🔥 China Trend Watch (week 8 | 2026) Part of Eye on Digital China by Manya Koetse, China Trend Watch is an overview of what’s trending and being discussed on Chinese social media. The previous newsletter was a chapter dive into the story of China’s latest hospital scandal. This edition was sent to paid subscribers — subscribe to receive the next issue in your inbox.
The 26-year-old, who described her own family background as “pretty good,” shared her experience on social media. She said she had already known that her new handsome boyfriend came from a lower-income family. But after traveling to his hometown in Jiangxi for the Spring Festival and seeing what his mother had prepared for the New Year’s dinner, she was so shaken that she immediately booked a train ticket back to Shanghai.
Here is a screenshot of her post and the picture of the dinner she posted:
This is actually a story that exploded on Chinese social media back in 2016, and its virality is quite typical of the period surrounding Chinese New Year — it is always a very special time when it comes to the kinds of trends that unfold.
It often feels as though stories simmering in the background suddenly boil over during the holiday season. Digital shifts become more visible, cultural traditions take on new meanings, consumer hypes mushroom across the country, and seemingly insignificant social topics can grow enormous: a road rage incident, a noteworthy TV moment, or that one family’s New Year’s dinner.
What’s perhaps most striking is that the story of that Shanghai woman (who really did break up with her boyfriend after that dinner) could have easily been a trending topic during this year’s Spring Festival, and she would likely face the same backlash today (people found her disrespectful and snobbish). In fact, some stories that went viral during the holiday season years ago still resurface today, as if they exist in a recurring social cycle of their own.
Take the nagging questions from family and nosy neighbors about why the single sons & daughters returning to their hometowns for the New Year are still not married, for example; it’s a topic that somehow comes up every Spring Festival. The pressure caused by these “interrogations” have led some single people to rent a boyfriend or girlfriend to bring home to meet the parents — a story covered by the media for years.
People still “rent a partner” to avoid another year of awkward questions about their (non-existent) love life. What has changed is the price. Ten years ago, one could rent a boyfriend or girlfriend for about 500 yuan (around $75). This week, social media reports suggested that these so-called “life actors” (生活演员) — who rent out their services as a pretend partners — now charge up to 3,000 yuan per day (about $435) (#深圳除夕当天租男友3000元一天#).
All of this unfolds because so much happens around Chinese New Year (春节 Chūnjié) at once. While China is transforming rapidly, some things remain remarkably consistent. The holiday is not just a peak moment for consumer culture and travel, it is also the year’s major moment for the box office and for China’s largest live televised event, the Spring Festival Gala, which reflects what matters not only to commercial sponsors but especially to the Communist Party. At the same time, it is a period of family reunions and homecomings for those who may not have other chances during the year to visit their hometowns.
From living rooms to long train rides, from fear-of-missing-out to social media memes, from pressures and expectations to fun and traditions, this period offers a concentrated snapshot of China’s current momentum, revealing social anxieties, political priorities, and pop culture obsessions all at once.
Let’s dive into some of the other trends that have been especially noteworthy during this year’s Spring Festival.
Quick Scroll
🧊 China’s short track speed skating, historically one of China’s strongest Olympic teams, has exited the 2026 Milan Olympics with what’s called “the worst results in 28 years.”
🥇 Meanwhile, the gold medals for Xu Mengtao (徐梦桃) & Wang Xindi (王心迪) in freestyle ski aerials, Su Yiming (苏翊鸣) in snowboard slopestyle, and Ning Zhongyan (宁忠岩) in 1500m speed skating were widely celebrated online.
🇺🇸 The much-discussed Trump–Xi meeting has been confirmed for late March, scheduled from March 31 to April 2. Trump’s planned trip will mark the first U.S. presidential visit to China since his own 2017 visit.
🍿 China’s 2026 Spring Festival box office has surpassed the 4 billion yuan (US$550 million) mark. The February 15–23 holiday window — one of the most important periods for the Chinese film market — saw racing comedy Pegasus 3 (飞驰人生3) top the charts this year.
🎬 One article called it the “hell yeah!” movie of the year. Blades of the Guardians (镖人) by Xu Xianzhe (许先哲) is the hardcore martial arts film that outperformed its opening-day numbers and became an audience favorite.
🏮 Beijing’s Yuanmingyuan (Old Summer Palace) has become a viral hit for its 4.6 km illuminated route with thousands of lanterns lighting up at 17:30 each evening.
