China’s Beloved Rubber Tramp Su Min is (Finally) Divorcing Her Husband

Su Min, a 58-year-old retiree who has spent the past two years on a solo road trip across China, has attained a newfound sense of freedom, internet fame (reportedly 2 million followers across all social platforms), and soon — a divorce.


She departed on her epic cross-country journey in the fall of 2020 but returned home to Central China’s Henan province on September 8 of this year to spend the Mid-Autumn Festival with her family. Su announced her plans to divorce her husband days after arriving back in Henan.


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Su Min reuniting with her mother


One of the reasons Su chose to leave home in the first place was the unhappiness and reported violence she suffered throughout her decades-long marriage.


In a video of Su’s reunion with her husband over the holiday, the tension is evident. “So you do know how to come back,” he said before asking, “You can’t survive the solo trip any longer, can you?”


The two have apparently not communicated at all in the two years since she left.


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Screengrab from Su Min’s tense reunion with her husband


Chinese netizens have expressed an outpouring of support for Su’s decision, with one Weibo user writing, “Great! She should have divorced her absent partner long ago!”


“After enduring so many years [in her marriage], she has finally chosen to divorce her husband after her solo trip. I’m so happy for her! Su Min has changed. She can finally be free, so she is changing her fate. Go, Su Min!” wrote another enthusiastic netizen.


However, not everyone is supportive of the decision. One man wrote on Weibo, “She has made a lot of money from social media over the past two years. It belongs to husband and wife as joint property. If it was the husband who left home for two years without saying a word and then got a divorce when he returned, what would the public reaction be to that?”


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Su Min on her travels


Su has become an “accidental feminist icon” during her time on the road, according to The New York Times, for escaping the unequal relationship and her husband’s domestic abuse.


Her story has reportedly touched the hearts of hundreds of thousands of Chinese women who feel constrained by traditional gender roles.


Su finally decided to leave home after her grandsons began preschool. Throughout her travels, she has driven more than 80,000 kilometers and visited nearly 200 cities in China.


su min auntie road-tripping car

Su and the Volkswagen that took her around the country


“In the past two years, I have truly lived the lifestyle I want for myself. I can leave if I want, or stay. I don’t care what other people say anymore,” Su said in a previous interview.


The nation’s beloved rubber tramp plans to continue her trip after the National Holiday in October, beginning with a visit to Hebei province.


All images via Weibo


As Sales Surge, Fast-fashion Platform Shein Doubles Down on US Market

technode

A version of this article previously appeared on TechNode.


As Chinese fast-fashion platform Shein continues to see rising sales in the U.S., the company plans to build more large distribution centers in the country, which could reduce shipping times to its customers by three or four days.


Known for its ultra-low prices and fashionable clothing and accessories, Shein’s focus on the overseas ecommerce market has made it one of the hottest retail companies in the world, but it is also facing unprecedented competition. While rivals such as Asos, Boohoo, and OhPolly offer next-day delivery services, Shein’s consumers must wait at least a week for their orders to be delivered.


Shein is planning to open a new 1.8-million-square-foot distribution center in southern California by spring 2023, with a third distribution center to be built in the Northeast.


These new facilities would join Shein’s current distribution center, located in Whitestown, Indiana, where the company plans to expand its space from 1 million square feet to 1.5 million square feet, The Wall Street Journal reported.


The company recently released a study on its economic impact in Whitestown, predicting that its newly expanded warehouse would generate 175 million USD annually for the Indianapolis economy and create more than 1,000 jobs by the end of 2022, when Shein hopes the facility will be fully operational.


The Wall Street Journal also cited George Chiao, Shein’s U.S. operations president, as saying that the company is planning a hiring spree in the country over the next few years. Shein currently has more than 400 employees in the United States, 25 times the number it employed in 2019.


The plan to build more large-scale distribution centers in America highlights the importance of the U.S. market to Shein and the firm’s phenomenal growth in the region. A flexible supply chain has been a critical factor in Shein’s success to date, and the brand needs shipping services to keep pace with its soaring sales.


The expansion will also allow Shein to retain and build up its competitive advantage as it faces more competition. Shanghai-based Pinduoduo officially launched its ecommerce platform Temu in the U.S. earlier this month, with a model that appears to closely follow the Shein approach with low prices and discounts of up to 30%.


Shein has completed seven rounds of funding since 2013. In its Series F funding in April, the company reportedly raised 1-2 billion USD at a valuation of 100 billion USD.


