Trending in Beijing: Beijing Heatwave, a TF Boy Busted for Smoking, and Mao Buyi Loses Weight
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.
A TF Boy is caught smoking in public, causes outrage
Stardom can be a heavy burden indeed. Wang "Roy" Yuan (王源), member of Chinese teen pop band TF Boys was recently spotted smoking in a Beijing sushi restaurant. While the 19-year-old star is far from the only person in Beijing breaking the law by lighting up indoors, as a celebrity, he is held to a different standard. That means his actions have truly fired up his massive fan base on Weibo, where the hashtag #王源抽烟# (Wang Yuan smokes) has already gathered more than 2 billion views.
Roy Wang has since apologized for breaking the law and has been fined for smoking indoors. In his apology on Weibo, the singer said that as a public figure, he should pay more attention to his words and actions.
As always, reactions online were overblown. "It's not that I don't like smoking, I don't like him saying that he wants to do better at singing but then smoking at the same time," said one miffed netizen. Other commenters contented themselves by wishing he would find another, healthier way to release stress and take better care for his body.
Beijing records highest temperatures in 50 years
Beijing is always hot in summer, but the worst of the hot days are always the first ones, when our gentle winter bodies are still unprepared. On May 22, Beijing recorded scorching 40 degrees Celsius heat, sending urbanites to look for shelter and cold water. June temperatures from last year broke a 50-year-old heat record, and it looks like this summer will only be hotter... so get your fans ready.
Cold comfort perhaps (har har), but at least we Beijingers are not alone in our suffering. Tianjin, Hebei, and Jinan have all been marinating in their own sweat recently, with temperatures hovering around 38 degrees Celsius. Netizens are cheekily naming the heatwave the "chicken throat inflammation," referring to the shape of mainland China and the areas most affected by the heatwave.
Netizens have also been sharing pictures of their overheating iPhones placed in freezers and fridges in order to cool them down. Go and join the fun with more than 640 million other subscribers at #热热热热# (hot hot hot hot).
Mao Buyi slims down, worries fans
Mao Buyi (毛不易) first stole audiences hearts back in 2017, when he won the Chinese talent show The Coming One. The nursing student and aspiring singer-songwriter's awkward stage presence, plump face, and ordinary financial background helped him charm fans, and secure his position as an idol for all the underdogs out there with his debut song "If I Become Very Rich One Day" (如果有一天我变得很有钱).
Yet when fans saw photos of a much slimmer Mao Buyi on May 23, instead of thinking that he may have made some positive lifestyle and diet changes, they immediately concluded that he was sick. The hashtag #瘦下来的毛不易# (Sick Mao Buyi) now has over 140 million followers, including this future Munchausen syndrome by proxy nutter who exclaimed: "When he was fat and cute, he was beautiful, now when he is ill, he is even more beautiful."
READ: Throwback Thursday: Navigating the Maze of Chinese TV Censorship
Images: Weibo