🌕 Less popular: yellow lanterns used for New Year decorations in various cities triggered criticism online for looking “unfestive” or even representing “mourning colors,” leading local authorities to order a swap back to traditional red after the backlash.
🕯️ Two explosions in Jiangsu and Hubei brought the total number of deaths from fireworks-related incidents for the first week of the 2026 Spring Festival holiday to at least 20.
What Really Stood Out This Week
The Highlights of the 2026 Spring Festival Gala
Earlier this week, the 44th edition of the China Media Group Spring Festival Gala took place (see our liveblog of the entire show here). At its peak, an estimated 400 million people were simultaneously watching the 4.5-hour show, which, as usual, contained a variety of performances ranging from dance and song to comedy and acrobatics.
So, what was different this year?
In case you’re not an avid watcher of the Gala—which I fully get—let’s get one thing straight first: the show overall is highly predictable and follows comparable year-on-year patterns. There is always a performance featuring different ethnicities; besides the mainland entertainment elite, there must be a variety of older and younger singers from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macao; there is a military song; there is a traditional opera element; and there is always a comic skit that everyone finds cringeworthy. In these respects, 2026 was right on track with previous years.
However, there were definitely some noteworthy aspects to this year’s Gala. Some are significant because they mark a subtle, broader shift, while others are more obvious.
✦ First, the theme. The show was titled “Galloping Steeds, Unstoppable Force” (骐骥驰骋 势不可挡). Every year has a theme, often nodding to the zodiac sign and usually focusing on messaging such as “a thriving nation,” “reunion,” or, as in 2020, “Together Realizing the Moderately Prosperous Dream.” This year’s theme felt less modest, aligning with a larger narrative about China’s role on the world stage today as an “unstoppable force.”
✦ The role of the director. The influence of the show’s director seems to have been somewhat overlooked in coverage of the Gala. Yu Lei (于蕾, b. 1979) is not only the first female director in the show’s 44-year history but also the first to lead the production for four consecutive years. As chief director, Yu Lei has established a very identifiable aesthetic framework, perfecting a style of show that merges Chinese tradition with high technology. Outstanding examples of this include the beautiful and innovative 2024 “Koi Carp” (锦鲤) dance, and the 2022 “painting” dance “Only This Green” (只此青绿) inspired by a famous Chinese handscroll.
This year featured even more segments blending traditional inspiration with state-of-the-art technology, from the creative “Celebrating the Flower Goddess” (贺花神, watch here) to the Xinjiang Dance Troupe’s “Silk Road Ancient Rhymes” (丝路古韵, watch) and dancer Zhang Han’s beautiful performance of “Chasing Shadows” (追影) (link).
These performances align with the broader Guochao (国潮) trend—literally “national trend”—and the promotion of traditional culture seen over the past years. Under Yu Lei’s guidance, this cultural pride is fused with technological innovation to create a new kind of Chinese aesthetic that is indeed “unstoppable.” If we don’t recognize this as the trend of today, it will certainly be the new normal of tomorrow.
✦ Then the global outreach. This is the first time I’ve seen the show so deliberately cater to foreign audiences. A promo added to the YouTube livestream explicitly stated: “This is where it gets cool, this is where the future meets timeless Eastern aesthetics. This is where we feel warmth, where everyone belongs. When the CMG Spring Festival Gala begins, you are coming home.”
This past year was a turning point where China became “cool” among younger Western audiences (see my piece on Becoming Chinese) — this soft-power effect is being fully embraced by Chinese state media, and the Gala is part of this. Beijing is increasingly positioning the event as a global celebration rather than just a national one, which explains the inclusion of more foreign performers—from Lionel Richie and John Legend to Hélène Rollès, Westlife, the Hungarian National Folk Ensemble, Spanish dancer Jesús Carmona, and the Austrian acrobatic troupe Jonglissimo.
✦ Lastly, AI and robotics. Perhaps the most obvious shift was the heavy use of AI and robotics, which became a major talking point on X and in foreign media. While the Gala has already incorporated robots for two decades (!), this year marked the first time they participated across almost every genre, from dance and comedy sketches to martial arts and short films.
