Forget Fidget Spinners, Chinese Youth Are All About Buddhist Bracelets

A mania for fidget toys — including spinners, cubes, and later, pop-its — swept American schools in 2017, annoying teachers and sparking scientific discourse. Despite many of these toys being made in China, they never really took off domestically. Now, though, Chinese kids are embracing an age-old version of the fidget toy: beaded bracelets.

These bracelets are Buddhist in origin and are traditionally used to keep track of breaths during Pranayama, a meditative practice. Usually popular among older generations in China, the price of vintage Buddhist beaded bracelets varies considerably, from a few hundred RMB (less than 100 USD) to more than 1 million RMB (150,000 USD), depending on the material.


However, the ones elementary schoolers use are made from cheap materials such as glass, plastic, or wood, and many have a cloudy jade-like appearance. These items usually cost less than 10 RMB (1.5 USD).


To use them as fidget toys, students coil the bracelet into two layers in their palms, then twist the two layers back and forth with their thumbs. They also trade bracelets with each other, collecting those of different colors and beads.


a group of elementary school students hold out their hands with beaded bracelets in the palm

A group of students fidgeting with their bracelets. Image via Xiaohongshu


“In class, after class, we’re always twisting [the bracelets],” said an elementary school student in a viral video by Zhangwen News, a Chongqing-based Chinese online media outlet.


Though the act itself is harmless, the obsession with fidgeting items might reflect the high stress levels among these young students. In the same video, another girl said, “There’s actually a lot of pressure. Our entire grade is very involuted. [The bracelets] help us relieve stress. Twisting it around makes a very comforting sound.”


By ‘involuted,’ or neijuan (内卷) in Chinese, she is referring to the overwhelming competition that comes from everyone working for fewer opportunities. It’s a buzzword that became popular in 2020 to describe the futile nature of China’s high-pressure work culture.


chinese fidget spinners, beaded bracelets, academic stress in china

The bracelets make a satisfying clicking sound when twisted. Image via Xiaohongshu


Chinese students have long faced an academic environment fraught with pressure. At the end of elementary school, students can choose to take entrance exams for more prestigious middle schools; after middle school, all students must take an exam to determine where they will go to high school.


That’s not to mention the gaokao, the college entrance exam that serves as the sole determinant of college admissions.


With limited education resources, it’s important to many parents that their children test well to attend the best schools possible, fueling a 120 billion USD private tutoring industry as of 2017. Two years ago, the Chinese government tried to alleviate this pressure by banning for-profit tutoring, among other initiatives. However, that hasn’t changed the country’s academic culture — it’s just forced tutoring underground.

This new fidgeting trend may be further evidence that the massive pressure Chinese students face hasn’t let up.


Fidgeting has been known to improve focus and distract from boredom and stress. Or, as one online blogger surmised, “[the bracelets] may be stress-relieving for some, but most of the students are just following the trend.”


Cover image via Weibo

Chinese Audiences Have Zero Beef With Netflix’s Latest Hit ‘Beef’

In the week since it debuted on Netflix, Beef, a TV miniseries starring Ali Wong and Steven Yeun, has received rave reviews from Chinese audiences. It has an impressive 8.9/10 on Douban, a Chinese review aggregator similar to Rotten Tomatoes.


Created by Lee Sung Jin, who also produced Amazon’s first adult animated series Undone, the Netflix program explores the all-consuming anger that develops between Danny Cho (Yeun), a hapless contractor, and Amy Lau (Wong), a wealthy business owner with marriage problems, after they nearly hit each other while driving out of a parking lot.


In addition to Yeun and Wong, iconic Asian American artist David Choe also appears in a supporting role in the series.

A24, the entertainment company behind the Oscar-winning film Everything Everywhere All At Once, produced Beef, which has been translated into Chinese as ‘Existential Rage’ (怒呛人生).


Beef lives up to both titles as a study of fury, emotional repression, and the myth of meritocracy. Part psychological thriller, part comedy, the show turns a mundane incident into a cathartic, constantly escalating revenge plot that ultimately changes both antiheroes’ lives.


