Jimmy Butler: Li-Ning Shoes, China Tour, and ‘Cotton Basketball’

Jimmy Butler, aka Jimmy Buckets, has just rounded out his China tour by unveiling his newest signature shoes with Li-Ning.


Butler took a brief step away from the Miami Heat to complete a ten-day promotional tour. After visits to Beijing, Taiyuan, Xi’an, Chongqing, and Guangzhou, he finished up his mainland route with a stop in rural basketball capital Guizhou.


One clip from his tour went unexpectedly viral when a fan accidentally hit JB in the face with a shoe.

Butler was onstage autographing sneakers for fans at a Li-Ning event in Taiyuan, when an audience member tossed a shoe up to be signed, accidentally bouncing it off the NBA player’s face (slide 5 above).


Butler was clearly startled, but quickly laughed it off, signed the shoe, and returned it to its owner.


“Probably my favorite part about the whole thing,” he joked later on Instagram.


On this trip, Jimmy Butler became the first ever NBA player to visit Guizhou, the capital of China’s ‘rural basketball’ movement. Guizhou is the birthplace of an iconic basketball tournament called ‘CunBA’ — cun, literally meaning ‘village,’ and ‘BA’ as in ‘NBA.’


There, thousands gathered to watch Butler dunk. After chatting with fans, he received a cotton basketball as a symbolic gift from 81-year-old Lu Dajiang at an elementary school.


The gift sparked some controversy online, where some audiences questioned if cotton was really the right gift for a black basketball player from the US.


“Butler looks unsure about the cotton in his hand,” reads one comment.


“His face is like, hmmmm…” another user replied.


Others, however, defended the gift and rebuked any historical interpretations.


“Our cotton is a symbol of the wisdom, diligence and simplicity of the working people,” wrote one user. “It has nothing to do with blood, tears and oppression. This gift is good!”


“Those histories have nothing to do with us,” wrote another. “But if a white person gave JB that gift, he’d definitely be pissed.”


After his visit, Butler visited Hong Kong, stopping in the industrial/residential center of San Po Kong to play alongside fans, and to dole out some free Li-Ning shoes to winners of the skills contest.


“Always give all you have doing what you love,” he said. “Never, ever let anyone tell you what you can or you cannot do.”


Cover image via Xiaohongshu: @sneakersbar

Sexualized Fashion for Toddlers Receives Swift Pushback

“Hot milk style” became a trending fashion phrase in China, referring to sexualized or “hot” clothing that was marketed towards children or toddlers.


While the trend was once isolated to small “mommy influencer” corners of social media, when it arrived in the mainstream, it received immediate pushback from both public and official channels.


Image via Baidu

Image via Baidu


“I really think it’s outrageous,” wrote one user. “Why should we choose the outfits of young children according to the aesthetic standards of adults?”


“This outfit is not right for children,” another commenter stated plainly.


The internet took issue not just with the clothes themselves, but also with the suggestive ways the children were posed by their parents/photographers.


On e-commerce platforms, the trend was used by vendors to sell clothing and merchandise. One example was the “mistress dress,” which went viral when a street photographer captured a major executive having an extramarital affair with a young woman who wore a tight, pink dress.


As awareness around “hot milk style” entered the mainstream, a children’s clothing store was ordered to remove its listing of a child-sized mistress dress.


Image via Baidu


Despite near-universal criticism of the trend, some called the response an overreaction.


“I will dress my children as I see fit,” wrote one user. “This is my freedom, and no one else has the right to interfere.”


“Freedom to dress means that a person can follow their own free will, and choose the clothes they want to wear without being restricted or blocked by others,” wrote another.


However, most argued that minors were too young to knowingly consent to wearing these clothes, especially if their images were being captured and published online.


Official mouthpieces were also quick to admonish the trend.


Image via ‘People’s Daily’ on Weibo


“More revealing dresses and a stronger sense of contrast means a greater possibility of attracting attention,” reads an op-ed in the state-run People’s Daily. “The question is, what do the children get out of it?”


“In recent years, the clothes of adults have become more and more childish, and the clothes of children have become more and more sexy,” said a mother identified as Ms. Zhao, speaking to the state-run China Youth Network. “Some people’s aesthetics have really become pathological.”


“Pathological” may describe the clothing choices, which netizens argue are more rooted in the parents’ need for attention. “Check out my daughter’s long legs,” and “she looks so white in this dress,” read the surprisingly nonchalant comments of some parents.