The abundance of robots was driven by a historical first: four domestic humanoid robot companies—Unitree Robotics (宇树科技), Noetix Robotics (松延动力), MagicLab (魔法原子), and Galbot (银河通用)—all appeared as official corporate partners. We also saw the world’s first martial arts performance by a fully autonomous humanoid robot cluster.
Although the robots were a highlight, they were also a point of online critique for being a bit “overdone.” Judging by social media comments, many viewers still preferred the classic, iconic performers—like pop superstar Faye Wong (王菲) or the legendary comedian Cai Ming (蔡明), who has performed at the Gala for decades.
So despite all the new technological developments and the clear look into the future, audiences still seemed to love the performances that leaned toward the past, highlighting a bit of a ‘battle’ between innovation and nostalgia.
The Travel Trends to Know
There are two moments in the year that are the major travel periods for China, reflecting the current trends of the tourism industry: the National Day holiday and the Spring Festival holiday. These periods usually reveal trends that were either simmering and have now expanded, or upcoming trends surfacing for the first time.
Some things don’t really change, such as cities like Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, and Shanghai being among the most popular domestic destinations. (As for international locations, Seoul, Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh City, and Bali top those lists).
These are some noticeable trends for this moment:
✦ A big love for small cities has been noticeable among China’s younger travelers recently. This is a different trend from what used to be the post-Covid “special forces travel” (特种兵), which was the kind of tourism where travelers would do as much as possible within a short time and limited budget, almost like crossing destinations off a bingo card.
Now, travelers are turning more to “hidden gems” or what have been called “dark horse destinations” in Chinese media (黑马目的地). The goal is not just to cross them off a list, but to slow down and experience local culture. Folk culture, markets, and arts & crafts have seen a rise in popularity.
Some examples are Jieyang and Chaozhou which, together with Shantou, lie in eastern Guangdong. Some of these places are seeing the fastest tourism growth rates in the entire country, thanks to strong local folk customs and food culture, with people preferring homestays or Airbnb-style holiday rentals for an authentic, local experience.
Cities like Jingdezhen, Kaifeng, Quanzhou, and Zigong—all previously not particularly known as top destinations—are also new “breakout” cities this season.
Another example is Chongzuo in Guangxi, located along the China–Vietnam border, with its Zhuang ethnic minority culture, karst mountains, rivers, and rural scenery.
All of this represents a big shift in China’s domestic tourism industry, offering new experiences to Chinese travelers while also boosting the local economies of these places.
While these new destinations all sound lovely and peaceful, posts on Xiaohongshu show that the viral nature of these “hidden gems” have also caused them to be exceptionally busy during this season.
✦ Reverse Spring Festival (反向过年) has been a trend for several years, but it has been especially prominent this year. It is the trend where, instead of children traveling from big cities to visit parents in their hometowns, the parents are coming to celebrate the New Year with their kids in medium-sized or larger cities. This has also led to the rising popularity of Guangzhou as a Spring Festival destination.
What you also see are families all traveling together to a third location outside of both their hometowns and work-based cities.
✦ “Going the opposite way” is also a popular travel trend that has particularly emerged this year, with people from China’s south traveling to the north and people from the north traveling to the south—one group seeking an experience of ice and snow, while the other wants warmth and sunshine.
The locations that stand out for this are Harbin in the north, with its Harbin Ice and Snow World (哈尔滨冰雪大世界) holding a spot in the national top-ten scenic spots (although, unfortunately, Harbin has seen rising temperatures this winter, leading to melting snowmen).
The tourists from the south who come to visit Habrin are nicknamed “Little Southern Potatoes” (南方小土豆) for being all bundled up in brand-new puffy coats.
In the south, Yunnan’s Kunming has seen a surge in popularity, along with Lijiang, Xishuangbanna, and Dali, which all saw a drastic increase in bookings.
Especially Noteworthy Online Discussions
Door-to-door Pet Sitting as Emerging Business Model
✦ During China’s 2026 Spring Festival travel rush, a specific phenomenon gained traction on Chinese social media in this pet-loving era: “door-to-door pet-sitting” (上门喂宠). This emerged as one of the holiday’s most surprisingly profitable side gigs after Shanghai pet sitter Huan Cong (桓聪) told Jiupai News (九派新闻) that his five-person team would complete some 2,000 jobs within the twenty-day holiday period, with an expected revenue of 160,000 yuan ($22,120).
