesh search
人肉搜索，首先会涉及侵犯个人信息犯罪 - Conducting "human flesh search" is first and foremost a crime against individual privacy. [3]
Note: an earlier form of doxxing.
💡 Ready to bridge the gap to real-world fluency? 💡
Every RTM+ post is packed with tools to help you get fluent.
RTM+ is designed to fit your busy life, your learning style, and your level. Whether you’re “intermediate”, “advanced but rusty”, or “fluent with gaps”, you’ll get content that’s practical, engaging, and easy to stick with.
From newsletters and podcasts to curated news articles, transcripts, full word lists, PDF printouts, and app integrations—RTM+ gives you everything you need to build momentum and finally break through your plateau towards real-world fluency. 👇
