Like many “abstract” meme-tic posts, especially from a wildcard account like Duolingo’s, not only are followers engaging, but also brands. Alibaba’s AI Tongyi app directly asks in the comment section what it should do now that it’s already with child. To which Duolingo replied: “I’ll take responsibility if the child is mine, otherwise…”. McDonald’s, on the other hand, offers taro pie to the newlyweds, as taro “香芋” and encounter “相遇” are both pronounced “xiangyu”. Duo responds: “Stop sending, I don’t want my mother-in-law to think I only order takeaway and not cook”.

• #多邻国猫头鹰官宣结婚 Owl from Duolingo announces marriage: 9.61 million views on Weibo, ranking number 23 on the Hot Search list

However, for regular social media users, the biggest question remains: “who’s the groom?” The answer has gradually begun to reveal itself after another brand began started teasing. It appears that the most likely groom in this union is Lucky, the deer mascot of Luckin Coffee, a leading coffee chain in China.

From photos of the two mascots’ shadows to asking advice on the “first time getting married” without mentioning Duolingo, Luckin has been teasing the wedding since 3 July. And it also disclosed that the big day is 8 July. While the prize draw indicates the launch of the collaboration drinks will be on 6 July, Rednote users are already posting the exclusive cups. As leaks continue, we might finally see what the “wedding of the century” (as Luckin calls it) will look like.

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The original was released in time for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, the brand’s home country. In the ad, two children play rock, paper, scissors to build their dream “impossible team” consisting of the best players of all time. At the end, the players stand together facing José, who has his back to the viewer, for the iconic shot. 19 years later, Adidas recreated the ad poster in China, but in place of José the boy, is the 17-year-old Spanish player Lamine Yamal, and in place of the all-star team are 31 players from the China Highschool Football League (CHFL).

The CHFL is an inter-school football series organised by China’s Ministry of Education, and Adidas has been a sponsor since 2024. Having only remotely interacted with CHFL players last year, Yamal will be present at the league’s final on 9 July this year. By positioning the high school players as the dream team on the poster, and Yamal, the “super highschooler”, as the one who dreams, shown with his back to the camera, Adidas makes sure that the star is everyone who plays. The brand then hits home with its new slogan: You got this.

Adidas has been working closely with the education system in China, from the Tsinghua University collaborations to sponsoring the CHFL. With amateur and youth sports being all the rage in China, it is a great opportunity for Adidas to win over the goodwill of sports fans in the country.

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The 35-year-old was the breakout star of the blockbuster film Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force, playing the role of General Deng Chanyu. Currently, a TV series, The Litchi Road, in which she features, is airing on China Central Television (CCTV).

The controversy started when she discussed her days at the Shanghai Theatre Academy and mentioned that she was a “targeted admission”, meaning that she was admitted to the college with lowered requirements because she had agreed to join a governmental body after graduation, a policy designed for remote areas to secure civil servants. The problem was twofold: 1, she was educated in an elite school in Beijing, but took the exam and agreed to work after graduation in her birthplace, Inner Mongolia, which is called “Gaokao migration”, often deemed as abusing the system; 2, she breached her contract and went to study in Norway after her education, which is not uncommon, but she said she wanted to “have some fun abroad after graduation” in an interview.

This has severely damaged her reputation, with many seeing her as privileged and taking advantage of the supposedly fair Gaokao system. As netizens dig deeper into her background, CCTV deleted its well-wishing posts to this year’s Gaokao candidates that featured her.

• #那尔那茜本科毕业后留学3年 Narnaash studied abroad for 3 years after graduation: 58.53 million views on Weibo, ranking number 1 on the Hot Search list
• #那尔那茜是否违规建议彻查 Thorough inquiry into whether Narnaash broke the rules recommended: 51.74 million views on Weibo, ranking number 2 on the Hot Search list

Celebrities from privileged backgrounds have been consistently drawing the ire of Chinese netizens lately. Most recently, actress Huang Yangtiantian came under intense scrutiny after being seen wearing a pair of diamond earrings worth 2.3 million RMB (319,997.77 USD), prompting an investigation into whether her father, a former civil servant, had unlawful income. The controversy Narnaash is facing might not be as serious as Huang’s, but there are reports of her father having worked with CCTV before. With a public opinion that increasingly demands fairness, it is unfortunate but unsurprising that she would face criticism.