Though Netflix is unavailable in China, Beef has found a loving — if relatively niche — audience in the country. More than half of the nearly 8,000 reviewers on Douban have given the show a five-star rating.


the birds don't sing, they screech in pain title card from netflix's beef

The title card of the first episode of Beef features a quote taken from German director Werner Herzog’s documentary Burden of Dreams


On Douban, these fans post everything from analyses of each episode’s title — taken from the works of Sylvia Plath, Werner Herzog, Franz Kafka, and Simone de Beauvoir, among others — to discussions of their own struggles with anxiety and upper-middle-class striving.


Others have compared it directly to A24’s Everything Everywhere All At Once. One person wrote, “Although my opinion of Everything Everywhere All At Once was not as good as other netizens’, I’m impressed by [A24’s] imaginative and unconstrained style and their excavation and analysis of the way East Asians approach intimacy.”


Beef has also transcended its initial premise as a dark comedy, drawing viewers in with a heavier emotional undercurrent than many expected upfront. In the third episode, for example, Danny breaks down in tears in church, overwhelmed by nostalgia and a sense of community.

“The show was beyond my expectations,” a Douban reviewer wrote. “It turned out to be a large-scale exploration of thousands of psychological traumas experienced by second-generation immigrants […] It seems that, for us East Asian children, even if we flee to the ends of the Earth, we can’t escape our tough relationships with familial affection.”


Besides Beef’s emotional depth, viewers have also praised its production quality. Some have even called it the “Asian White Lotus,” a reference to the celebrated HBO drama about wealthy vacationers.


a chinese poster for beef the netflix show

A Chinese poster for Beef. Image via IMDb


One person wrote, “[Beef was] so great. I thought Netflix had long since become an assembly line factory for pseudo-documentary reality shows. Finding the right production house means they can actually produce a TV series that looks like [it was directed by] Guy Ritchie.”


Another applauded, “Beef impressively portrays Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese Americans in vivid and distinct ways.”


Beef is not the only foreign television show to find acclaim in China recently. Korean drama The Glory Part 2 was an even bigger hit when it was released last month.


Cover image via IMDb

Is China’s Camping Craze Over?

At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, lockdowns and social distancing measures pushed young Chinese people to seek outdoor experiences and idyllic campsites (and ‘glamp’-sites), a trend that continued through 2021 and 2022. This year, however, campground owners in China are already reporting fewer visitors, a sign that the camping fad might be fading.


The digital media outlet Cover News, based in Southwest China’s Sichuan province, recently reported that as many as 90% of the 400-plus campgrounds in or around the provincial capital, Chengdu, are losing money and that they have not seen the springtime increase they expected so far.


camping in china, china glamping, camping china

City Starry campsite in Chengdu. Image via Xiaohongshu


“Last year’s May Day holiday was the hottest time [for campsite reservations],” a campground owner told Cover News. “After that, many people were reluctant to travel due to high summer temperatures, so business wasn’t that good. There was a short-term rise [in October] for National Day, but business has been worse and worse since then.”


Though, according to the Baidu search index, searches for ‘camping’ (露营, luying) are about 19% higher now than they were at this time last year, this increase may not be enough to sustain the boom of new campgrounds that opened last summer.


“I only know of one profitable campground,” he said. “The rest disappear before they even begin to make money.”

New Year, New Destinations

The initial camping craze was primarily driven by China’s Covid-related travel restrictions, which made international travel difficult for most people in the country. Unable to leave the Chinese mainland, a population suffering from cabin fever looked to camping as an escape.


The number of posts on the Chinese lifestyle platform Xiaohongshu related to camping quadrupled in 2021, while searches for camping on Baidu reached an all-time high in May last year.

After China reopened its borders last December, however, there was an instant surge of outbound flight bookings. Now that the country’s cooped-up tourists can go further afield, they are flocking to the beaches of Thailand rather than the forests of Sichuan province.

A Blessing in Disguise?

The slowing flow of campers doesn’t spell the end for the camping industry, though.


Last year, the Chinese government released a set of guidelines encouraging the creation of more campsites and setting rules for their management, a move that has already bolstered the industry.


And, as the Cover News reporter wrote, “the decline in the number of campgrounds can force the industry to improve, eliminate some smaller camps, and make them focus on good service and hospitality.”


