A Chinese influencer specializing in dishing out dating and relationship advice for women has come under fire for encouraging her followers to choose wealthy partners for financial gain.

Qu Qu, real name ‘Le Chuanqu’, is one of the most controversial social media influencers in China. A former singer, she quickly transitioned to the status of online love guru, offering her followers dating and relationship advice with the main goal of elevating themselves financially. What differentiated Qu Qu from the many other dating gurus on the internet is her open view of relationships as ‘benefit exchanges’ to be exploited for one’s financial gains. Often referring to herself as the “McKinsey of relationships,” Qu Qu tells her fans that romantic relationships and marriages are steps to climbing on the social and financial ladder, so they have to be managed very carefully to achieve the desired results.

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A series of thefts involving the use of ultra-realistic silicone face masks in China has ignited a debate about the legality of these widely available products.

In March of this year, four homes in Shanghai were broken into, and over 100,000 yuan ($13,760) in valuables were stolen. When the police identified the main suspect, they discovered that the 40-year-old man had a silicone mask that he had used to disguise himself as an elderly man when committing the crimes. Last month, police investigating a series of burglaries in Jiangsu Province identified a man who disguised himself as an electrical worker using a realistic mask in order to minimize the risk of being identified. These are only two examples of a growing trend in China that experts warn could lead to a crime spree unless the sale of realistic silicone masks is regulated.

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Xiao Mai, a beautiful 25-year-old woman from China’s Heilongjiang province, has been having trouble finding a suitable boyfriend because of her height. She is 2.26 meters tall.

A few months ago, Xiao Mai introduced herself to the world in a short clip that quickly went viral on social media mainly because of the young woman’s impressive height. At 2.26 meters (7 ft 5 in), the 25-year-old dwarfs even the tallest of men, and that apparently makes her very intimidating to the opposite sex. Posting the first video of herself was Mai’s mother’s idea. She had watched a clip of a girl from Shanghai proposing to her boyfriend online and was inspired to use the same technique to find her daughter a boyfriend. Apart from showing off Xiao Mai’s impressive physical features, it also showed moments from her daily life as well as an appeal from her mother to everyone watching to suggest suitable boyfriends for her. The video went viral and before long, strangers started showing up at the family’s door in Heilongjiang asking to meet the girl.

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A young Chinese woman who weighs only 25 kilograms (55 lbs) has been getting a lot of attention after showcasing her shockingly thin body online and claiming she wants to be even skinnier.

The young woman who goes by ‘Baby Tingzi’ (婷子宝宝) is 160 cm tall but weighs only about 25 kg and apparently aims to lose even more weight. She has more than 42,000 fans on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, most of whom constantly express concern about her health. Baby Tingzi always brushes off such concerns, claiming that she prefers to be super skinny and adding that her skeleton-like silhouette has no negative impact on her life. The up-and-coming social media influencer, who reportedly hails from Guangzhou, China’s Guangdong Province, constantly posts clips of herself in skimpy outfits to show off her slender physique and apparently doesn’t care about criticism.

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A 17-year-old Chinese student from a rural vocational school who shocked her country by ranking 12th among 802 participants in an elite math contest is now facing accusations of cheating.

Math contests are a big deal in China, but it’s very rare for such competitions to capture the attention of an entire country like this year’s Alibaba Global Mathematics Competition. Organized by Alibaba’s DAMO Academy and the Alibaba Foundation, the contest is free to enter for math enthusiasts from around the world, but it is usually dominated by math majors from prestigious institutions such as Harvard, Oxford, and MIT. However, this year, something extraordinary happened. Not only was 17-year-old Jiang Ping the only girl in the top 30 after the first round of the competition, but she was also the only one whose studies didn’t focus on math. The unlikely math genius studies fashion design at a rural vocational school in Jiangsu Province, and only studies advanced mathematics as a hobby.

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Chinese makeup artist @sakuralusi has been getting a lot of attention for her transformation videos where she turns her elderly grandpa into youthful, anime-inspired characters.

Looking at the photos below, you’re probably having a hard time believing that the guy on the left and the one on the right are the exact same person, especially knowing that they are 66 years old. But that is the power of makeup in the hands of a gifted master like @sakuralusi, a young Chinese makeup artist who has been showcasing her skills on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok. She has been posting makeup-related videos on the popular social network for a while now, but she really started getting attention when she began using her grandfather as a model, turning the 66-year-old man into anime-inspired idols that look at least 3 decades younger than his actual age.

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A 90-year-old Chinese woman unknowingly used an old hand grenade to crack nuts and hammer nails for two decades after finding the unexploded ordinance in a field one day.

The woman, surnamed Qin, told Chinese reporters that she was working on her farm in Xiangyang, Hubei province when she found this strange “metal lump” with a wooden handle. Convinced it was a makeshift hammer, she took it home and used it to pound all kinds of tough objects, from nuts to metal nails. It was only last week when a team of men working on demolishing her old house noticed the hand grenade that the retired woman learned she had been gambling with her life every time she used it. And she used it a lot, as police reported that the grenade’s wooden handle had become smooth and glossy from years of use, while the metallic head was full of dents.

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A military buff in China alerted authorities after discovering that the discarded books he had bought from a recycling station for just one dollar were classified military documents.

