{"id":179988,"date":"2014-12-18T17:13:38","date_gmt":"2014-12-19T01:13:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=179988"},"modified":"2021-09-14T20:48:19","modified_gmt":"2021-09-15T03:48:19","slug":"chinas-2014-internet-memes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2014\/12\/chinas-2014-internet-memes\/","title":{"rendered":"China\u2019s 2014 Internet Memes"},"content":{"rendered":"
At Quartz, Lily Kuo and Zheping Huang compile a list of this year’s most symbolic Chinese Internet memes<\/strong><\/a> that capture “the country’s hopes and fears.”<\/p>\n Daddy Xi<\/p>\n A nickname for Chinese president Xi Jinping, Xi<\/em> dada<\/em> \u201c\u4e60\u5927\u5927<\/span>,\u201d or literally \u201cXi Big Big\u201d<\/a> first originated on China\u2019s Weibo microblog last year. The moniker, which can also be taken to mean Uncle Xi in northern Chinese dialect, eventually broke through to\u00a0the\u00a0mainstream, becoming a common term used\u00a0by\u00a0Chinese state media<\/span> and regular citizens.<\/span><\/p>\n The term gives\u00a0Xi an air of accessibility\u2014something he\u2019s been going for since the beginning of his tenure as head of the Chinese communist party\u2014but also a kind of paternalistic authority.\u00a0\u2018\u2018\u2018Uncle\u2019 or \u2018Daddy\u2019 Xi,\u2019\u2019 after all, portrays him as something of a patriarch of the Chinese people, just as the emperor in imperial times was regarded as \u2018father and mother of the people,\u2019\u2019Daniel Gardner, a history professor at Smith College in Massachusetts, told the New York Times<\/span>blog Sinosphere.<\/p>\n […] APEC blue<\/p>\n When\u00a0China pulled out all the stops to\u00a0ensure that leaders\u00a0attending the the\u00a0Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit last month in Beijing would enjoy clear\u00a0skies, Beijing residents criticized the effort,\u00a0seeing it as evidence that Chinese officials have the capability to clean up the city\u2019s noxious air pollution, but lack the will except when world leaders come to town.\u00a0APEC has\u00a0a new meaning\u00a0among Chinese netizens: \u201cAir Pollution Eventually Controlled.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Now\u00a0\u201c<\/em>APEC\u84dd\u201d or \u201cAPEC blue\u201d is used to symbolize the government\u2019s unwillingness to do things for its own people, with a secondary meaning as anything that is beautiful but ephemeral. One Weibo\u00a0user\u00a0explained the term\u00a0this way: \u201cHe\u2019s not really that into you. It\u2019s just an APEC blue.\u201d Beijing smog, on the other hand, refers to\u00a0something unattractive but long-lasting.\u00a0\u201cHe is so into you. It\u2019s like a Beijing smog on a Saturday in\u00a0December,\u201d the blogger wrote. [Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n