A Family Affair
Chinese social media is kicking off 2019 on a surprisingly wholesome note.
The 四世同堂 “four generations” challenge, which first appeared on China’s short-video app Douyin (known internationally as TikTok), features family members making an appearance from youngest to oldest. A daughter calls out to her mother, who calls her mother, who calls her mother — you get the picture.
the challenge involves four generations of family members making an appearance so a son calls his dad who calls his dad who calls his dad pic.twitter.com/Q6UrBlIbWH
— kassy cho (@kassy) January 4, 2019
Brought to foreign media attention by BuzzFeed reporter Kassy Cho, this meme might be one of the cutest in recent internet history. Of course, the rest of the world wasted no time joining in.
Four generations of women: 5-41-79-104 yrs old!!! #blessed https://t.co/5NufhYr8a3
— cin mohr (@cin_mohr) January 7, 2019
Ice, Ice Baby
Another heartwarming sight this winter: Harbin’s annual Ice and Snow Festival officially began January 5th. This frozen wonderland spans 600,000 square meters — defending its title as the world’s largest snow festival — and offers dog sledding to mass weddings to winter swimming performances in temperatures well below freezing.
Photos of the 2019 Harbin Ice and Snow Festival, curated by @kokogiak https://t.co/Rm9n9rJEqt pic.twitter.com/cThZ3W0liA
— The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) January 8, 2019
Of course, the thing that really makes the ice festival’s reputation is the ice sculptures. This year, 64 artists from 12 countries competed to make masterpieces out of no more than 10 chunks of ice. These stunning works, modeled after animals, cartoons, and famous monuments, put Frozen‘s Elsa to shame (don’t @ me).
Ice wonderland: 64 artists from around the world wield shovels and knives to create ice sculptures at a competition in Harbin, NE China https://t.co/Fdu1GfHFE3 pic.twitter.com/KqGulxefGN
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) January 3, 2019
Gigafactory Visions
Down in Shanghai, Elon Musk broke ground on Tesla’s first overseas factory and China’s first completely foreign-owned car plant on Monday. The Gigafactory 3 is expected to produce the company’s cheapest electric car by the end of the year and crank out 500,000 vehicles per year once it is fully operational, according to a company statement. Based on Tesla’s Q3 results, that’s more than five times the number of vehicles the company manufactures domestically.
And now … we dance! pic.twitter.com/2TdS6EVSmi
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 8, 2019
But perhaps what got the Twitterverse more excited was this post by Musk’s ex-girlfriend who just so happened to, for no special reason whatsoever, pay the country a visit.
Randomly, I am in China. (like I didnt plan to come and have arrived without a toothbrush). what is the absolute coolest thing I can do in Beijing and Shanghai? Where is the best art?
— ༺GRIM ≡ﾟS༻(⧖) (@Grimezsz) January 7, 2019
Twitter users had some suggestions for what the Canadian singer-songwriter could do:
There’s a factory groundbreaking ceremony you should attend lol.
— Joe Colangelo (@Itsjoeco) January 7, 2019
Update: Looks like Elon and Grimes grabbed some hotpot in Beijing…
After commissioning the gigafactory in Shanghai on Monday, #Tesla CEO @elonmusk was spotted eating in a famous hotpot restaurant in Beijing, a considerable upgrade from a pancake quick meal on the street during a July 2018 visit to China. pic.twitter.com/Y3oY1RVwDs
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) January 10, 2019
And if you’re wondering why the Global Times is dissing a “pancake quick meal on the street”, here’s some background:
Pictures of You
And to top off this week of wholesome social media content, enjoy this tweet from History in Pictures which renews our faith in soulmates.
A Married couple in China discover they appeared in same photograph as teenagers.
CHENGDU, Sichuan: A married couple in China recently found out that they had unknowingly crossed paths nearly 20 years ago, thanks to an old photograph stashed away in a family album. pic.twitter.com/1z8sW8VfAG— History In Pictures (@HistoryInPics) January 8, 2019
Is this 缘分 yuanfen (“fate”)or what? The story is credited to coming out of Chengdu, while the photos were clearly taken in Qingdao, around 2,000km away. Brb as I scroll through my camera roll to check if my future husband is lurking somewhere in the background…
