Viral Week is our weekly round-up of the weekend’s trending memes, humor, rumor, gossip, and everything else Chinese netizens are chatting about.
As a lawsuit settles a long-running hongbao debate, it’s Zara’s turn to hurt the nation’s feelings. But first…
Samaritan saga
A Fuzhou man, detained for 14 days for preventing a neighbor’s sexual assault, may now face an additional fine of 600,000 RMB, plus four years in prison. Mr. Zhao could be charged with causing “internal injuries” for kicking the assailant, prompting a renewed debate on protection for Good Samaritans.
Freckle furore
A new makeup line by Spanish brand Zara, featuring model Li Jingwen, has prompted bizarre accusations that her freckles promote “racism against Asian women”
Cashback
A 13-year-old in Guangzhou won a lawsuit against his father, who has appropriated 3,000 RMB from the boy’s various birthday and New Year hongbao (a common complaint). Judges ordered the return of the money, with interest
Palm breach
After Coconut Palm claimed its beverage could enhance breast size, Hainan commerce officials accused the drinks company of “false and vulgar advertising.” Their new ad replaces the buxom babes but retains the troubling slogan
Without the original bikini-clad models, 从小喝到大 (“I become bigger drinking it”) now more innocently refers to the drinker’s age
Li Rui dies, aged 101
The controversial former personal secretary to Mao will be buried in Baobaoshan
The shrine at Li’s family home
And finally…
After Beijing’s Forbidden City announced the first-ever nighttime public opening for tomorrow’s Lantern Festival, tickets sold out within 10 minutes, and the museum’s booking site promptly crashed
(Weibo)
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