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From T-shirts and tracksuits to hats and bumbags, the collection fuses Tsinghua University’s signature purple and calligraphic logo with Adidas’s iconic three stripes to create a simple yet classic design. The collection sold out online on the same day, but a handful of Rednote users claimed there were still some items left in stock at the merch shop on campus. The Tsinghua Souvenir official accounts announced an “emergency restock”.

In fact, the Adidas-Tsinghua partnership began much earlier than the collab fashion line. Last year, Adidas’s global CEO, Bjørn Gulden, spoke at Tsinghua on his trip to China. This January, Li Luming, the President of the university, visited the Adidas headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany. Interestingly, Gulden wore a purple Adidas x Tsinghua University tracksuit that later became a part of the collab collection. The sportswear giant has partnered with Tsinghua for innovative research, sports on campus, athletic training, as well as the interdisciplinary development of sports with art and culture.

Adidas released its financial report for Q4 and the full year 2024 in March. The report shows that the brand has been growing in China for 7 consecutive quarters, and the annual growth in the Greater China market was in the double-digits in 2024, growing 10.3% year-on-year (YoY) to 3.46 billion EUR (3.93 billion USD). Adidas largely benefited from its expansion into lower-tier cities and towns, as well as embracing “guochao” (国潮, mostly Chinese elements in fashion and design) in its localisation. The Tsinghua collab selling out in a day proves that it’s a strategy that works.

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• #王楚钦北大拟录取 PKU set to admit Wang Chuqin: 140 million views on Weibo, ranking number 1 on the Hot search list
• #王楚钦北大拟录取 PKU set to admit Wang Chuqin: 7.87 million views on Rednote, ranking number 1 on the Hot Topic list

Journalists have received confirmation that Wang Chuqin had the same internal admission process at Peking University, such as an interview, save the standardised national exam. He will not be taking away a place in the quota for regular candidates, but will be a special admission based on his Olympic gold medallist status.

Netizens are mostly happy for Wang because he proved himself with a score of 86 in the second-round test, albeit not participating in the first round. The overwhelming support towards the ping pong star is something of a rarity among celebrities in showbiz. This is why many brands are now shifting their brand ambassador strategy towards athletes.

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The package, which will set you back 398 RMB (54.99 USD), includes 84 individual lessons between 8 and 10 minutes long. However, many complained that Wu only teaches about 5 minutes of each lesson, with “teacher assistants” repeating each line he speaks in the videos and practice sessions with “AI Daniel” at the end. Despite this, the package generated over 5 million RMB (690,812.88 USD) in 5 days.

• #吴彦祖开英语网课 Daniel Wu launches online English lessons: 25.07 million views on Weibo, ranking number 18 on the Hot Search list
• #吴彦祖398元英语课销售额超500万 Daniel Wu’s 398 RMB lessons sold over 5 million RMB: 42.89 million views on Weibo, ranking number 12 on the Hot Search list

Daniel Wu’s design label ZUHAUS is also involved with the lessons. A higher-level package is also available through a platform called Grace Lore. Gaotu has experienced 6 quarters of consecutive loss; the Daniel Wu lessons boosted its share prices and it was up 50% in just 20 days. The lessons also mark its exploration into a new celebrity IP + education + AI mode.

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However, there are three things that have really piqued the interest of Chinese netizens and caused a large-scale discussion in the comments of various posts, and they are closely related: childcare, education and employment.

