Articles
Longer reads about Chinese internet culture — and the stories hiding behind the buzzwords.
August 23, 2026
Surviving the Chinese Office: A Guide to Workplace Slang
Chinese office workers have built an entire vocabulary for the experience of surviving the 9-to-5 (or more like 9-to-9). From the 'office stench' to 'touching fish,' here's how to talk about work in 2026.
August 23, 2026
The 2026 Chinese Meme Wave: From 搞抽象 to 牛来
August 2026 has been a wild month for Chinese internet culture. A terrible animated film became a box office phenomenon, absurdist humor was declared the dominant comedy style, and the whole world was called a straw-stage troupe. Here's what you missed.
August 23, 2026
The Ultimate Chinese Internet Slang Guide for 2026
From the eternal YYDS to the devastating 破防, here's every Chinese internet slang word you need to understand the conversation in 2026.
August 22, 2026
From 摆烂 to 松弛感: The Vocabulary of Opting Out
Chinese internet slang has a whole vocabulary for not trying — but each word means something different. From the principled protest of 躺平 to the theatrical meltdown of 摆烂 to the effortless cool of 松弛感, here's the full spectrum.
August 22, 2026
August 2026: Bamboo Cicadas, the Worst Movie Ever, and the Great Brick Trend
August 2026 was a month of extremes: a ¥3 toy defeated a tech giant, the worst movie ever became a box office hit, and young people started raising bricks as a hobby.
August 12, 2026
Involution vs. Lying Flat: The Two Words Defining Young China
内卷 (involution) and 躺平 (lying flat) look like opposites. Actually, they're the two ends of one argument — an argument about what a decent life costs, and who gets to afford it.
August 8, 2026
10 Chinese Slang Words to Sound Local in 2026
The buzzwords Chinese netizens actually use every day — from 'lying flat' to being a 'crispy student.' Learn them all in ten minutes.
July 20, 2026
July 2026: World Cup Final Burnout and the Cool-Summer Mood
July parked the World Cup final at one end and a heat-wave summer at the other, and the internet spent the month oscillating between football-exhaustion and one great summer idea: go somewhere cool.
June 18, 2026
June 2026: The World Cup Became the Summer's Shared Group Chat
The 2026 World Cup, played across the US, Mexico and Canada, turned Chinese timelines into a month-long sports-and-meme festival — complete with time-zone suffering, favorite teams, and lots of 红温.
May 6, 2026
May 2026: The Holiday Travel Report — Sprint, Wimp, or Village Café
Every May Day, the internet splits into two travel armies: the sprinters and the wimps. 2026 added a third — the village-café crowd — and everyone argued about the right way to holiday.
April 10, 2026
April 2026: When Personality Tests Got Self-Deprecating
April's big words were a joke MBTI test that roasts you and an AI agent you don't 'run' but 'raise' — the internet's most tender relationship with technology yet.
March 12, 2026
March 2026: The Anti-内卷 Spring
March brought annual-politics season, an official word of weariness about 内卷, and a national argument — from the top down — about whether everyone can just slow down.
February 15, 2026
February 2026: Robots Hijacked the Spring Festival Gala
The Year of the Horse's Gala was a robot war — four companies spent nine figures to put humanoids on stage. February belonged to the machines (and one catchphrase about AI films).
January 8, 2026
January 2026: The Year Opened With Self-Care and a Meme-Coin Frenzy
Chinese internet started 2026 with a collective promise to be nicer to themselves — plus a brief, chaotic meme-coin gold rush that kept the group chats entertained.