Trending in Beijing: Black Hole Memes, Soho's Bad Fengshui, and Fan Bing Bing's Return
The fun, the strange, and the what-on-earth-is-this: a wrap-up of top stories in Beijing as told by the trending hashtags, local press, and general power of the internet.
Netizens get creative with black hole memes
In all probability, the internet is guarded by a Nyan cat (remember that?), so it is no wonder that netizens pounce on cat memes if given even the slightest opportunity. After the first picture of a black hole ever was published on Apr 10, internet users surfaced in droves.
While cat memes dominate the Chinese internet (and, well, most of the internet full stop), many netizens got a little more creative and compared any number of objects to the black hole because of their striking visual similarity (electric heaters or egg tarts) to wholesome comedic effect. Indeed, netizens demonstrated no shortage of creativity, making for hours of endless fun as if we too had been sucked into a productivity black hole.
The news and memes both share the same hashtag #世界第一张黑洞照片# (world's first black hole picture).
Soho China wins a lawsuit against the WeChat blogger
Back in November of 2018, a WeChat account called “Mystic Quacks Office" (S神棍局S) published an article lambasting architect Zaha Hadid's design for Wangjing Soho. The article claimed the building has bad fengshui, to the determent of some of the companies that work there. Furthermore, it urged any of those companies looking to grow to move out at the first opportunity.
While many of us would just ignore this kind of talk, it affected the Soho China company to the extent that they sued the owner of the WeChat account. On Apr 10, the court ordered the Zhuhai Shengwan Network Technology, which is the registered owner of Mystic Quacks Office, to pay RMB 200,000 compensation and issue a public apology to Soho China.
People are sharing their opinions about the incident on Weibo under #自媒体称望京SOHO风水差判赔20万# (according to the media, Wangjing Soho has been awarded a compensation of RMB 200,000).
Fan Bing Bing rumored to return
After the dramatic tax evasion scandal that put Chinese actress Fan Bing Bing in the bad books of the Chinese government, the superstar actress' career prospects were looking dire. Yet while China's movie industry might be hesitant to throw a life vest to the star, Hollywood frankly couldn't care less about how multimillionaires evade their taxes. That means Fan Bing Bing will return to the screen, co-starring in the Simon Kinberg (producer of Deadpool and The Martian) directed spy movie 355 set for release in 2020. The articles confirming her comeback were published on Apr 10. Fan Bing Bing will appear on screen alongside fellow female acting royalty Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong'o, Penelope Cruz, and Marion Cotillard.
Some fans on Weibo were quick to forgive her financial transgressions. "She paid the fine already, why is she still treated like that? How many actresses from China can be famous abroad? In short, [we are] really looking forward to it [the film]!" wrote one user. Other users were more critical of her acting chops, with one writing: "all the other actresses are Oscar-level talents." Fans and anti-fans are debating under #外媒曝范冰冰确定复出# (media confirms Fan Bing Bing's return).
In case you missed it, this is blowing up the internet right now: New High-Speed Rail Route Cuts Beijing-Qingdao Travel Time to Under 3 Hours
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Email: tautviledaugelaite@thebeijinger.com
Images: Weibo