The ebb may also be important for preserving China’s wilderness.


Over the past couple of years, there have been many reports of campers leaving their garbage strewn across China’s wild spaces-turned-tourist destinations. The negative impacts of mass tourism became so bad in some scenic wilderness areas that officials actually halted tourism.


litter on a beijing mountainside

Litter on a mountain path in Beijing. Image via Xiaohongshu


Chen Peng, an employee at a campground outside Beijing, told Chinanews.com last year, “Novice campers are not unaware of environmental protection needs, but they do not know enough about how to reduce pollution outdoors.”


It is arguably beneficial, then, for the camping craze to slow down so that industry regulations can catch up.


Cover image via Depositphotos

China’s Nuerdanbieke to Trade Blows With Steve Garcia at UFC 287

Chinese mixed martial artist Shayilan Nuerdanbieke will enter the Octagon this weekend to trade blows with American fighter Steve ‘Mean Machine’ Garcia in a featherweight match at UFC 287: Pereira vs. Adesanya 2.


The upcoming UFC event will take place at Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida, on April 8.


Twenty-eight-year-old Nuerdanbieke, also known as ‘Wolverine,’ is currently 39-10-0, and his bout at UFC 287 will be his fifth fight with the promotion.


Shayilan Nuerdanbieke

Shayilan Nuerdanbieke


Garcia’s record, meanwhile, is 13-5-0, according to UFC Stats. He won his last fight — at UFC Fight Night 213 in October 2022 — against Chase Hooper by TKO in the first round.


However, the 30-year-old American athlete’s last encounter with a Chinese fighter did not go his way: Garcia fell to Maheshate, who is affiliated with the legendary Southwest China-based Enbo Fight Club, at UFC 275.


Steve Garcia UFC

Steve Garcia


In his battle against Garcia, Nuerdanbieke will look to follow in Maheshate’s footsteps. Earning a W against Garcia would extend Nuerdanbieke’s winning streak to four, after he bested Darrick Minner and TJ Brown in 2022 and Sean Soriano in 2021.


Shayilan Nuerdanbieke charges Joshua Culibao at UFC Fight Night 188. Nuerdanbieke ultimately lost to Culibao by a unanimous decision

Shayilan Nuerdanbieke charges Joshua Culibao at UFC Fight Night 188 in 2021. Nuerdanbieke ultimately lost to Culibao by a unanimous decision


Nuerdanbieke is one of a growing number of Chinese mixed martial artists trying to make a name for themselves in the world’s top MMA promotion, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC.


Like many up-and-coming Chinese fighters, Nuerdanbieke is a member of one of China’s 55 recognized ethnic minorities, the Kazakh minority of Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, an area in northern Xinjiang in West China.


Other notable Chinese minority fighters in the UFC include Qiu Lun and Sumudaerji, both of whom are Tibetan.


Watch RADII’s 2022 mini-documentary Way of the Warrior to learn more about the thriving MMA scene in China:

Cover image courtesy of the UFC

Woman Shocked to Find AI-Generated Nude of Herself Going Viral Online

An image of a topless woman on a crowded subway carriage in the South China city of Guangzhou recently began circulating online, shocking netizens and triggering a debate about the lady’s fate in a country where nudity is no joke.


And while some may have liked to imagine that the woman was simply a fearless exhibitionist, it has since come to light that the image was altered by artificial intelligence.


The original photo was posted by a blogger on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu last July, showcasing her outfit of the day (OOTD). The content creator’s clothes were later ‘taken off’ by A.I. software.


Xinmin Evening News, a state-owned newspaper based in Shanghai, reported that the blogger is now collecting evidence and promises to take legal action.


Netizens responded to the news with supportive comments, and some even shared similar stories.


Woman Shocked to Find AI-Generated Nude of Herself Going Viral Online

Screengrabs from a news segment on how A.I. turned a photo of a woman in Guangdong into a very public nude


The situation understandably sparked outrage online. Some voiced concerns over the dangers of A.I., worrying that it could create chaos and disrupt social order.


However, more pointed out that it’s not A.I. itself that’s the problem but the people who were misusing it. Female netizens were especially triggered by the news, claiming that it’s perverted men that scare them, not the technology.