China’s Ministry of State Security recently took to social media to praise the actions of a military enthusiast surnamed Zhang who had alerted authorities after buying some military books from a recycling station without knowing that they actually contained confidential military secrets. Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Zhang called a hotline to report the incident and then handed over the documents to the appropriate authorities. The Ministry praised his responsible reaction, acknowledging that things could have been very different had the military secrets ended up in the hands of bad actors. But how do such secrets end up on the open market, especially in a strict country like China?

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The unusual love story between a 23-year-old woman from China’s Hebei Province and an 80-year-old man she met at a nursing home sparked a heated debate in Chinese society.

23-year-old Xiaofang (pseudonym), met the love of her life while working as a volunteer at a retirement home in Hebei Province. 80-year-old Mr. Li (pseudonym) was a resident there and the two quickly became friends after realizing that they shared many interests and hobbies. But, as time went by, their friendship evolved into something more, as Xiaofang was attracted by Mr. Li’s maturity, stability, and wisdom, while he was moved by Xiaofang’s youthful vitality and kindness. Unfortunately, the young girl’s family did not approve of her romantic relationship with a man old enough to be her grandfather, but she decided to follow her heart and severed ties with her parents to be with Mr. Li.

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A Chinese zoo has given up on its plans to help an overweight leopard lose weight after two months of efforts yielded virtually no results.

Back in March, a leopard at the Panzhihua Park Zoo in China’s Sichuan Province became an overnight internet sensation after photos and videos of him went viral online. The overweight feline quickly became known as ‘China’s Officer Clawhauser’, a reference to the overweight police officer from Disney’s hit animated movie, Zootopia. Many people joked that the fat leopard resembled a seal, while others took his deformed frame more seriously, expressing concerns about the animal’s health and general well-being. Due to mounting criticism, the zoo was eventually to put out a statement, promising to make a series of changes to make the leopard lose some of its extra weight. However, it recently announced that its initiative failed miserably, as the real-life Officer Clawhauser hasn’t lost any weight in two months.

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Spring onions and coffee definitely don’t sound made for each other, but spring onion-infused lattes are apparently all the rage in China these days.

A simple search for the #springonionlatte hashtag on TikTok or Instragram will yield dozens of photos and videos with scallion-topped latte cups. They first went viral last month, when multiple Asian publications covered the unusual drink, calling it one of the most surprising combinations ever attempted. Apparently, to make a good green onion latte, you first have to mash a few green onions in the cup, then add ice, milk, and coffee, before finally topping it off with lots of chopped green onions, because why not?

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China’s Yuntai Waterfall is generally regarded as Asia’s most impressive waterfall and is often described as a natural wonder. However, it turns out that its spectacular water show is artificially enhanced.

Yuntai Waterfall is the most popular scenic spot in the Yuntai Mountains, drawing millions of tourists annually. The tallest waterfall in Asia (a sheer drop of 314 meters) offers stunning vistas and a breathtaking spectacle that was recently revealed to be the result of modern technology. A Chinese vlogger managed to make their way to the top of Yuntai Waterfall where they spotted large metal pipes feeding water into the waterfall for an enhanced video effect. At first, the viral video of the discovery was criticized as fake, but sources from the Yuntai Mountain Scenic Area acknowledged that the waterfall is slightly enhanced to ensure a pleasant experience for tourists, regardless of natural factors.

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There is a bizarre craze sweeping China’s primary and secondary schools. Students are adding all sorts of smelly ingredients to plastic bottles to create the stinkiest recipes possible.

Chinese media recently reported multiple incidents involving bottles of foul-smelling water created by young school students using online recipes. Apparently, they were related to a strange craze where students add all sorts of disgusting ingredients to a plastic bottle of water and let the mix ferment to create the stinkiest concoction possible. They write the recipe on the bottle, and if stinky enough, share it online so that other can take the experiment even further. It has been dubbed the “stink-raising water” craze and education authorities are scrambling to prevent it from becoming even more popular, as experts believe it puts public health at risk.

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The femur is widely considered the hardest or second hardest bone in the human body, but a 35-year-old man in China allegedly managed to break his just by coughing.

Doctors at the Second People’s Hospital of Fujian Province in China recently reported the shocking case of a 35-year-old man referred to only as Mr. Ye who suffered a fractured femur during a coughing fit. According to Dong Zhong, director of the Department of Orthopedics at the hospital, the unusual incident occurred during a coughing fit, which is unusual considering that men in Ye’s age range typically suffer femur fractures as a result of serious trauma, such as car accidents or falls from considerable height. Mr. Ye told doctors that he felt a sharp pain immediately after a particularly strong cough, but he simply brushed it off as a cramp. It was only after walking became difficult because of the pain that he decided to seek medical help.

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China’s Guizhou Province is home to about a dozen conical hills known as the Anlong Pyramids because of their resemblance to the much more famous pyramids of Egypt.

In recent years, Anlong County has become a popular tourist destination thanks in no small part to its pyramid-like mountains which have captured the imaginations of millions of people around the world. Apart from their pyramid-like shape, these formations also feature layers of rock stacked on top of each other so neatly that you could swear they were placed like that by someone or something. Ever since photos and videos of the Anlong Pyramids started circulating online around 2018, conspiracy theories about their origin began appearing as well, and despite experts’ best efforts to convince the public that these pyramids are completely natural, some people still believe that they are the work of an ancient human civilization or of aliens.

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