 WeChat is the center of the Chinese internet — powering everything from messaging to payments — and the main portal where China’s news outlets and bloggers publish their work.
Outdated celebrations Millions of Chinese teenagers every year host a “graduation banquet:” A coming-of-age ceremony where friends and families celebrate their admission to a university. Around the mid-20th century, “the whole village would feel proud,” with neighbors hanging up congratulatory signs and setting off fireworks to commemorate the moment, according to the Shíyí culture WeChat blog. But recent social media videos of these banquets show a different story: Guests sitting at tables appear absorbed in their phones even during the graduate’s speech. “It’s actually quite sad,” the blog wrote. These dull ceremonies are a new phenomenon because “college students are no longer a scarce resource,” according to Shíyí. Attending university is now the default for Chinese teens, so “no one cares” about which college they attend or what they plan to study. Many social media users also believe that the banquets are just a way for families to receive cash gifts. “It’s so outrageous that it’s almost like [they have] ‘I want money’ written on their faces,” the blog wrote. Middle-aged rebellion After four Alibaba employees quit or were let go this year, they decided not to worry about looking for other advanced-degree careers and instead opened a bāozi (steamed bun) shop in Hangzhou. Their shop embodies the team’s “middle-aged rebellion” against years of corporate lifestyle and expectations, Rénwù magazine wrote: They don’t open before 10 am (unheard of for bun shops in China), and the employees take an hour to eat and drink cocktails together at lunch. “They do whatever they want,” the magazine wrote. But the employees are also learning the challenging responsibilities of running a business. The shop isn’t profitable yet, and they are using their own savings to keep it afloat. Still, the owners told Rénwù that they don’t regret leaving their corporate careers. Photos from their time at Alibaba makes it seem like they are different people now with new hairstyles and eccentric clothes. Big Brother is watching Last month, Beijing introduced a proposal for internet IDs that would require anyone in China to register for a personal access code to use the internet. The proposed policy immediately stirred nationwide debate on internet security and privacy. In a now-deleted WeChat article, the Southern Metropolis Daily newspaper laid out the arguments for and against the resolution. On one hand, having a centralized internet ID system would eliminate the need for people to enter their personal information for things like online shopping or subscribing to newsletters, thereby stopping companies from selling their data to third parties. But there is no guarantee that the government itself won’t engage in that practice, Southern Metropolis argued. “The chilling effect it would cause — the damage to free speech — is also worrying” if authorities could more easily monitor what sites users are accessing and what they are posting. | 