• #发放育儿补贴 Handing out childcare subsidies: 130 million views on Weibo, ranking number 1 on the Hot Search list
• #建议破除就业唯学历论 Abolishing certificate-only approach to hiring recommended: 28.44 million views on Weibo, ranking number 1 on the Hot Search list

Netizens are all for childcare subsidies, but they worry whether they will be enough, especially since kindergartens are becoming increasingly more expensive. Regarding the hiring process, many express their concern, as education is still seen as the only path to social mobility and a fair standard.

For brands and markets, it might be important to note that when facing economic uncertainties, the immediate every day is what people care about the most, sometimes high-concept ESG campaigns fail to resonate for this very reason.

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Youdao is NetEase’s dictionary and language learning arm that started as an online dictionary in 2007. This new listening campaign is for its Dictionary Pen X7 Pro. The “dictionary pen” is a smart device with a scanner and a screen. It will scan text on paper or signs and convert them into data to translate or look up words on its screen. It also has an audio function that pronounces the words. And that is where Chung comes in. A voice pack loaded with Chung reading the words is now available.

Chung has been the voice of Gaokao English listening tests since the year 2000 and millions, if not billions have heard his voice. Since students usually study, practice and are tested against past exams, and the voice in these exams become part of their revision routine for months. That is why many jokingly say that Chung’s voice can trigger PTSD in them. On Weibo, China’s Twitter equivalent, the topic “The man behind Gaokao English listening test has been found” (#高考听力背后的男人找到了#) reached number 46 on the Hot Search list with 9.23 million views.

Although English has been reported over the years to take less weight in Gaokao, it is still one of the major subjects of the exams. With education back in the “encouraged” sectors for stimulating consumption, companies such as Youdao are quick to leverage their advantage in language learning. With its dictionary pen now armed with the real voice for Gaokao English listening, Youdao is trying to push the dictionary pen from casual English learning into academic language study.

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The news comes two weeks after the Ministry of Education announced a plan to raise digital literacy across the nation by the end of the year. The plan aims to narrow the digital divide and accelerate the digital transformation of businesses.

The new curriculum from Nanjing University comprises a mandatory core course on AI fundamentals, complemented by various AI literacy and interdisciplinary courses integrating AI with an array of academic subjects. The classes aim to equip all students with a solid understanding of how AI can be harnessed in different contexts so that they can reap the technology’s rewards – and mitigate against its risks – no matter their speciality of choice.

The hope is that the initiative will also inspire students to find new ways of incorporating AI into other disciplines, launching new commercial opportunities. This aligns closely with the government’s objective of stimulating the private sector to develop industry-specific AI applications that can strengthen the nation as a whole, from the economy to national security.

As one of China’s top-ranking universities, Nanjing University could set a precedent for other universities to introduce similar curricula, fostering a competitive landscape in AI education. At present, at least 248 universities in China have introduced AI majors.

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The 42-year-old is an Associate Professor at Shandong University of Finance and Economics and has been named one of Bilibili’s Top 100 Channels of 2023. Hao’s channel, where he uploads full lectures on advanced mathematics, has amassed an impressive 7.2 million subscribers and 140 million views on some videos.

But it’s not these figures that have earned him recognition at Bilibili. Since 2021, the platform has been championing an alternative approach to honouring creators. Instead of focussing on views or subscribers alone, Bilibili shines a light on creators who encapsulate the best of the platform’s expertise, influence, and innovation.

This year, Hao snagged the award for “Longest Viewing Time”, clocking up more cumulative hours of viewing time than any other channel on the platform, which specialises in medium- and long-form videos. Bilibili did not disclose the precise total viewing time.

Bilibili shared the full list via their official WeChat account, but the exact selection process for the Top 100 remains shrouded in mystery. The omission of some extremely popular creators has even led some netizens to say the list is arbitrary, but industry analysts insist the list should be seen merely as a “guide”. The purpose of the guide is to encourage all content creators to focus on their key target audience and subject matter. Bilibili seems to be intentionally rewarding creators with clear specialist content areas in order to distinguish itself from the hordes of “generic” content on platforms like Douyin.

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