Cover image via Depositphotos

Is ‘SexyTea’ Too Provocative for a Boba Brand? Some Folks Think So

Is a milk tea shop named SexyTea detrimental to the moral fabric of society? You may be quick to answer ‘No’ and deem the idea silly, but such a debate is taking place on the Chinese internet, with some customers calling the brand “vulgar” and expressing their concerns that the name will “lead to bad associations.”


On September 9, niche milk tea chain Cha Yan Yue Se (茶颜悦色), which also goes by the English name ‘SexyTea,’ expanded to Nanjing, East China — a move that has put the brand in the spotlight for the wrong reasons.


After opening in Nanjing, Cha Yan Yue Se’s English name caused so much furor that the brand announced just over a week later that it would no longer be going by the controversial title. The company is currently in the process of choosing a new English moniker.


Founded in Changsha in 2015, Cha Yan Yue Se is built around the theme of ancient China and is known nationwide.

A company representative reportedly filed for the ‘SexyTea’ trademark three times in 2018, but each application was rejected for its potentially “adverse social impact.” Regardless, the brand has used the English title for at least the past year.


Before Cha Yan Yue Se dropped the SexyTea moniker, news site Modern Express suggested that the company change its name, and many users of the microblogging platform Weibo agreed.


“It is a milk tea brand, what does it have to do with sex? They are forcibly using an inappropriate English name to make others think of sex,” complained a netizen.


Others, however, defended the name choice.


“The English name brings the company closer to the rest of the world and helps facilitate consumer recognition for international customers. [If you disapprove], it means your own thinking has gone astray, and everything can seem dirty to you,” a netizen pointed out.


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A controversial advertising slogan used by Cha Yan Yue Se in 2021


This is not the first time Cha Yan Yue Se has come under fire. In February 2021, netizens blasted the company for running an inappropriate campaign that was disrespectful towards women. The ad mentioned that “hot girls […] come to us to buy milk tea” to entice customers to visit their stores.


chayan yuese sexytea cup of milk tea

Sample beverages from the brand


Cha Yan Yue Se’s pile-up of scandals has rubbed some netizens the wrong way and led one Weibo user to accuse the tea chain of “turning the clocks back 50 years.” (Make of that what you will!)


The controversy is just the latest installment in a larger debate over sexual mores in China.


Recently, Chinese actor Li Yifeng was detained for allegedly soliciting prostitutes on multiple occasions. As a result, several brands quickly cut ties with the star, and fans unfollowed him faster than you can knock back a cup of milk tea.


All images via Weibo

Tough Break for MMA Star Song Yadong in Thrilling UFC Vegas 60 Fight

MMA fighter Song Yadong put on one hell of a show at UFC Vegas 60 today, although the rising Chinese star ultimately fell to opponent Cory ‘The Sandman’ Sandhagen after four rounds. A medical professional called the bout due to a nasty gash Song received above his left eye in the second round.


The fight was Song’s first UFC main event.

The first five minutes of the bantamweight bout started pretty evenly, with both fighters trading a near-even number of total strikes. Partway through the second round, Song suffered an elbow to his left eyebrow, sending a stream of blood down his face.


Despite the injury, the fight lasted for two more high-intensity rounds before a doctor’s stoppage was issued moments ahead of the final five minutes of fist-flinging.

According to fight stats from the UFC, Song ‘The Kung Fu Kid’ and ‘The Sandman’ Sandhagen each landed 130 strikes, while Song had two takedowns to Sandhagen’s one.


When it comes to significant strikes, Sandhagen tallied 94 to Song’s 54.


Following his loss by TKO today at UFC Vegas 60 (alternatively promoted as UFC Fight Night 210), Song’s record stands at 19-7-1, while Sandhagen’s count climbs to 15-4-0.

Six years younger than Sandhagen, Song stepped into the Octagon at UFC Vegas 60 as the 10th-ranked fighter in the bantamweight division and the +162 underdog, while bookies assessed his opponent (fourth-ranked in the division) as the -188 favorite to win, according to Vegas Insider.


Despite the rankings difference and lopsided betting odds, Song — who fights out of UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber’s Team Alpha Male — came into the bout riding an impressive three-fight win streak.


And while that momentum wasn’t enough to secure a victory against Sandhagen, after Song’s powerful performance in Vegas today, we expect to see the 24-year-old Northeast China native back in the Octagon in the not-so-distant future.