Elsewhere in fashion, “dopamine dressing” has taken off in China, where fashionistas are particularly embracing a “childlike” aesthetic sensibility. Still elsewhere, women across the board are complaining that their clothing items are gradually becoming smaller and smaller.


Cover image via Xiaohongshu, other images via Baidu

Tony Leung’s Surprise Cameo in NewJeans’ Music Video Breaks Internet

Tony Leung’s surprise cameo in a music video from K-pop group NewJeans has set the internet ablaze.


NewJeans isn’t just K-pop’s latest global sensation; they’re also proving to be masterful video producers. This time, they’ve delighted fans with music videos for the songs ‘Get Up’ and ‘Cool With You,’ featuring two bombshell cameos: Tony Leung and Jung Ho-yeon.

Towards the end of the second video, a silver-haired and enigmatic figure emerges — none other than Tony Leung, with his signature electrifying gaze. The 15-second clip caused a storm on the internet, as the crossover between Leung and the Korean group was completely unexpected.


The topic exploded on social media platform Weibo, with hashtag #TonyLeung trending at the no. 1 position, accumulating more than 6 million views since the video’s release.


But that’s not all — Twitter is eating it up, as well.

Word on the street is that Leung did the project for free. It would make sense for the Hong Kong movie star, who has already done it all, and probably wanted to enjoy a victory lap.


Cover image via ADOR

Feminism or Baiting? Box Office Hit ‘Lost in the Stars’ Sparks Debate

When it appeared in theaters, ‘Lost in the Stars’ by directing duo Rui Cui and Xiang Liu became an immediate box office hit, outperforming every other movie in the world, even though it was only screened in one country.


After its resounding commercial success in China, the film even earned itself U.K. and North American releases — not unheard of, but still relatively rare for Chinese movies.


Despite some good reviews from international critics and a 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, its reception in China was not universal. On Douban, a Chinese platform similar to IMDb, the movie is rated 6.4/10, mired in disappointed reviews.


One of the film’s selling points was its female-centric narrative, which revolves around the dangers of unchecked, power-hungry men. On the Douban, users addressed the elephant in the room: is the movie really feminist?

A fast-paced thriller, ‘Lost in the Stars’ is written and produced by hitmaker Chen Sicheng, who rose to fame thanks to the hugely successful ‘Detective Chinatown’ franchise.


Chen has a reputation as a bit of a tacky misogynist, who has leaned on sex appeal to sell tickets. One of the top comments on Douban has amassed over 21,000 likes, and reads


”It’s really hard to believe Chen Sicheng’s sudden concern for women,” reads one top comment, with over 21,000 likes.


“After 20 minutes I already knew what was going to happen, the acting was odd and the use of light and sound just reveal how tacky the director’s taste is,” the user added. “Baiting on a female-centric narrative didn’t really work, and he even tried to profit off LGBTQ+ themes.”


“Why did the director make the girl so stupid, with only love on the brain? It’s just male masturbation,” writes another user.


”I’m so over these male directors and their ‘girls helping girls’ movies,” writes another. “Please just focus on your own issues.”


Cover image via CMC Pictures

Scientists Against Dating Sims Becomes Public Controversy

In a divisive article titled “Young People’s Love is Dead, But the Murderer is Not Them!” popular science channel Guoke investigated the influence of otome games on the romantic perceptions of young women. The piece suggested that otome games might instill unrealistic romantic expectations in players.


Otome games are narrative-based video games aimed at young women, which focus on cultivating a romantic relationship between the female protagonist and male characters. Popular examples in China include Mr Love: Queen’s Choice, Light and Night, and Tears of Themis.

Guoke’s article text quoted a media study by Shandong Normal University and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The research, led by Professors Sun Yuannan and Wu Yue, proposes that otome games could create illusory romantic expectations in players, a claim that provoked strong pushback from the gaming community.


The study, examining 636 otome game players, found that as virtual relationships in the games intensified, players tended to develop unrealistic hopes for real-life romance. Interestingly, the research also suggested a link between lower self-esteem in women and a propensity to engage in such virtual relationships. While the article attracted substantial attention with over 66,000 reads, it faced intense criticism from users on the women-oriented social media platform Xiaohongshu.


dating-sim-china-male

‘King’s Choice’ is a popular game aimed at young men. Image via ONEMT


Users criticized Guoke for appearing to single out women. After all, there are plenty of dating sim games produced for men, which the article casually glossed over. The perceived double standard against female otome players provoked widespread backlash on social media.