“We must make laws that regulate and enforce harsh punishment on this kind of crime, which could ruin a girl’s reputation,” one commented on Weibo, China’s top microblogging platform.


China has passed laws regarding A.I. works. Starting in January this year, the country banned any A.I.-generated artwork without a clear label or watermark. Any platform providing such services will need to be registered with government agencies, and users need to verify their national I.D. number to use these sites.


China has long utilized its arsenal of censorship tools to block pornographic material online. However, a simple search on Baidu, China’s top search engine, reveals many websites that claim to be able to “take people’s clothes off with just one click.”


The Beijing News, a state-owned newspaper, reported that these websites are primarily aimed at undressing female victims. Even if you upload a man’s photo to be undressed, the algorithm will generate a photo of the man’s face with a nude female body.


This recent episode involving the topless blogger on the Guangzhou metro is many people’s worst nightmare come true: Since deepfakes first appeared in 2017, some folks have been warning that the technology could be used for making fake porn videos with the faces of female celebrities.


And with the lightning-fast development of A.I., it’s getting easier and more accessible for people to create deepfake photos, so expect more similar incidents in the future.


Cover image via Depositphotos

Chinese Table Tennis Olympian Zhang Jike Embroiled in Gambling Scandal

Several major brands have cut ties with Chinese table tennis star Zhang Jike, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, after online rumors suggesting he had massive gambling debts and had shared private videos of his former girlfriend, Chinese actress Jing Tian, were confirmed by investigative journalist Li Weiao.


The accusations have been circulating on the internet for weeks, but things only got serious when Li, an award-winning journalist at The Economic Observer, confirmed the allegations on March 31. Zhang’s agent denied the rumors on the Chinese microblogging platform Weibo earlier that same day.


Li posted on Weibo that he had obtained juridical materials that proved Zhang had sent Jing’s personal videos to others. According to Li, Zhang leaked three videos and one screenshot, presumably as a pledge, and gave an IOU worth more than 5 million RMB (over 700,000 USD) to a creditor.


On April 1, Li posted again on Weibo, stating that the case was a serious criminal matter rather than celebrity gossip and that Jing was the victim. Li’s Weibo posts subsequently went viral, and the veteran reporter allegedly faced online harassment, with his family and himself threatened and insulted online.


Chinese actress Jing Tian had private content shared with a creditor to whom her ex-boyfriend, Chinese table tennis star Zhang Jike, allegedly owed money to

Chinese actress Jing Tian had private content shared with a creditor to whom her ex-boyfriend, Chinese table tennis star Zhang Jike, allegedly owed money to


The following day, Li wrote a lengthy post on his WeChat account explaining why he published the previous posts and provided proof to back up his claims, including a screenshot of the IOU.


He claimed he had known about Zhang’s case since 2020 and had been investigating it for years. Li revealed that Zhang’s creditor had attempted to blackmail Jing using the personal videos, asking her to pay the debt for her ex-boyfriend.


Instead of paying up, the actress took the creditor to court in 2020. The creditor pleaded guilty and was given a seven-year sentence.


On April 3, the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission responded to the case, asking authorities to take these accusations seriously and thoroughly investigate Zhang.


Since the news broke, brands, including Anta Sports, FAW Toyota, Nutrend, and Nivea, have begun to sever ties with Zhang, deleting related promotional materials from their social media accounts.


Zhang Jike of China returns a shot at the Perfect 2016 World Team Table-tennis Championships held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2016

Zhang Jike returns a shot at a table tennis tournament held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2016


Netizens have also turned against the table tennis star, with some fans digging up past accusations of false advertising against Zhang’s co-founded milk tea brand and earlier details of his gambling history.


Many social media users cautioned others to shift the focus away from Jing and protect her reputation. Some fans shared encouraging notes under Jing’s posts on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok.


Zhang was the fastest player ever to win a Grand Slam. The 35-year-old retired table tennis player won many fans through his game performances, appearances on reality TV shows, and his relationship with Jing.


Zhang and Jing broke up in June 2019, the same year he retired from professional table tennis.


All images via Depositphotos