China Insider

News.

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

Food & Beverage

China’s biggest civil war is back: sweet vs savory zongzi

Today is Duanwu Festival, better known internationally as the Dragon Boat Festival.

Jun 192 min read
Marketing

MINISO's World Cup Ad Has No Athletes In It — That's Literally the Point

While other brands were busy dropping bags on footballer endorsements for the 2026 World Cup, MINISO took one look at those budgets and said: no thanks.

Jun 192 min read
Food & Beverage

This lemon tea collab with Junji Ito looks “too haunted to drink”

China’s summer beverage market is usually dominated by bright fruit colors, cute mascots, celebrity posters, and limited-edition cups designed to look good in a

Jun 173 min read
Marketing

Haaland is now selling Chinese herbal tea, and the ad is ridiculously catchy

Haaland is now selling Chinese herbal tea, and the ad is ridiculously catchy Erling Haaland has become the global brand ambassador for WALOVI, the international

Jun 144 min read
Luxury

Diptyque Just Released the World's Most Bougie Mosquito Coil

French luxury fragrance brand Diptyque just dropped their 2026 summer collection "Water Garden" and honestly, the internet can't stop laughing about one particu

Jun 131 min read
AI

Luckin Coffee just launched an AI ordering platform that lets any AI order your coffee

Luckin Coffee just dropped something that's about to change how lazy we can get with our coffee orders 😴 The Chinese coffee giant launched "My Coffee Skill AI"

Jun 121 min read
Marketing

Heinz’s World Cup Metro ad is the kind of ad people actually want to see

Today, June 11, the 2026 World Cup officially kicks off, and Heinz is already playing the game in Guangzhou Metro — with no footballers, no stadium shots, and n

Jun 111 min read
History

100-year-old Nestlé ads are going viral in China because people had no idea it went back this far

Century-old Nestlé ads from China are going viral on Chinese social media, mostly because people are realizing this everyday supermarket brand has been around h

Jun 101 min read
Marketing

Adidas' Translation Fail Becomes China's Hottest Meme: 'Going to the City to Handle Business'

Sometimes the best marketing campaigns happen by accident. Adidas just learned this the hard way (or the brilliant way?

Jun 101 min read
Marketing

Meituan Pharmacy's 618 ad tells you to shop somewhere else if it's cheaper

While every other brand is screaming "BUY NOW!

Jun 101 min read
Tech

Nokia's ¥199 'Micro-Chat' Phone Does WeChat Video But Can't Connect to WiFi

Nokia just dropped something unexpected in China's phone market: a ¥199 ($28) "micro-chat" phone that's basically designed to do less, not more.

Jun 82 min read
Gaming

91-year-old “Game Grandpa” is living every gamer’s dream retirement

Yang Binglin, known online as “Game Grandpa,” is a Chinese retired petroleum engineer from Fuzhou who became a viral gaming creator on Bilibili.

Jun 71 min read