“What about impact of the 36D-cup, long-legged schoolgirl on men who play her game,” wrote one user. “Don’t you want to criticize that as well?”


“Otome games have enabled me to experience meaningful relationships, making me less likely to fall for the superficial ploys of real-life men. I feel safer this way,” another user commented.


Images via Tencent, ONEMT

The Best Chinese Dramas of 2023 (So Far)

From new adaptations of beloved stories to murder mystery dramas, the first half of 2023 has seen an exciting array of highly-rated Chinese shows arriving on streaming platforms everywhere.


Tencent’s Three-Body, a long-awaited adaptation of Liu Cixin’s sci-fi novel The Three-Body Problem, as well as hit suspense series The Long Season, top the list with high Douban ratings and massive audiences.


Others have also racked up impressive ratings, with one — The Knockout — taking the cake as possibly the most talked-about show of 2023.


Without further ado, here are the best Chinese dramas from the first half of 2023.


The Long Season (漫长的季节)

Released on April 22, The Long Season is a fast-paced, suspenseful drama about a taxi driver trying to solve a brutal murder that rocked his small town twenty years prior.


Unlike many Chinese dramas, The Long Season has just twelve episodes, an embrace of the HBO-esque short prestige drama format. These twelve episodes, though, are enough for the show’s director, Xin Shuang, to paint a rich, wistful portrait of a fictional Northeast China town and family.


The elegiac realism of The Long Season won over Chinese audiences, who have given the show a rarely-seen Douban rating of 9.4/10. “[The Long Season] is a panoramic portrait of a group of people, with a palpable sense of history,” one reviewer wrote.


Audiences can find The Long Season with English subtitles on YouTube and Tencent Video.

Three-Body (三体)

Though there are already at least two adaptations of The Three-Body Problem (with one from Netflix on the way), Tencent’s Three-Body is the first to truly satisfy discerning fans of the Liu Cixin novel — though the Minecraft animation certainly had its appeal. The 30-episode Three-Body hews closely to the plot of its namesake novel, which is the first of a trilogy; the cast is also stacked with well-known actors like Zhang Luyi and Wang Ziwen.


The show follows a nanomaterials expert named Wang Miao who begins investigating a string of mysterious suicides connected to a video game, which ultimately reveals an existential threat to humanity.


This sprawling sci-fi epic has a Douban score of 8.7/10, with nearly 400,000 ratings. Watch it on Youtube, Tencent Video, or Rakuten Viki.

Meet Yourself (去有风的地方)

China’s ‘fairy sister,’ Liu Yifei, is the star of this romantic drama about starting over in your 30s. In Meet Yourself, Liu’s character, distraught over the untimely death of her best friend, moves to a rural village where she heals and falls in love with another big city transplant, played by a dreamy Li Xian.


With a rating of 8.7/10, Meet Yourself is popular for its emotional focus and its charming rural setting, and, of course, Liu, who has some 70 million followers on Weibo. In some ways, the show also exemplifies the ‘lying flat’ trend, letting audiences know that they’re not the only ones who want to give up on the corporate rat race.


Find Meet Yourself on Apple TV or Rakuten Viki.

The Knockout (狂飙)

Crime drama The Knockout took the Chinese internet by storm when it began streaming in January, becoming so popular that it temporarily crashed streaming platform iQIYI. The 39-episode drama follows a two-decade power struggle between a policeman and the leader of a criminal gang in the fictional city of Jinghai.


Suspenseful, gritty, and unafraid of depicting deeper societal flaws, The Knockout was an instant hit. Now, with over 840,000 ratings, it has an 8.5/10 on Douban, signifying its vast appeal. You can watch it on iQIYI.

An Ancient Love Song (古相思曲)

The newest drama on this list, An Ancient Love Song is about a historical fiction author who gets transported back to the era of one of his stories, though he discovers his subject, an empress named Lu Yuan, is nothing like the history books described her. Surprisingly, the 14-episode drama is based on a fan-made video edit uploaded to Bilibili; the original video became so popular that Bilibili commissioned the show.


With a rating of 8.5/10, An Ancient Love Song has been praised for its cinematography, heart-wrenching plot, and strong female lead. Audiences can stream it on Rakuten Viki.


Cover image via IMDb