China Insider

News.

What we're reading, writing, and arguing about — every week.

Marketing

2,000 People Did Yoga on China's Great Wall Because Lululemon Went All Out

What do you get when you combine ancient Chinese architecture with modern wellness culture?

Jun 32 min read
Retail

HARMAY turns a mall into a school with nostalgia-driven store concept

Remember those plastic school chairs, metal lunch boxes, and the smell of chalk dust?

Jun 31 min read
Tech

Xiaohongshu Just Scored the 2026 World Cup Broadcasting Rights in China

Plot twist nobody saw coming: Xiaohongshu, the app where you go for skincare routines and aesthetic cafe recommendations, just became China's exclusive World Cu

Jun 31 min read
Retail

Duolingo’s green owl just invaded MINISO, and Chinese shoppers are not safe

Duolingo and MINISO have launched one of the funniest brand collaborations in China right now: a full “shop while you study” takeover that turns casual retail t

Jun 23 min read
Travel

Sichuan Airlines let kids become “little flight attendants” for Children’s Day

Sichuan Airlines gave some of its youngest passengers a very cute upgrade for Children’s Day: a chance to experience life as “little flight attendants.

Jun 12 min read
Food & Beverage

CHAGEE just turned its signature tea drinks into Geelato

CHAGEE just turned its signature tea drinks into Geelato! CHAGEE is no longer satisfied with being something you drink on a hot day.

May 304 min read
Tech

Huawei-backed Maextro S800 is coming for Rolls-Royce and Bentley's old-money club

Traditional ultra-luxury brands like Rolls-Royce and Bentley sell a very old kind of dream: century-old heritage, hand-finished details, aristocratic…

May 271 min read
Food

A Chinese mall hosted a "don’t let the teacher catch you eating" contest

A mall in Ningbo, Zhejiang just turned one of China’s most relatable school memories into a real competition: secretly eating in class without getting caught…

May 241 min read
Fashion

Shanghai now has a Givenchy breakfast pop-up with 3 RMB youtiao

Givenchy just gave Shanghai one of its funniest luxury crossovers: a three-day breakfast pop-up where the French fashion house is serving classic local morning…

May 221 min read
Tech

DeepSeek once challenged ChatGPT on a tiny budget. Now investors are lining up.

DeepSeek used to be the quiet kid in the AI classroom.

May 211 min read
Entertainment

A low-budget Teochew dialect film just became China’s biggest box office dark horse of 2026

A low-budget Teochew dialect film just pulled off one of the wildest box office comebacks of the year.

May 211 min read
Culture

A 140-year-old Chinese diplomacy book is going viral for its hilarious flag drawings 😂

A Qing Dynasty foreign affairs book from around 140 years ago has unexpectedly gone viral on Chinese social media — not for the treaties, but for the flags.

May 181 min read