Huan is not the only one profiting from this lucrative business—pet sitters across the country are cashing in during the Spring Festival. This trending story reflects the massive scale of China’s pet economy, an industry growing year-on-year as those born in the post-90s and post-00s now comprise the majority of pet owners.
At the same time, digging a bit deeper reveals the reality behind the trend. While relatively lucrative, the work is tiresome; Huan sometimes visits 55 households in a single day to ensure he and his team can feed all their customers’ dogs and cats. It might be good business, but it’s certainly not easy.
An Unusually Bad Karma Story
✦ One story that has been especially noteworthy this week involves a religious ceremony dedicated to honoring the Chinese sea goddess Mazu (妈祖). A protector of fishermen and sailors, Mazu has millions of worshippers in eastern and southeastern parts of the Chinese mainland and Taiwan; regions where people have traditionally relied on the ocean for their livelihoods.
On February 18, the second day of the Chinese New Year, something unusual happened during the annual Mazu procession in Shishi Village (拾石村) in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province.
A unique local tradition involves the divine selection of a Mazu “messenger,” a child believed to serve as a vessel for the goddess’s spirit during the procession. This is decided through the ritual of shèngbēi (圣杯) throws or “divination cup” tosses: children throw crescent-shaped wooden blocks, and based on how they land, the child believed to have the closest connection to Mazu is selected to take the place of the statue during the parade.
For the past eight years, the same girl, now 14 years old, had reportedly been selected as the spirit medium through this sacred ritual.
However, this year, a wealthy businessman surnamed Xu (许)—the financial sponsor of the procession—suddenly replaced the chosen girl with his own son. That is where things started going wrong.
According to local reports, the boy seemed unfamiliar with ceremony protocols. He misaligned offerings on the ritual table, stood in the wrong position at the start of the procession, and accidentally stepped on a ritual spot reserved for divine generals, which living participants are forbidden from entering.
Most importantly, the shèngbēi ritual, in which the boy had to seek Mazu’s approval through the blocks, kept giving the same negative result (nùbēi 怒杯) for no less than eight consecutive times. There are three possible outcomes, and the statistical chance of throwing the same negative result eight times in a row was seen as a sign of extreme divine disapproval. People were eventually too afraid to let the boy try a ninth time.
As a result, with no “green light” from Mazu, the bearers of the sedan chair needed for the procession refused to lift it, and the entire ritual halted.
Seeing no other choice, organizers got the girl to come back. Upon her first shèngbēi throw, a valid result was immediately obtained and the sedan chair was reportedly lifted without any difficulties. The procession then proceeded with both children riding the sedan chair together (which also prompted criticism from locals for being a further deviation from tradition). After the procession concluded, the girl was visibly distressed.
As this story has gone viral, many see it as a sign that wealth cannot buy a way into a sacred ritual—the gods simply do not agree, and money cannot buy everything.
Consequently, Mazu and the shèngbēi ritual have unexpectedly become hot topics.
The actress Liu Tao (刘涛), who once played Mazu in a popular television drama, has resurfaced as a “lucky meme” during this holiday. Liu Tao’s relationship to Mazu goes beyond just her role in the series. During the filming, she allegedly also went to the temple and performed the traditional divination ritual and got three positive throws in a row, which was seen as a positive omen for her taking the role.
She’s become a celebrity ambassador for Mazu culture, something that is now highlighted by netizens as the Shishi Village story trends. People have begun using Liu Tao’s image as Mazu as an auspicious phone wallpaper.
The irony, of course, is that the Xu family spent a fortune trying to force Mazu’s blessing, while millions of ordinary netizens are now getting their “lucky fix” for free through their Liu Tao meme. How very “Spring Festival” is that? 🏮
—That’s a wrap. Many thanks to Ruixin Zhang and Miranda Barnes for their input on this newsletter, and for managing to watch the full 4.5 hours of the Spring Festival Gala together with me!
I’m taking a few days off now for some travel, but expect to be back with a new trend newsletter for you next weekend.
See you next edition.
Best,
Manya
Eye on Digital China, by Manya Koetse, is co-published on Substack and What’s on Weibo. Both feature the same new content — so you can read and subscribe wherever you prefer. Substack offers community features, while What’s on Weibo provides full archive access. If you’re already subscribed and want to switch platforms, just get in touch for help. If you no longer wish to receive these newsletters, or are receiving duplicate editions, you can unsubscribe at any time.
