Shooting stars challenge: the turning point of China on the young and rich millennials


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Russians and Chinese make the #fallingstarschallenge

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Sina Weibo

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Sina Entertainment said that Chinese users are "more creative" than Russians face the challenge – showing their day-to-day lives

One of the hottest online trends of the summer – the #fallingstarschallenge – makes its appearance in China and is inevitably reinvented by the Chinese millennia who never miss an opportunity to parody.

The trend started in Russia and became very popular in August, especially among the rich children of the country, Instagram.

He has seen wealthy young Russians use the hashtag # Falling Star Wars2018 while staging falls of luxury cars and private jets surrounded by items such as luxury handbags and flared champagne glasses. around the ground. The trend has rapidly become globalized, but it is particularly popular in China.

Some young wealthy Chinese people have obviously made time to take up the challenge.

But it's only in China that it has taken on a new meaning, with Chinese users competing to show the difficulties they face in their ordinary lives, sending young, wealthy children collapsing so carelessly among their riches. .

Some observers believe that the trend has taken on a new meaning as the display of your wealth is increasingly viewed with suspicion in China, which has seen a series of scandals around extravagance, corruption and deception.

"More creative" in China

Over the past two weeks, #fallingstars articles presenting the difficulties of everyday life have suddenly accumulated tens of thousands of "likes" on the popular microblog Sina Weibo.

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Sina Weibo

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The #fallingstarschallenge has taken off in China – but people do not use it only to display their wealth

The Chinese media were quick to point out the difference between Russian and Chinese users' posts, saying that the overseas Chinese had jumped on the bandwagon, but that the national users were not doing anything about it. not the challenge of displaying their wealth.

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This perspective was summed up clearly when the leading Chinese broadcaster CGTN announced that a Chinese woman who had risen to the challenge using a luxury car "was recently fined for a traffic violation" – but others have "more positive ideas". The Sina information portal describes the Chinese trend as "more creative" than Russian.

On her Weibo microblog, she showed images of super-rich Russian women falling from expensive vehicles, surrounded by luxury goods juxtaposed with images of Chinese staging their falls in front of cheap household products or associated with their work and their studies.

It was a message that was clearly favored and spread by the Chinese authorities. But the BBC also asked a few users what their thoughts were behind their messages.

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Sina Weibo / MrBailuj

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A user took the challenge before running in a marathon

One user, MrBailuJ, said that she had taken her picture during a marathon in which she was participating, in the city of Xi & # 39; an, in the north of the country. She said: "I received my bag before the race and I thought about this new trend of the photos.It is so different from the previous ones and I thought it was a interesting way to take a picture and share it with others. "

A user says that he works in an educational institute and shares a photo of him collapsing in front of several cell phones, tablets and cookie packs.

Another user, May, said she chose to follow this trend to show the daily difficulties of staying in shape. "I do not have a sports car or anything Hermes, I only have dumbbells and protein powder," she says.

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Sina Weibo / Yexiaomeier_May

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May said that she did not have "a sports car or anything Hermes" but that she was using what she had

A user told the BBC that displaying his wealth could actually lead to criticism from other users.

"Most Chinese people who do this online do not do it because they are rich, they show their past and present experiences, or their personal achievements."

"Showing their wealth on the Internet would lead to ridicule," he says. "The less money you have, the less you are afraid to let others see your wealth."

He explains that this explains why "the super-rich did not come to boast".

Increased monitoring

In China, people are pretty open about the amount of their earnings.

But those who display their wealth are increasingly perceived with suspicion and hostility. Wang Sicong, the son of one of China's richest men, Wang Jianlin, was targeted by users in May 2015, after spending 250,000 yuan ($ 36,000) for the first time. purchase of two Apple watches for his dog.

Since Xi Jinping came to power at the end of 2012, China has launched a massive anti-corruption campaign targeting "tigers and flies" – high-level and low-level officials accused of corruption or abuse. power.

Issues regarding the legitimate gains of the Chinese elite have spread to the entertainment industry in China in early October when the government fined the main actress Fan Bingbing for tax evasion and other offenses.

On social media, calls have been made for a more in-depth investigation to be conducted on the Chinese super-rich to determine if their income is legitimate. So it is perhaps not surprising that the Chinese internet generates as much wealth as weird.

BBC monitoring Reports and analyzes news from television, radio, the Web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.

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