Hungry to learn more about China’s burgeoning MMA scene? Then check out our Way of the Warrior series:

Cover image: screengrab via CCTV

Disney’s Live-Action ‘Little Mermaid’ Gets ‘Whitefaced’ by Netizens

On September 9, Walt Disney Animation dropped a new trailer for the live-action remake of its 1989 animated feature film The Little Mermaid, which got tongues wagging.


Haters on Twitter have criticized the quality of the special effects in the teaser, while others have complained about the casting — specifically, choosing Halle Bailey, an African-American singer and actress, for the titular role.

The controversy first exploded in 2019 when Disney announced the cast for the upcoming remake. The hashtag #NotMyAriel began trending on Twitter, and many netizens claimed that Ariel could not be dark-skinned.


The release of the teaser three years later has revived similar ill feelings and taken a shocking turn. On the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, several users have shared photoshopped versions of still images from the teaser.


In the altered photos, Bailey’s skin color is significantly lighter, and her eyes are blue. Furthermore, her facial features have also been distorted to the point where she looks like a completely different person. Captions accompanying the images read “Ariel in my eyes,” or “My Ariel.”


“I admit she is beautiful, but I really can’t accept her as Ariel!” reads one disapproving comment.


little mermaid controversy

Images via Xiaohongshu


Meanwhile, other netizens have stated they have no beef with a black actress playing Ariel but that these were their “personal aesthetic preferences.”


Some savage internet users have even gone as far as photoshopping pictures of Bailey that are entirely unrelated to The Little Mermaid, thereby emphasizing their general disapproval of her looks.


little emrmaid controversy

Images via Xiaohongshu


A Weibo expose criticizing the edited images has received more than 36,000 likes at the time of writing. At the same time, a hashtag related to The Little Mermaid’s teaser has received 190 million views.


Many have called out skewed beauty standards and internalized racism, while others remain firmly against color-conscious casting.


In China, makeup apps, beauty filters, and photo editors are extremely popular, and many netizens — primarily female — use them when taking selfies. The most popular filters usually pertain to skin whitening, eye enlargement, and facial reshaping — effects that basically reproduce idealized Caucasian features.

While The Little Mermaid controversy is not specific to China, much racist content, like blackface and offensive stereotyping, has come out of the country.


Amongst others, independent media company Black Livity China has played an active role in documenting and narrating the experiences of the African diaspora in China and often sheds light on racial discrimination.


Cover image via YouTube

Over 60M People Play this Impossible Sheep-Themed Mobile Game Daily

A new mobile game titled Sheep A Sheep (Yang Le Ge Yang, 羊了个羊) has gone viral on Chinese social media, and trust us when we say it’s as addictive as it gets.

Revolving around cutesy sheep and fierce regional competition, the mini-game is developed by Jianyou Technology and boasts at least 60 million players daily in China. To put the incredible popularity of Sheep A Sheep in perspective: The hit video game franchise Call of Duty boasts 100 million monthly users worldwide.


On September 12, a hashtag related to Sheep A Sheep took the microblogging platform Weibo by storm, amassing a staggering 2.63 billion views. Over the following days, multiple hashtags have been trending on the platform as the game has crashed several times due to an excessive number of players.


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Screenshots from the game. Image via Twitter


The gameplay is relatively intuitive. After the initial tutorial, there is only one level to pass. As a classic three-title-matching game, players have to clean up the pile of tiles by matching three identical ones. The tiles matched will then disappear, revealing the ones lying underneath that will be available to pick.


Tiles can be temporarily stored on a shelf with seven slots at the bottom of the screen to facilitate matchmaking. The game is over when the slots are full of unmatched tiles.


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Promotional images from Sheep A Sheep’s official Weibo, including a sheep-version of Chang’e, the Chinese goddess of the moon, and a meme about slacking off at work (huashui 划水)


One of the main factors that made Sheep A Sheep a viral sensation is how hard it is. Data has shown that only a little over 0.1% of its millions of players have managed to finish the game.


Another interesting feature of the game is that players, who are visualized as sheep, represent the region where they are based, tapping into China’s longstanding regionalism.

However, some have accused Sheep A Sheep of plagiarism and pointed out its resemblance to another tile-matching puzzle called 3 Tiles. Sheep A Sheep’s developers refuted the allegations.


If you want to join the ranks of those who are glued to their screen and slacking off during working hours, you can try Sheep A Sheep on WeChat or desktop or even check out these 10 epic Chinese video games instead.


Cover image via Weibo